Samuel Adams Imperial Series Wee Heavy
Inspired by the traditional Scotch Ales, has a deep, intense flavor from its dark roasted malts. The addition of peat smoked malt adds a unique flavor of the Highlands to this complex brew.
3.6
410 reviews
Boston, United States
Community reviews
Bottle - small foamy head, black color, sweet roasty malt aroma and flavor, mild peat-like notes I guess, not my usually cup of tea but not bad for what it is
One of the better examples of the wee heavy that I’ve had. A little acidic, but overall, a nicely balanced ale.
February 3rd, 2012 - The Wee Heavy from Boston Beer Company rolls out the Scottish experience with tenacious legs and a huge, filmy head. The nose is greeted by an unctuousness, creamy aroma, replete with peat and brown sugar, and even a smoothness like the smell of fresh rubber. The flavor adds to this globs of heavy caramel and malts, and accents the flavor with a heavy dose of booze. This is, indeed, a Wee Heavy, and while it’s not an exceptional example of the style, it’s solid drinking.
Bottle. Poured a dark brown, slightly cola color with a medium sized, light tan head. Aroma was notes of toffee, malts, caramel. Notes of sweetness permeate the air surrounding the glass. Flavor has notes of dried fruits, toffee, caramel malts. Sweet, touch boozy, but warming and not overtly harsh.
FROM NOTES: June 30, ’12
A: Big caramel malt sweetness with some smoke and dark fruits.
A: Pours a clear deep reddish brown with a finger-width tan head. Head has good retention with no lacing.
T: Follows the nose, very sweet up front, mostly caramel malt with some smoke and dark fruit in the middle. Starts to dry out on the finish, with a nice earthy spiciness.
P: Mouthfeel is thick and unpleasantly syrupy.
O: I like a good Wee Heavy and this one is just a little to syrupy for me. The style should have a thick malt feel, but not like cough syrup
Poured from a bottle it is a muddy brown with a slight tan head that fades quickly. The aroma is of chocolate and sole like aroma found in barbecue cue. The taste is definitely chocolate with overtones of smokey licorice flavors that linger on the palate
From a 12 bottle shared in Avon NC. Pours a cloudy dark brown with a fine tan head. Rich caramel aroma. Flavors of dark cherries, toffee and a bit of smoke. Bitter, roasted finish.
Bottle. Pours black with a inch head that lasts and leaves good lacing. Aroma is malyt, roasty/smokey, dark fruits. Taste is smooth, roasted malt, peat and creamy but a bit too much alcohol. Full body and carbonation. Too boozy for me.
Not my favorite style or brewery. Thanks goes to HisBoyElroy for splitting.
12 oz bottle, 2012 vintage- Pours almost totally black with a two finger tan head that has good retention. Aroma is peated malt, roasty, dark fruits, mildly smoky. The taste is creamy and smooth, peat, roasted malts, raisins, ash, alcohol imparts a nice warming feeling after the swallow. The body is full and carbonation is soft. Good beer, even better than I thought it would be.
Pours a deep dark brown with a small creamy tan head. Fades quickly. Aromas of chocolate and smoke. Taste of chocolate and malt with a little alcohol burn. Sight bitter finish. Full body creamy texture. Good beer. Probably my favorite Sam adams beer yet.
This was really good. Surprisingly so. Pours a dark cola colour. Nice aromas of chocolate, bubblegum, and dark fruits. Some heat from the booze as well. Lots of sweet bready malts and bubblegum flavours. Toasted rye bread finish adds to the bitterness. Excellent.
Bottled@SBWF 2012. Deep ambery brown colour with a small beige head. Aroma is sweet malts, some nutty notes along with some toasted malts as well as a bit leathery notes. Flavour is peated malts giving some leathery notes along with sweet malts, nuts, some slight toasted notes and mild alcohol sweetness to it as well. Mild hops are there, but for most parts just very malty, which I like!
Pours a deep reddish mahogany color with lasting beige head and good lacing. Aroma is rich with sweet caramel malts, a little bourbon bite, and a mild amount of smoke. Taste is earthy and smoky, more than the aroma was. Smoke hangs around in the aftertaste but doesn’t overpower, with some booze coming through as well. When first sipped at 40 degrees, I thought this was going to be a bust, but as it moves towards room temp, everything comes together. This is very sweet overall, with the smoke only tempering it a little. It would go great as a dessert beer or complement a burger or steak.
Rated with a different app and I am unfortunately not able to import my comments here.
Loved the aroma and looks of this brew. Flavor was smoky and rich. I found this too rich for my tastes, so I knocked a few pts off. In general, a good and potent Wee Heavy, with strong smoked peat flavors, however its richness gave me a wee bit of heartburn.
12 oz bottle. Aroma is doughy, spicy, boozy. Pours dark dark brown to near black with red highlights showing through when held up to the light; has a medium beige head that collapses after a couple minutes, leaving a ring of foam and a little lace. Taste is malty sweet, savory, roasty, raisins, licorice, boozy (not detrimental). Faint smoke character comes out after it warms up a bit. Oily mouthfeel, average carbonation, full bodied. Nice beer.
A peated and roasted malt driven Scotch Ale. The earthy, deep caramel tones provide a solid base in both aroma and taste, blending bittering hops into liquid bliss.
