Hale's Wee Heavy

In December 1985 Hale’s Wee Heavy became the Northwest’s first designated “seasonal” ale. It is an award
winning strong ale that is a perfect match for the cold weather months. Mahoghany colored and rich tasting, with an intriguing hop profile.

7.2% ABV 24 IBUs

Malts: 2-Row Pale ~ Crystal 60L & 120L ~ Red Wheat ~ Special B ~ Aromatic ~ Smoked Barley

Hops: Bravo ~ Centennial ~ Willamette ~ Sterling

Original Gravity: 18° Plato

3.5

159 reviews

Seattle, United States

Community reviews

3.0 Out of the bottle. Pours a dark amber color with a thin head. Smell is strong of roasted malts. Taste is roasted but a little thin and watery.

3.5 This is one of my go-to, local, winter beers. It’s amber in color with a minimal tan head. The aroma is faint and leaves a little to be desired; medium hop scent and slightly oakey. The flavor starts out a little sweet as it hits your tongue, then a scotch flavor takes over the top of the tongue. It finishes slightly bitter and even a little bit sour. This beer is definitely in the scotch-ale category. It’s warms the throat as it goes down. It’s very cozy and comforting. It’s by no means the best beer I’ve had all year but I would place it my top 5 in the $7ish / 6 pack, winter beer category.

3.2 From tap at the brewpub. Pours clear and golden deep amber with a small tan head. Aroma is smooth roasted malty and caramelish. Sweet caramelish, light spiced and toasted malty. Sweet caramelish and smooth finish.

3.5 Bottle. Appearance is a cloudy reddish brown color with a half-inch of beige bubbles. The aroma is on the sweet and malty side with toffee, raisin bread and figs being the predominant notes. The taste has more of a smoky, iced tea flavor to it in addition to some caramel, toasted malt and citrus rind. The hops characteristics are mild but definitely balance out some of the stronger malt notes. Fairly smooth and easy drinking for the most part.

3.6 12 oz bottle. Pours a dark, hazy amber color. Aroma is caramel malt, toffee, and bitter alcohol. Flavor is malty with a great backside of hops. I dig.

3.4 Pours very dark, nice head, light malty aroma. Taste is subtle notes of raisins, figs, toffee. Finish is slightly on the bitter side. This is a respectable winter ale, and one that I could have again, and I probably will seek it out. I’ll age a few, and try the next one at 2 years. Update 11/2012: sampled a cellared bottle one year old, and as expected it aged very well. Now has a more pronounced malt focus, less busy, and the aroma is considerably improved. Highly recommend this one be tried with a year on it. Given the ABV, I doubt it will go much beyond that, but I’ll check in one year.

4.0 Sampler Tray @Blue Star, Seattle 19.Dec.2008, with Stefan. Burgundy coloured body. Sweet and pleasant aroma of caramel, chocolate and a hint of plum. Full bodied and complex. Sweet and lingering finish. Perfect on a snowy Seattle evening! Yum!

3.4 Pours dark mahogany with a thin beige head. Aroma of biscuity malt, dark fruit, a hint of alcohol. taste is sweet with some bitter hops and roasty malt. Medium thick body, full carbonation.

4.0 12 oz bottle from New Seasons - Dark brown with a nice brown head. Surprisingly hoppy scent. Very smooth for a Scotch Ale. I may need to get more of this beer. Yummm!

3.2 pours dark amber with a creamy off white head and some nice lacing. bready, somewhat bitter aroma. fruit forward and oddly hoppy flavor. bitter, grapefruit finish. This is a nice beer overall but I had no idea scotch ales could get this hoppy.

3.3 Deep cola-colored ale with a fine off-white head. Aroma is herbal, burnt caramel, light peaty notes and a hint of bitter hops. Flavor is sweet, earthy, spicy bitter hops with warming alcohol in the finish. Medium body with a oily texture. Nice warming wee heavy overall.

3.8 12oz bottle. Opaque burgundy-brown, with a respectable beige head. Smooth malt aroma, not much that I can discern, pretty mild. Big malt-centered body with lots of flavorful, sugary dark malt tones. Mellow, soft carbonation, quite true to style in it’s body. Rich and full, with some sticky, piny hop bitterness. A pretty nice Winter Ale in my opinion, well crafted...love to have it on tap.

3.7 Draft 12/09 at brewpub. This one surprised me, in a good way. Creamy body with light spicing. Not over the top in the ’winter’ vein. The hopping balances everything nicely.

2.9 Pours dark gold to brown, almost iced tea color. Head is thin and does not retain for long. Nose reminds me of herbs & iced tea, and those hard crusty cinnamon sticks that are sold to go with coffee (biscotti?) Palate has brown sugar sweetness, alcohol, iced tea bag, some cinnamon, and finish has alcohol warmth.

