Weyerbacher Thirteen
2008’s anniversary ale - a hyper, Belgian inspired Imperial Stout clocking in at 13.6% abv, but incredibly balanced, smooth, and tasty.
3.7
385 reviews
Easton, United States
Community reviews
Pours a black beer with a dark beige head. The aroma is malt, licorice, chocolate, alcohol and notes of cardboard. The flavor follows the nose with additional notes of oxidation. The palate is sweetness with alcoholwarmth. Overall a good beer.
Poured into a snifter. This is from 2008 in case you weren’t paying attention.
3.0 A: Black color. A little over one finger of frothy light brown head. Retention is poor, but at 13.6%, what do you expect. No lacing.
4.0 S: Rich nose full of supple roastiness, tons of sweet chocolate, molasses, and loads of caramel. So incredibly well integrated; time has done this well. Booze is extremely well hidden.
4.5 T: Follows the nose for the most part. Powerful, but soft roastiness. Big hits of chocolate, molasses, and caramel. Sweet without being too sweet. Rich and wonderful. The booze is hard to taste, but it does give a nice warming on finish.
4.5 M: Heavy body. Good moderate carbonation. Good creaminess and super smooth.
4.5 D: Delicious beer. Drinking great now.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 02-01-2012 04:37:51
On-tap on a visit to my hometown.Pours thick and black with a nice tan head that dissipates quickly.Wow, you can really smell the boos in this sucker. There is also hints or fruits and burnt chocolate.The taste is almost vinous at first with the flavor of dark fermented fruit mixing in. The burnt malts are the last thing to come though before the extremely boossy finish.There are some very interesting things going on in this brew. I don?t even know how I would classify this one. It seems sort of like a melding of a Belgian Strong Dark Ale and an Imperial Stout. So overall a very unique beer but I would have liked to have seen a bit more balance for the alcohol.
4 y.o. bottle from Miami cellaring closet, which is the equivalent of 12 dog years in cellaring. I forgot it was an imperial stout and am shocked to see such an inky pour. There is still a little carbonation in the head but it fades fast. No lacing. Smells long in the tooth, rusty, cloudy, waxy, and at first muddled. The redeeming elements are bourbon, brine, mineral-rich soil, and black strap molasses in the nose. Later, the nose blossoms and opens the palate for a fuller experience of the rather complex flavors. The palate is soft, a little oily, and smooth with a gentle kiss of carbonation that contributes much to the body. The flavors are much better than expected, and very mellow. Predominantly sweet, the flavors are certainly pleasant. The aging has done it well, although I didn’t rate it when fresh so have nothing to compare it with. Right now, the thick bourbon and black liquorice character is really shining and it does not really taste as oxidized as it smells. Vanilla extract, caramelized figs, and soya combine for a sweet-salty flavor profile. Low roast but moderate level of clove spiciness and late dark chocolate. Gets better with each sip. Very dessert-like but works fine as an aperitif. Much better than expected, considering the sub-optimal cellaring conditions.
Bottle @ Odense Tasting, February 2012. Pours black with a small creamy head and lacings. Nose is dark fruit, roast, spices and coffee. Smooth and full bodied. Slightly oxidized.
Bottle. Very dark brown body with a small brown head. Aroma is roasted malt, liquorice, alcohol, chocolate, vinous. Flavor is alcohol, raisins, liquorice, vinous. Waqrming alcohol finish.
Black with a small tan head. Roasted aroma with some licorice and spices and plenty alcohol. Sweet alcohol dominated flavour with licorice, spice and and a bit of oxidated/vineous dried fruit.
In short: A big boozy slightly fruity stout. Almost acceptable
How: Bottle 22oz. Consumed when almost exactly 3 years of age
The look: Black body topped by a very small tan head
In long: Nose is has plenty of booze (no surprise here) and also some dark fruits. Taste is very simple, sweetness level is through the roof, a tolerable alcohol warmth (thankfully not the alcohol bite I was expecting), some kind of blackened malt syrup, figs, some other dark fruits, a shot of black sambuca, oat, liquorice. The mouthfeel is surprisingly nice and not syrupy. Thick velvety body and a medium carbonation. Not a very good by any stretch of the imagination but not the absolute train wreck that I feared either. I traded my other bottle away and I don’t know how I ended up with 2 bottles of a sweet boozy Weyerbacher beer in my cellar. I don’t remember buying a bottle, much less two. You know when you read a page of a book and at the end of the page you need to start all over again because you were not conscious of what you were doing. That page is an average day of my life.
Courtesy of northernbrews. Oily black, no head. Big dark fruits, tobacco, and alcohol. Flavor on par, but solvent like alcohol dominates. Very warming. Mouthfeel is silky smooth, Thins quite a bit at times. Just can’t get past the alcohol.
Bottle from Sam’s in Durham, aged for 3-4 years, which seems to have served it well. Pours nearly black with a thin tan head. Nose is nutty, sweet, slightly roasty, with dark stewed fruits and Belgian sugars. Taste is sweet as hell, and boozy, but not so much, I guess, for 13.6%. Hard to drink much of this. Definitely a slow sipper.
Tap @ home, courtesy of LIVEFAST. Thanks! Deep brown/black appearance with a brown head. Belgian yeasty, dark chocolate, fairly roasty, light anise aroma. Rich dark chocolate, Belgian yeasty, somewhat fruity, anise flavor. Very smooth for 13%- some warming on the finish but this sucker is pretty smooth. I think this is actually a very tasty beer.
Pour out of bottle from 2008, 12 oz bottle is dark black with thin tan head, aroma has notes of anise, dark fruit, some chocolate and coffee, some caramel in there as well. Taste is nice dark fruit, anise, toffee, caramel, hints of coffee, finishing fairly bitter. Not bad.
