Oliphant Swamp Thang Smoked Wee Heavy

Oliphant Swamp Thang Smoked Wee Heavy. A Collaboration with 9 Mile Brewing.

9 % ABV, Oliphant Brewing, Somerset, WI. 

I had to wade through my Oliphant reviews to find out if I'd had this beer. It looks like I have, if this is the same beer. But that one was a smoked Scottish Ale, not a Wee Heavy. Those should be two different things. Also it was 8, not 9% ABV, and it wasn't a collaboration with 9 Mile. (A collaboration seems perfectly natural, since 9 Mile brewer John Leingang worked for many years at Dangerous Man, where Oliphant co-owner Matt Wallace also once was employed.) 9 Mile's version was on tap for their opening, but I did not try it, for I did not want to stand in line another half hour for a beer. 

Of course, there was also Swamp Thing, the unsmoked Scotch Ale, but it doesn't  seem like I ever came across that one. 

Dark brown color, nearly opaque, large creamy tan head on top. 

In the nose: Smoked malt up front, sweet malty notes coming in from behind. Toffee and cocoa are tops in this game, with smoke flavors wafting through out. Bacon meets the sweet treats. 

In the mouth: Rich and sweet, clean and smooth. Full body. Delicious. Smoke flavor is much milder on the palate, but it's there. Chocolate and toffee flavors again take command. No hops or bitterness to be found anywhere. Malt is master here, and the sweetness is still held in check. There's bound to be someone to find this "too sweet", but they are lost souls who cannot be saved. The smoke is there to reign it in. It ends with a twist of dryness, but with sweet right by it's side. 

A wonderful beer. Keep on making great beers like this, guys, and I'll keep drinking them. 

A collaboration with Nine Mile Brewing. Peat- and beechwood-smoked scotch ale.