Scotch Ales, alternately known as Wee Heavys, are actually an extended family member of the large pale ale family. The Scotch Ale is not to confused with Scottish Ales, which are lighter in body and lower in alcohol but otherwise essentially the same beer. Wee Heavys, as I prefer to call them, spend a longer time boiling in the mash tun during brewing. This extra time caramelizes the wort and imparts sweet flavors and a deep copper to brown color to the beer. The style will also exhibit some smoky notes and there may even be a tea-like bitterness in some examples. The style is quite hefty and serves well as a winter warmer or nightcap as the alcohol by volume ranges from 8% up into double digits. It is the strongest of the pale ale family save for the Barleywine. This particular example from Leinenkugel's tips the scales at 9.5% abv. The best way I can think to describe this style is to say that it is a strong, rich, and sweet beer almost reminiscent of an amber ale on steroids with some notes of smoke and/or peat. I am a scotch drinker, on the rare occasion that I'm not drinking beer, and this is a big part of why this style appeals to me. I love my scotches smoky and peaty and I can find some of those characteristics right here. That's one of the things I love about beer, that beer can exhibit so many flavors from so many other foods and drinks.
The Leinenkugel Brewery is based in Chippewa Falls, WI. While they were founded eons ago in 1867 and survived Prohibition by bottling and selling soda water, they are today a wholly owned property of Coors. They are no longer an independent craft brewery. This is a common occurrence in the beer world; large breweries will often buy smaller craft breweries as a way of competing in the craft market or simply to own their competition entirely. This corporate ownership by Coors explains the pervasiveness of Leinenkugel's. Their beer is available in nearly every supermarket, corner store, gas station, and liquor shop in America. Few if any independent breweries have the type of production capabilities to reach that level of saturation - yet. The only one that comes close is Sierra Nevada. While Leinenkugel's has built its reputation largely upon beers I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole (Summer Shandy, Berry Weiss), they have recently begun producing small batch, limited run beers under the Big Eddy name that retail at medium market prices, around $10 per 4 pack. Other entries in the series have included their Imperial Stout and Imperial IPA. All biases against breweries like Coors aside, these were decent beers. They were tasty and technically very good. My only complaint is that they might have not had enough personality. Both tasted exactly like the textbook definition of their respective styles, as though the BJCP guidelines had come to life in a beer. But there was nothing that made them stand out in a crowd, no defining feature, nothing memorable. I'm at a point in my beer drinking where I'm more interested in creativity and uniqueness than technical perfection. That being said, these are great beers to try if you're just getting into craft beer. I'll be curious to see if Big Eddy's Wee Heavy falls into the same trap. In the interest of full disclosure, I'll admit that this beer has very big shoes to fill as my favorite Wee Heavy is the much revered Alesmith Wee Heavy. I will honestly make every attempt to set this and my bias against Coors aside and judge this beer in its own right.
The beer is presented in the typical Leinenkugel's Big Eddy bottle, a typical 12oz brown bottle wrapped in a rustic brown label. Each beer in the Big Eddy series sports a different trim color to quickly differentiate each one. The Imperial Stout was red, the Imperial IPA green, and the Wee Heavy navy blue. Upon cracking the bottle cap and pouring strongly into my Libbey Poco Grande glass, I am met by a very deep copper colored beer with many highlights of ruby, amber, mahogany, and garnet. The light even exposes traces of a burgundy-like color. The head is only about a quarter inch of khaki foam that quickly drops back to a thin ring. This lower level of carbonation is perfectly acceptable for the style, though some do exhibit large heads. Appearance: 13/15
The nose is pleasing. Notes of molasses and caramel greet me upfront. Sweet, dark fruit esters accompany them to the party - plum and raisin perhaps? I have a finely tuned nose for peat and my nose tells me its in there. There's something earthy, peaty, and smoky about this beer that instantly recalls Islay scotches. More straight smoke masquerades behind the peat. I smell a campfire. A little biscuit-like bready malt dances around in there too. A delight to sniff. Nose: 23/25
The beer becomes smokier and sweeter on the palate. I readily identify roaring peat fires floating in the background combined with a faint cured meat-like smokiness. The sweet dark fruit flavors are vying for attention as well. All these flavors are wrapped up in a sturdy caramel backbone. It is very good but, despite my hopes to the contrary, this beer is beginning to resemble an imminently well crafted but perfectly forgettable beer just like its Big Eddy brethren. Palate: 45/50
The mouthfeel is decent; big and powerful. While it certainly tries hard, it does fall through on the back end of the swallow; a certain unmistakable wateriness come creeping in when instead I would be hoping for a final punch of bitterness or smoke to finish the job. Mouthfeel: 7/10
OVERALL: 88/100
Well, this beer landed about where I expected it to but hoping it wouldn't. Its a shame when a beer's biggest flaw is its utter mediocrity but that alone is enough to let it get lost in the shuffle of an ever-evolving world of beers to tantalize and entice. I just can't imagine remembering this beer in six months. It was still very decent and would be a great introduction to the style, though I'd sooner choose Founders Dirty Bastard as your initial foray into Wee Heavys. Sorry Leinenkugel's, I know you tried really hard with the Big Eddy series and I know what you were going for, but you're not quite there. Cheers!
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