Alkoholischer aber ausgeglichener dunkler Malzantrunk.Später bilden sich hier cremige Schokoladennoten, der Alkohol wird schlagartig offensichtlich und brennt in der Nase. Süßlich, vollmundig, gut. Geringfügig herb. Danke an den Doppelbock für das Bier! /12/13/13/9/13
Bottle shared at the big Hair of the Dog PreSale Tasting... Poured jet black with a thin, off-white head. Still lots of business here with a thick palate. Some roast and coffee and some nice eatery yeast tones. Toffee and cocoa added some balance.
Bottle. Pours a black color with a small off-white head. Has a roasted malty chocolate and licorice aroma. Roasted malty chocolate and licorice flavor. Has a roasted malty chocolate finish.
(22oz bottle from Beer Sommelier! Thanks Matt). Pours black with brown head that quickly dissipates and leaves no lacing. Aroma has caramel, oats, light coffee and some alcohol. Taste is sweet with some caramael and vanilla. Full bodied with a creamy texture. Smooth finish. Pretty good and abv is well hidden for the most part.
bomber cellared 2+ years. very smooth and velvety on the palate. nose of cocoa and dried dark fruits and apricot. strong but very smooth, having a bit of trouble typing on my phone after drinking this!
22oz, stored properly for the past 2 plus years. Black as night pour with darker coffee head. Malty, chocolate aromas actually pretty sweet, no signs of oxidation. Super smooth on the palate, huge chocolate and roasted malts. Very balanced and age has done so well with this one. I would say another year or so before degredation.
Bottle from New Beer Distributors, NYC, vintage 2008, 2½ years old
The color is pitch black; the head is medium sized, beige, but not persistent. Very strong aroma of tar, roasted malts, liquorice, coffee, phenols. Strong body, but also strong alcohol upfront; the first flavor to pick are liquorice and tar, followed by roasted nuts and light biscuits; there is a touch of vanilla; luckily the sweetness, moderate, wins over the black malts; the final is very warming. Very good, mature.
Black pour tan thin head .... aroma is chocolatey and roasted with some dark fruity belgian aspects .... taste is bitter dark chocolate and smooth, chocolatey and roasted with a dark fruit to it giving it a slightly sweet and sour taste .... roasted dark fruity finish ... little vinous qualities in this one abv was hidden well a nice treat aged well
Bottle. Never had it fresh, so I have no idea how it’s aged. Pretty sweet, lots of chocolate in it. Pretty standard big stout.
Bottle- Opaque black color, aroma is sweet and floral with a barrage of spices more common of a lighter beer. High alcohol noticeable but well masked. Taste starts out as chocolatey and roasty but then the spicyness really kicks in toward the end with a bitter aftertaste. Very active and dynamic on the palate. About what I expected from a quality Imperial Stout. Good option, glad I had this one.
Bottle: been holding on to this one for a while, pours dark back with a thin tan head, has that sweet belgian aroma you get from most dubbels, taste is sweet, chocolaty, some coffee, roasted malts, full bodied.
22 oz. bottle, sent from Glouglouburp (thanks Dany), pours black with a small tan head. Aroma of oatmeal, roasted notes and light chocolate. Flavour reveals intense roasted characteristics, with a little oat and chocolate, followed by a yeasty finish. Full-bodied and a robust palate. Extremely well done.
Enormous, insanely large stout from the happy Pennsylvanians at Weyerbacher. The years have been kind to this beer, tempering that wicked near-14% ABV just enough to make this brew decadently sippable. There’s enough heat to remind you this brute is no meager Imperial Stout, but the complexity of flavor easily makes any liquor burn bearable. The flavor is mocha and chocolate and yeasty, peppery Belgian spiciness, with a mild undertone of barbecue sauce and tobacco. The finish tingles like a beer of this size should, and the lingering aftertaste is neither overly sweet or bitter. Excellent anniversary creation.
4/9/11. 750mL shared at Coleman’s StoutFest thanks to colemanzuber! Opaque black pour with a ring of brown head. Sour licorice aroma with ash and figs. Sweet flavor of dark fruits and licorice with a lingering sour hint and ashy aftertaste. Not bad!
22oz bottle, thanks Coleman! Pours jet black, little head. Slightly sweet aroma, very sweet taste, a bit of cocoa, but very sweet. Not bad.
Out of the bottle at a tasting. Pitch black with licorice and Belgian yeast notes. Very smooth for how strong it is. Well made.
A bomber I’ve been sitting on for at least two years, maybe three. Nose is full of licorice and plummy, inky stout. Alcohol and grape. Pours pitch with an extremely noisy and slightly violent dark brown head. Make that violent and long-lasting. Taste is alcoholic, hot, initially sweet but not cloying, incredibly warming to the chest, slick with malt, eventually dry and roasty with woody and mocha notes, sweet grape and prune which I assume to be influenced by the yeast. Chocolate and light bitter hop prickle. Very faint vanilla and oak tones. Full-bodied, smooth but with aggressive darting. Undeniably influenced by Expedition and actually a pretty faithful rendition, if injured by the booziness and general thrown-together brashness. Still, enjoyed the first pint, but not the rest.
From bottle at tasting. Pours a motor oil black color with a small tan head that disapates quickly. The aroma is deep and dark, filled with bittersweet chocolate, dark fruits, molasses, and hints of licorice spice and dark rum. The taste is of roasted malts, dried fruits, bitter chocolate, yeast and alcohol. The finish has some spice, with lots of boozy flavor. Medium bodied with fairly low carbonation.