     Winter Palace Wee Heavy (Paper City Brewing Company)
Since it was below freezing for most of today I figured I could still sneak in this "winter" beer as a seasonal despite it technically being spring (which means absolutely nothing here in New England). From the Paper City site: "Our recipe is true to the style of WEE HEAVY. Paper City Brewery is proud to introduce our second beer in a long line of traditional ales from the last century. We use pale and roasted malt to give our ale a rich, full maltiness and a deep, dark amber color. The nature of a WEE HEAVY makes for a higher alcohol percentage but this softens and counterbalances the sweet maltiness of the ales" Here we go... Pour - deep dark reddish brown in color with a good inch of fluffy off-white head. Very nice looking pour. Aroma - malt extract, pancake syrup, maltose, molasses, brown rice syrup and dirt. Taste - very sweet, lots of molasses, brown sugar, Caro syrup and some bitterness in the finish. I am not sure if this is too sweet, after a few more sips I decide its pretty damn close. I really want to like this beer as I am a big fan of the style and this brewery is very close to me. It has some slight hints towards metallic flavors and an almost cloying sweetness to it that make my mission difficult.
Overall - deep breath. I really, really want to like this beer but it has some issues. Its much too sweet without a lot balancing it out. Can you enjoy it? Sure, I am not hating this glass, I just wish it was a little more varied, maybe some peat-y smokiness and maybe a little less syrupy sweetness.
Would I buy more of it? - I am going to have to say probably not. Although on Thursdays and Fridays you can visit the brewery in Holyoke and for $7 ($6 if you bring a canned good) you have two hours of limitless samples from the bar and when you leave you get a 4-pack of beer. Not a bad deal if you ask me.
Note - the actual "Winter Palace" is located in St. Petersburg, Russia. From 1732 to 1917 it was the official residence of the Russian Tsars. Situated between the Palace Embankment and the Palace Square, adjacent to the site of Peter the Great's original Winter Palace, the present and fourth Winter Palace was built and altered almost continuously between the late 1730s and 1837, when it was severely damaged by fire and immediately rebuilt. The storming of the palace in 1917 became an iconic symbol of the Russian Revolution.
Posted by Russ Labels: Scotch Ales/Wee Heavys | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