Samuel Adams: Scotch Ale VS Imperial Series Wee Heavy
5/06/2011: Samuel Adams Scotch Ale... Aroma: Deep caramel maltiness with some chocolate and a touch of smoke. Appearance: Chesnut brown color; clean complexion with a pale beige head; nice lacing. Flavor: Roasted caramel maltiness with some dry Fall leaves, bready middle with some light smoke and herbal bitterness in the finish. Palate: Medium to medium-full body, smooth with a nice creaminess. Overall: Decent, easy to drink, but nothing overly special; this is a decent light Scotch Ale, but I’ve always hoped for more from this beer. This beer is REALLY lacking after tasting the Samuel Adams Imperial Series Wee Heavy...
12 fl. oz. bottle (Purchase before Oct 2011) from Kroger in Harrison, Ohio. Score: 3.4
5/06/2011: Samuel Adams Imperial Series Wee Heavy... Aroma: Intense maltiness that is truly like that Scotch Whiskey without all of the alcohol booziness; seductive dark chocolate, tobacco, and cigar smoke. Appearance: Mahogany color with a beige to ivory-colored head; mostly opaque. Flavor: This beer has a really nice deep, rich, intense Scotch Whisky flavor and maltiness; the alcohol definitely shows up, but doesn’t overpower; good black strap molasses, tobacco, and a good blend of cigar and light peat smoke. Palate: Medium-full to full body; thick, yet smooth with a nice mouthfeel. Overall: Wow, definitely a big step up from the regular Samuel Adams Scotch Ale that I’ve been waiting for; this is definitely a really nice Wee Heavy that has a good depth, strength, and flavor; I’m fairly impressed!
12 fl. oz. bottle (10 ALC./VOL.) from Marty’s Hops and Vines in Cincinnati, Ohio. Rating #384 for this beer. Score: 7/4/8/4/16-3.9
Bottle at Naples flatbread at miromar outlet mall. Pouts dark brown black with little peripheral lingering head. Nose is brown sugar and grape. Very smooth mouthfeel and well balanced malty taste to balance the sugar. High alcohol only peeks out a bit. Would be a great partner with steak or winter nights.
---Rated via my mouth
Probably one of the most amazing person ever had. Slightly smokey sweet and full body. Tastes like a finished product.
bottle at dekbar dark brown pour with a thin tan head. malty aroma ..caramel and some light smoke. taste is some whisky smoke malts, pretty good overall
Slight salty Nice petey kinda grapey malt scents slightly roasty with some boozey notes and very slight caramel in the finish. Nice beige creamy head ans dark blackish red body. Sweet roasty earthy malt flavor some clove spuce and kinda slight berryness and some alc heat. Smooth creamy and a little hot on the palate.
(Bottle, Monk’s Café Wallingatan, Stockholm) Dark brown colour with foamy, beige head. Malty, slightly vinous nose with caramel, roasted malt, dried fruit and hints of smoke in the background. Malty taste with notes of caramel, chocolate, a touch of coffee, dark rye bread, brown sugar, salmiak, hints of smoke and a spicy bitterness in the finish. Full body, with a certain sweetness. The use of peat smoked malt in a wee heavy sounds like a cliché, but it’s quite balanced and just adds to the complexity. Very nice.
12oz. bottle served in a goblet in May 2014
Pour is clear but very dark brown. The tan head has rather weak retention.
Strong and rich flavor despite a nose that is only moderately strong. Some peat and char with a touch of smoke. Dark roasted malts with alcohol esters and a touch of spicy hops.
High ABV is partially hidden but evident on the tongue.
O: Certainly competent but not outstanding wee heavy, but then I am not a fan of peat smoked malts as featured in this ale.
12 Fl. Oz. Bottle. Pours dark brown with a thick beige head that leaves a nice lacing on the cup. Lots of smoke and sweet malts on nose. Roasty/Smokey taste, sweet, very complex, the alcohol is definitely there but it does not overpowers the beer, way smother that I expected. Very enjoyable.
Nicely ballanced. Good taste of the smoke with the sweetness of the alcohole. Good apperance in the glass
12 fl oz bottle at Pitchers Örebro, on May 24, 2013.
Clear dark red color, nice build up on the head, finishes big and tan. Sweet, malty, caramel, toffee, alcohol scent, makes my mouth water just by smelling it. Smoked, vinous, malty, sirup, sweet, chocolate, raisin taste. Warming alcohol. Smooth rich mouthfeel, medium bitterness.
A bit too young still, but it does promise greatness.
Wee Heavy pours a beautiful clear brown that lies black-brown in the glass. There’s a nice off-white fizzy head that quickly dissapates to a thin film that displays moderate lacing. Lacing (along with flavor) increases as the beer warms. Don’t be afraid to let this warm up a bit. This is not a beer to enjoy ice cold.
Caramel, toffee, molasses, sugar, fill the nose with a touch chocolate and honey. This is the kind of nose that makes me anxious to get it in my mouth!
Sweet caramel, sugar, and candy is immediately overpowered by strong roasted malts. The finish is roasted malts and smoke that leaves a lingering after taste of malts, peat and molasses. This beer is bliss going in, and still manages to leave a wonderful impression on the palate. The 10% ABV is righteously masked, and pretty much not perceptible.
There is low-medium carbonation and a medium tongue weight. Although, a little silky, this beer goes down pretty easy.
Overall: this is a "kick ass" brew! Be careful, it combines high alcohol with high drinkability! The look, smell, and taste of this concoction is delightful. This has to be my favorite of the Imperial Series.
0,355 l bottle at Hilpeä Hauki, Helsinki. Almost black fark reddish brown color. Thick malt aroma with charred bread. Sweet and roasty flavor with charred bread crust, some rounded caramel, some toffee and some earthy heathery notes. Full body, smooth palate. Good rich maltiness. There’s something which I don’t like, perhaps it’s peat smoke.