Gold Medal – AleSmith Wee Heavy
Silver Medal – Lake Louie Reserve Scotch
Bronze Medal – Third Tier Neat
Other Participants – Founders Dirty Bastard, Leinenkugels Big Eddy Wee Heavy
Board of Director Vote
1. AleSmith Wee Heavy
2. Third Tier Neat
3. Founders Dirty Bastard
4. Lake Louie Reserve Scotch
5. Leinenkugels Big Eddy Wee Heavy
Personal Reaction
When I first tasted AleSmith’s Wee Heavy, I had to go back and check because I couldn’t believe it wasn’t barrel aged. There was just layer upon layer of flavor. The complexity of that beer was far beyond any of the other brews. My second favorite beer, which actually scored as the worst beer of the day, was Leinie’s Big Eddy. A very apparent funk had settled in, so there must be some type of infection going on. I actually thought it was quite interesting and sort of worked. Everyone else disagreed. Neat, which is our homebrew, had a touch of sweetness in the front that really balanced the beer out. Really a fantastic brew. The last two, Dirty Bastard and Lake Louie Reserve were solid and unremarkable. I think the added ABV in Lake Louie Reserve gave it the edge over Dirty Bastard, but both were great representatives of the style.