Weyerbacher Twelve
This year's unique brew is a rye barleywine. It's brewed with 50% rye malt, 50% pale malt, and hopped with Magnum hops. This BEER will gain even more character if aged properly.
3.1
270 reviews
Easton, United States
Community reviews
Bottle shared at a recent BA/RB tasting... I think this was the perfect time to open this 2007 vintage. Poured pale, amber/orange with a thin head. The harshness that may have been spicy and bitter from the rye seemed to had mellow out. Not a whole lot of oxidization which was nice too. Dense like a syrup, very sweet, caramel and toasted grains. Low bitterness, and slight earthiness.
Finally got around to drinking this on Friday, probably around 4 1/2 years after this was brewed!!! Pours deep amber/brown. At first we thought it was flat, but the very fine carbonation just took awhile to come out of solution. Fine tan head. The aroma featured an almost tart and refreshing Belgian yeast smell, in addition to rummy malt sweetness. The flavor though was exceptional, a brilliant combination of rye, raisins/prune (which I love in a bw), moderate hop bitterness, little hop flavor, if at all, nice big caramel. Rather wine-like. Syrupy. The booze wasn’t apparent until the end of the glass when it was getting warmer. I’m guessing this is peaking right around now, I can’t imaging it getting much better with time.
Bottle from New Beer Distributors, NYC, 3 years old
Clean light amber, copper color; it pours viscously, with no sound, but there is some carbonation, and the head is small and creamy. Aroma of caramel, sweet, a bit phenolic, or maybe band Aid, and alcohol; not exciting. The body is quite strong, the mouthfeel is extremely oily, almost muddy, also because of the low carbonation, but unfortunately it feels like gulping eggwhite, never happened before; very sweet flavor, light malt; ordinary bitterness; this bottle can easily be compared to a boozy extra Strong Lager, the only variant being the sweetness, and a bit more of balance, but joined by the sad lack of features. I don’t think this has ever been much better, even when it was fresher.
Draft at rnh with streets for weyerbacher night. Pours a hazy brown body. Aroma is sweet malty notes. .Mouthfeel is thin with notes of sweet rye, malts, and something else....
Sampled a while ago. Red colored pour with an off white head on it. Smell is sweet and like syrup. Little bit of hops, but mostly just sugar. Taste is sweet and like drinking maple syrup. Not really the best thing I have ever had. I am not sure how old this beer was when I drank it, I do not have a tasting date. Bleh.
22 ounce bottle. Served in a snifter, the beer pours a hazy amber/orange color with about a half inch off-white head, and some sediment floaties noticable. The head went away quickly, but there’s a good amount of lacing left on the glass. The brew smells like caramel, pears, butterscotch, and some booze and candied fruit. Taste is pretty much just like the aroma, it tastes like caramel malt, sweet booze, candied fruit, and also has a slight Mentho-lyptus flavor. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it’s syrupy and a bit sticky with low carbonation. The alcohol does catch up to you after a while, it’s easy to tell this brew is boozy. Overall I think it’s a decent enough brew. Not impressive, but not bad either.
Bottle from 2010 Secret Santa. Pours clear dark copper color with small caramel colored head. Sugary toffee aroma with some alcohol. Very sweet caramel flavor and some booze. Full body with a very weird, thick mouthfeel, like drinking syrup. It’s bizarre, i’ve never had a beer with a mouhfeel like this. Thanks Andrew.
I’ve had this one in the cellar for to long now. Sampled 11/15/2008
Pours a clear orangey amber with a smallish off white head that disappeared to quickly. Smells of alcohol, lots of fruits, I smell plums, cherries, and apricots. Has quite the vinous smell to it, almost like I’m sniffing a port. I can also find some spice form either the yeast strain or the rye malt. Very complex and enjoyable aroma. Taste is malty, fruity and quite sweet. I can pick up the aforementioned fruits as well as some caramel and some alcohol. There’s a little hop bitterness in there, but there’s really not much left. I should have opened this one sooner. The hops have faded to the point that the only thing balancing the malty sweetness is the alcohol and its losing. Mouthfeel is sticky and syrupy. Full body with low to medium carbonation. Not bad as is, but I’ll bet it was greater a year ago. I wish I hadn’t waited so long on this one.
pale and golden, remarkably light-coloured for a barley wine. nose of, what I would call medium crystal malt, but it is likely not present in this beer, so it is likely a alcohol and yeast driven note. medium carbonation for the style. some bitterness before yeast esters and a touch of spice from the rye, as well as a musky flavor. The alcoholic component has completely warn away with time, providing no distraction and very little depth either, resulting in a surprising component. overall the beer is not overly flavorful, but the rye makes it somewhat unique and the fermentation profile is remarkable. I’m not sure how good this would been a couple years ago, but now 3 years later it is very enjoyable
12oz bottle via trade.
Cloudy amber pour with a nitro-looking one-finger white head that leaves thick foam and lacing.
The aroma is malty and sweet with a little caramel, rye, sherry, and light fruits.
The flavor is also sweet and malty with a caramel malt base. Fairly boozy without too much to it really. Rye, pear, and a strange menthol flavor.
From the mouthfeel of this, I really can’t believe it’s not nitro. Insanely full and smooth with very soft carbonation.
Overall, well, it’s unique. Not a really big fan though.
Bottle. Poured a clear cloudy golden brown with a tan head that lasted throughout the beer and laced slightly. Aroma was full of sweet grains with a bit of rye and quite an alcohol burn. Flavor was quite syrupy with sweet grains, a bit of rye. There was a some underlying fruit notes and a good amount of alcohol burn.
