Leinenkugel’s Wee Heavy Scotch Ale will be the next release in the Big Eddy Series. The series started years ago with a draft only imperial IPA. Then last year, Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout arrived. In 2012, the brewery will Continue Reading →
At Cigar City Brewing’s Barrel Aged Hunahpu Day, the brewery released a Rum Barrel Aged edition of Big Sound. Apparently, there are some flavor issues that Joey Redner would like to address…
Leinenkugel is experimenting with a barrel aging program. The first experiments have been with Big Eddy Imperial Stout. Eddy has spent time in bourbon and rye bourbon barrels. Here’s the kicker, these releases don’t really exist. Well, they Continue Reading →
Cigar City will be announcing release details about their collaboration with Dunedin Brewing. The colllaboration/beer alliance is described as a Biere De Scotch ale.
Also, today Swamp Head Brewing is in Tampa to brew the second half of the barleywine collaboration Continue Reading →
Cigar City Brewing is continuing their barrel aged variations with Big Sound Scotch Ale. Seems congruent with what CC is doing with Hunahpu Imperial Stout.
Variations include:
Rum Barrel Aged, Whiskey Barrel Aged, Bourbon Barrel Aged.
Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams) just released a new beer in their Imperial Series called “Wee Heavy”. It is a scotch ale, which is brewed with a big amount of roasted malts causing the beer to be sweeter, with touches Continue Reading →
Bridgeport Brewing (Portland, OR) has brought back a beer they brewed 20 years ago – Highland Ambush. It’s a scotch ale with a barrel twist -and brewed by a Ramsay. I’m on board with that. Read Bridgeport’s history for the Continue Reading →
Leinenkugel’s Wee Heavy Scotch Ale will be the next release in the Big Eddy Series. The series started years ago with a draft only imperial IPA. Then last year, Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout arrived. In 2012, the brewery will expand the line to include Wee Heavy Scotch Ale, A Baltic Porter, and another new style they are still deciding on. There is also some barrel aged Big Eddy experiments. (And they are some damn tasty experiments.) Per John Leinenkugel:
1st Official Brew Date for “BIG EDDY Wee Heavy Scotch Ale” will be next Tuesday, December 20th at the Leinie’s 10th Street Brewery in Milwaukee. We are hoping for successful brews with a release of it sometime in February after Valentine’s/President’s Day. Then on to the Imperial IPA which was last brewed back in 2007 (draft only for Milwaukee & Madison, WI) rounding out next year (2012) with a few brews of a Baltic Porter next fall after Labor Day.
Style: Scotch Ale Availability: 12oz bottles, Draft Arrival: February, 2012
At Cigar City Brewing’sBarrel Aged Hunahpu Day, the brewery released a Rum Barrel Aged edition of Big Sound. Apparently, there are some flavor issues that Joey Redner would like to address…
I want to apologize to everyone that was unhappy with the condition of Rum Barrel Aged Big Sound Scotch Ale and for not addressing this issue earlier. It wasn’t willful, I have just been busier than usual this last month going through the process of becoming a foster parent and adjusting to having a 4th child under the age of 4 in my home. Because I have been more distracted than usual I haven’t been checking in on my favorite beer sites daily like I normally do.
It’s not an excuse it’s just what has been going on with me. I literally didn’t know the scope of things until tonight. Everyone has demands on their time, I am however not exceptionally good at managing my time and so because of the distractions in my life I haven’t been paying as much attention to the websites I normally monitor. I apologize for that as well, I certainly wish I had noticed this earlier.
That said I want to address some of the concerns people had about this beer and some conjecture on it. We certainly did not know we had a problem on our hands and just chose to go forward anyway. It is much harder to address a beer gone wild than it is to prevent an unintentionally wild beer from ever getting released. In fact I’d happily pay 10X the profit on the Rum BA Big Sound to not have that sinking feeling I got when someone informed me there might be an issue with it. Releasing something that isn’t generally enjoyed never helps the cause.
We bottled 6 barrel aged beers in this last release. Three versions of spirit-based Hunahpu, 1 Virgin Oak beer and 2 of Scotch Ale. The Scotch Ale aged in Rum barrels was treated exactly as the other 5. Same aging area. Same transfer technique and the same bottling machine. Why did the Rum eventually turn out tart? I can’t say. I don’t know. I wish I did. That is the nature of using barrels. You take some gambles when you use wood. That said, on the day (and all the days leading up) it was released we were very happy with the way it was drinking. Many on the staff still are very happy with it and we just opened several bottles from the library when we become aware of a potential issue. But each bottle was a little different, which means some people may have gotten bottles that tasted a lot worse (or possibly better) than the test bottles we have been pulling. Again something that can happen with Barrel Aging.
This was absolutely not an attempt to sell a beer we didn’t think was good. We liked the beer we sold. I have been sending it to personal friends as recently as last week. I want people to be impressed with what we make. Not pissed. I didn’t purposely release a dud. It’s much harder to deal with the repercussions of selling a beer that isn’t perfect than it is to just not sell that beer. Having people feel duped doesn’t gain us anything; it only hurts. In fact if you want to be cynical you could assume that if I knew the beer had (or would have) gone tart I missed a golden opportunity to sell an intentionally tart beer. We didn’t “know” there was an issue before we released the beer. That is the truth.