3.6 Bottle served in a snifter. Pours dark brown-amber in color with a short beige head. Shortish retention and decent spotty lacing. Fruit, floral, and caramel malts on the nose. The sweet flavor is mostly malty with a touch of roast of bittering hops. The fruit is there too. Nice mouthfeel. Medium body, medium-thick texture, soft carbonation, and a bitter, oily tasting finish. Good scotch ale.

3.4 11th October 2008. GABF. Aged in brandy barrels. Clear brown beer. Nice smooth brandyish malt. A little banana at the end. What’s not to like?

2.2 wow.. like other commenters, not sure how to describe the taste.. but one thing came to mind was "mildewed tree bark" - you know the odor you smell when walking through heavy Northwest forest in the wet season? that’s really what it reminded me.. quite malty as well, which I am not a big fan of.. so maybe that was part of it.. thankfully the palate was fairly light, and the taste didn’t linger too long.. was hard to finish..

2.9 Deep red/caramel color and a thick tan head. great aroma upon the pour (unfortunately i can’t pinpoint the smell) but that aroma kind of goes as away as the head does. The taste is a little disappointing, just kind of a bittery mess with a finish that definitely lacks.

3.3 12 oz bottle pours a murky brown with minimal tan head into a pint glass. Aroma of caramel malts, bit floral with a touch of yeast, pear, apple, plumb. Tastes like the nose: starts caramel with the fruits, malt pulls through, finishing with a resiny astringency and some booze. Soft on the palate with low carbonation and medium body. Odd, but pleasant.

3.9 Picked up a single 12-oz bottle at Brennan’s Country Farm Market in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Pours a hazy dark copper brown colored brew with a thick off-white head that has some nice retention and lacing. Aroma of dark pitted fruits, roasted caramel malt, some dark bread dough, some floral hops and a hint of toffee. Taste is full bodied, soft texture with flavors of caramel malt, roasted nuts, a hint of vanilla and floral hops. Finish is malty with minimal bitterness with a touch of alcohol warmth.

3.7 Pours a nice chestnut brown with decent tan head. Aroma of cherries and alcohol. Flavor is deep chewy malt with some more dark fruit. Clean finish with just a hint of the alcohol. Best beer I have had from hales.

4.2 Bottle. I remember trying this brew at the pub about 9 yrs ago and it blew me away. In the age of barrel-aged, high gravity, double everything, this beer shows a complexity and drinkability that is unmatched for a lower gravity brew. Nutty, malty, and delicious. The perfect Christmas beer.

3.8 Murky orange brown with a beige two finger ringed lace maker of a topper. Aroma of toffee, caramel, grains and sweet bready malt. Taste of toffee, malt, sticky buns, and a touch of both citrus and alcohol. Mild bitterness in finish, not a bad brew.

3.4 2009 12 oz.Bottle Rich rocky off white head.Clear dark bronze red color.BC sediment dust.No haze.Floral mild hop toasted malty vanilla nutmeg front.Sweet dry rich toasted black cherry malty sweet dark fruit mild toffee body.Dry mild hot hop EtOH clean end.New Amped Brewer. Hale’s Ales, Limited--Wee Heavy Winter Ale--Limited Edition Release--Bottle Conditioned--2010 12 oz. Bottle. 7.20% ABV. 25 IBU’s. (3.75 / 5.0) Winter Ale--Roasted. Thin light lace light tan head. Thin pour. Bottle Conditioned haze hint thin amber bronze color. Chocolate hint toasted light hop peat hint front. Mild dry sweet fully fermented thin textured roasted sweet Scottish malt hint mild fruit body. Crisp toasty roasty mild hop end. Sampled 10/15/2010 from 6-Pack purchased for $7.79 @ Fred Meyer--Ballard, Seattle on 10/15/2010.

3.0 Bottle... Poured a cloudy burgundy with practically no head. Sweet, juicy aroma of fruits and malts. Very grainy in initial flavors with caramel and prune fruit flavors. Doesn’t stand out too much for a winter brew.

3.4 Reddish-brown with no head. Roasty/malty aroma. Full-bodied. Malty at first, hoppy finish. Bitter aftertaste. Quite hoppy. Not bad, but I obviously got an undercarbonated bottle.

3.8 Bottled from the ’07-08 batch. Poured rich reddish-brown with a creamy cap of beige head.. sticky lacing followed it down. The aroma was sweet with darker fruits, caramel, and light sourdough bread with prickly alcohol and yeasty accents.. warm and quite enjoyable. The flavor was sweet as well, showcasing the dark fruits.. light earthy and fruity bitterness graced the edges, amplified by alcohol warmth.. finished sweet and lightly toasted with more dark fruit. Medium-bodied with heavy carbonation on the palate.. spicy and enjoyable.

3.7 Bottle Pours deep, deep brown - almost black. Complex, balanced malty flavor. Liked it a lot.

3.4 Unanimous choice of five tasters at the brewpub for best beer of a very disappointing session. This one made the effort worthwhile.

3.9 tapped at deLuxe. black and creamy, it looked far more like a stout with even a foamy one finger tan head. Taste was decidedly oaty though, providing a very nice balance. Really liked this beer.