There is a syrupy sweetness with some booze at the end. It pours pale copper with a generous amount of sediment. The flavors, after three years of aging, have settled nicely to make it very palatable at 10.2%. It has a syrupy sweetness tamed on a medium body.
I just came across this bottle, now aged 3 years, at Al’s in Hampden PA. Very nice. The alcohol is still strong but has mellowed. Hops are negligable. The taste is almost that of an abbey tripple. There is a strong belgian yeast fruitiness. The rye adds a nice twist. The head was minimal and disappeared quickly. Quite hazy. This is a delightful beer now that it has had a chance to mature.
Very candied, sugary aroma. Flavor is medium-light sweet and surprisingly not hoppy - must have faded quite rapidly in the bottle. Light tartness and light rye spicing. Kinda weird.
Bottle, 2007; drank in 2010. Pours a red-gold with a moderate, off-white head. Sweet aroma with bread, caramel, light toffee, some ripe fruits. Sweet flavor with notes of plum, caramel, spice, cherries, apple, rye bread, with light citrus hops towards the end. Nicely attenuated. Medium to full bodied with calm carbonation. Lightly warming. Finishes with sweet maltiness. A very good Barley Wine.
A surprsingly light gold pour with a little white head on it. Aroma is sweet with light crackery rye. Spicy, pepper rye flavors are pretty dominant on this along with more typical barley wine sweet, caramelized sugar flavors, but overall it feels a bit harsh on the palate. The alcohol is very strong on this and brings it down a bit, but otherwise I liked the strong rye presence.
Pour reddish gold, full, long-lasting, off-white head. Aroma is malty, rye, cranberry, smells like a sour ale. Taste is rich, sweet malt with strong sherry notes and cranberry on the finish. Alcohol taste is very present, too strong, makes the end a little sour. Mouthfeel is very creamy, pretty high carbonation.
Odd nose - rye, some estery sweetness, sugary , alcohol, spicy peppery notes/rye. Pale gold, creamy white head. Flavor is sweet, rye, light spicy notes, touch of oxidation, weird estery, almost a little salty flavors. Smooth, creamy body, kind of light. Some alcohol in there as well. Decent.
22oz. Bottle. Anniversary release from 2007. Sat on this one for a long time hoping that it would improve with age. Have to say that it is still a pretty disappointing beer and easily the worst of the Weyerbacher anniversary offerings. Color is coppery with a surprising amount of carbonation for a three year old beer. Nose is dominated by something similar to turpentine and some rye malt aroma. Flavor is marginally better than the aroma, but is still has too much alcohol heat. Shows some dark fruit character from the malt and definitely has that oddball strong grainy flavor typically associated with rye malt. At a 50% ratio, the rye flavor is so strong that it pushes everything else into the background. Even five minutes after finishing my glass, my mouth still tastes like it was attacked by a loaf of rye from a Jewish deli. Mouthfeel is decent with a slight syrupy feel and the finish is relatively smooth. Maybe good for those who love over the top rye beers, but this one was overkill for me.
Coppery gold with an aged sweetness. Strong without completely knocking you down. I think that this one should have aged well.
(22oz bottle) Pours a clear golden body with a small off-white head. Aroma of caramel, herbs, maple, cherry, and raisins. Flavor of cherry, raisins, plum, toffee, and caramel.
Copper clear with some sediment ..... off white head .... aroma of white wine, fruits and rye .... tastes a lot like white wine with an apple/pear taste, honey, sweet malt and rye ... a different taste aged very well and had well balanced flavors .... bottle marked 2007
bottle thanks to bu11zeye. poured light gold and when swirled had some great legs. aroma and flavor were honey, citrus, and grain.
Bottle thanks to Bu11zeye. Pours a light hazy gold with small white fizzy head. Aroma of light honey, some fruit, light malt. Flavor is sweet, a touch of honey, malt, fruit. Mouth feel is medium body with a creamy mouth feel. Overall, not all that bad.
Bottle thanks to Bu11zeye. Pours a light hazy amber body with little head. Aroma is light stone fruits, lemony(?) and mild sweetness. Flavor is alcohol, grainy, medium caramel sweetness and some toffee. Fine carbonation with a medium to full mouthfeel. Sort of and odd barley wine (rye influence?).
bottle thanks to bu11zeye. amber with a white head. rye, dried fruits, caramel, syrup, and light alcohol. nice on the palate with flavors of dried fruits, rye, and caramel, smooth finish.
Thanks to bu11zeye for sharing this bottle.
The beer pours a dark yellow color with a white head. The aroma is malty sweetness with some toffee, caramel and honey. The flavor is caramel and toffee malts with honey. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.
Bottle thanks to bu11zeye. Pours with a small fading off-white head over an orange body. Aroma is butter, caramel, rye, toast and maple syrup. Taste is banana esters, toffee, and frosted flakes. Creamy carbonation and a syrupy presence.
Cloudy copper orange color with a brief white head. Aroma grapefruit, rye malt, and floral hops. Flavor is unique to a barley wine- grapefruit, spice, honey and a touch of alcohol. Warms the mouth. Definitely a sipper in small doses.
2007 Bottle - Pours out thick but clear orange with a small white head...aroma is spicy grain and honey, little bit of floral hops...flavour is similar, sweet and slightly sticky, this is like a cross between wheatwine and malt liqor...grainy, spicy caramel and high gravity...interesting stuff...