Maine Beer Company Weez
I think I may have just found my favorite Black IPA. It’s taken a few bottles through the past year or so to get to this point, but I think that Maine Beer Weez is the one. This 7.2% ABV brew utilizes a blend of eight different malts and additions of Warrior, Cascade, Citra and Simcoe hop varieties at various points in the brewing process to achieve a wonderfully hoppy yet balanced drinking experience.
Most of examples of this style that I have run into have been lopsided. They either lean to heavily on the roast or too heavily on the hop aspect. Now, that sometimes works out, but usually doesn’t. Weez, on the other hand, has a solid amount of hop character but counter balances it with roasty malt profile is at just the right level to balance everything out.
Appearance
I got a little silly with the pour on this one as you can see by the photo above. A large, frothy stack of brown foam crowned the near black, opaque brew.
Aroma
Weez has a great hop profile on the nose. Grapefruit and pine resin combine with a light, roasty char that rests comfortably in the background with hints of chocolate, coffee and tobacco.
Taste
Yes this beer has a wonderfully hoppy punch, but the malt blend also shines through wonderfully. A moderate sweetness doesn’t necessarily cancel out the hop bit, but instead compliments it instead. Weez has a wonderfully earthy character from start to finish with hints of coffee that linger in the drying finish. It’s one of more fuller bodied examples of the style.
Overall
Roasty and hoppy without causing confusion? Yes please! And that’s exactly what we’ve got here with Maine Beer Weez. Everything is at just the right levels to make for a deceptively drinkable beer with tons of flavor. I knew I should have picked up more of this when I saw it.
Rating: 4/5