All of that said if you are/were unhappy with the beer or even suspect that you might be unhappy with it, email [email protected]. I will give you the option to trade for the value in other beer and/or merchandise or if you just want nothing further to do with us I will happily refund your money.
Again, I apologize that we didn’t execute our vision on this beer. We didn’t want it to be tart. The fact that some people like it doesn’t ameliorate the fact that it wasn’t as attended and I relish the opportunity to make it up to anyone affected in whichever manner they prefer.
Leinenkugel is experimenting with a barrel aging program. The first experiments have been with Big Eddy Imperial Stout. Eddy has spent time in bourbon and rye bourbon barrels. Here’s the kicker, these releases don’t really exist. Well, they do – but they don’t. These little 7 oz bottles are just testers. The brewers at Lenie’s took the first release of Big Eddy (2010) and aged it in (2) Heaven Hill for a full year. The flavor of this beer is incredible. (More on that in a minute.)
Also on the way are 2 NEW beers from Leinie’s:
Wee Heavy Scotch Ale. New style for Lenies. 2012 will see the release to 30 key accounts. There will also be a barrel side project for Wee Heavy. More rye bourbon & bourbon.
IPA. The brewery has been itching to release a hoppy offering. April 2012 will see this release.
There are other styles in development, and Leinenkugel’s expands their lineup.
So where does this leave the barrel aging? First public release is about 2 years away. It will take time for the brewery to build up a barrel inventory to move forward with the program.
How does it taste? Lovers of barrel aged beers should already start drooling over this release. Caramel, Raisins, vanilla, molasses, rye & oak. I found myself trying to get the last drops out of the bottle (I had to share 7ozs!) 2 years is too long to wait for more.
Cigar City Auld Alliance 9/14, Barleywine BrewDay #2
Cigar City will be announcing release details about their collaboration with Dunedin Brewing. The colllaboration/beer alliance is described as a Biere De Scotch ale.
Also, today Swamp Head Brewing is in Tampa to brew the second half of the barleywine collaboration 2 version of the barleywine will be produced – an American barleywine in Gainesville at Swamp Head, and an English Barleywine in Tampa.
Cigar City Brewing is continuing their barrel aged variations with Big Sound Scotch Ale. Seems congruent with what CC is doing with Hunahpu Imperial Stout.
Variations include:
Rum Barrel Aged, Whiskey Barrel Aged, Bourbon Barrel Aged.
Label:
Big Sound Scotch Ale is dedicated to our good buddy Gino, the most punk rock bagpiper you’ll ever meet, and the rest of the men & women of Tampa Bay Pipes and Drums. Pairs well with Haggis, Highland Games, Huge Heads and Enormous Pillows and of course Bagpipe music
Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams) just released a new beer in their Imperial Series called “Wee Heavy”. It is a scotch ale, which is brewed with a big amount of roasted malts causing the beer to be sweeter, with touches of brown sugar and caramel flavor. Hops are minimal. Historically, the Scots had very few hops that would survive the Scottish winter. Also there are historical accounts of the English being stingy with their hops too. Sam Adams used peat smoked malt in the making of this beer, a signature ingredient in scotch whiskeys. The beer is then cold aged.
Commercial Description: Samuel Adams Wee Heavy was inspired by both traditional Scotch ales and Scotch whiskies, for a combination of deep roasted flavor and earthy smoke character. Traditional Scottish ales vary in intensity with the strong ales known as Scotch Ale or “Wee Heavy”. To create our own version of the style we added peat smoked malt to bring the unique flavor of Scotland to this complex and satisfying brew.
Style: Scotch Ale/ Wee Heavy Hops: Zeus Malts: Two-row Harrington, Metcalfe, and Copeland pale malts, Caramel 60, Roasted malt, Peated malt
Bridgeport Brewing (Portland, OR) has brought back a beer they brewed 20 years ago – Highland Ambush. It’s a scotch ale with a barrel twist -and brewed by a Ramsay. I’m on board with that. Read Bridgeport’s history for the lowdown.
First brewed in the 1980s as a special beer for the BrewPub at BridgePort, Highland Ambush is making its triumphant return more than 20 years later. Stuart MacLean Ramsay, then pub manager, conceptualized the brew to pay homage to his Scottish heritage. This year’s Highland Ambush takes inspiration from the original ale using NW pale ale malt along with a Scottish crystal and roast malt. The hopping rate of Highland Ambush has been toned down to help highlight the complementing vanilla from the American oak bourbon barrels and caramel-toffee malt nuances. Reddish-Brown in color, Highland Ambush will warm the coldest of toes and noses this holiday season.
Leinenkugel’s Wee Heavy Scotch Ale will be the next release in the Big Eddy Series. The series started years ago with a draft only imperial IPA. Then last year, Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout arrived. In 2012, the brewery will expand the line to include Wee Heavy Scotch Ale, A Baltic Porter, and another new style they are still deciding on. There is also some barrel aged Big Eddy experiments. (And they are some damn tasty experiments.) Per John Leinenkugel:
