J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Calvados)

Brewed by J.W. Lees
Style: Barley Wine
Middleton Junction, England

Aroma- barley, apple pie, cinnamon, earth, green apple, honey. Flavor- difficult to nail down; like a malty brew and apple brandy got into some furious mating and spawned this; dates, apple, honey, sherry, old wood. Very complex. Woody, bittersweet lingering finish. Pretty awesome. v.2006

2003 edition, 275ml bottle. Aroma of leather, malted barley, caramel and old musty paper with alcohol. Sweet flavor, pretty cloying. Other flavors that come to mind: butter, vanilla, fruit (apple?), wood, caramel. Thick body, nice carbonation for a seven year old barleywine.

9.3oz bottle, 2006 edition, from grape & gourmet. pours a dark, syrupy, cider brown with lots of sediment, almost no head, and a slight ring of lace around the edges. aroma is very nice and decadently sweet with huge fruit notes of red and green apple, pear, and apricot with notes of cinnamon, brown sugar, bready malts, and sweet yeast with a note of boozy, port wine and wet wood. flavor is excellent with delicate fruit notes of raisin, fig, and green apple with subtle sweet notes of toffee, brown sugar, and vanilla with hints of gingerbread set against a background of smokey, ashy wood that finishes like a fine, reposado tequila. palate is barely carbonated yet full bodied and sticky with a nice alcohol warmth. overall, and deliciously complex brew.

Dark amber brown, thick syrup like body. Aroma is sweet and complex, fruit, wood and lots of cider. Flavor is sweet apple juice with some spice other dark fruit, wood and some alcohol, brandy.

This has got to be the most complex beer ever...Try it. and judge for yourself.

2005 Vintage bottle. pours a light red with a small white head with some yeast sediment. very sweet, port and raisin aroma.... really nice. medium oily body... on the thick side... lots of dark fruit throughout... some brandy notes... but far more port. some alcohol on the finish... probably will be even better with a few more years in the cellar.

Vintage: 2004 Bottle pours clear copper with absolutely no head. Smells like apple cobbler with hints of buttery pie crust in the background. Flavor shows apples, pears, brown sugar, toffee, gingerbread, oak, and a small amount of vanilla. Overall body is moderate, slick and oily. Starts sweet and finishes sweet, definately an apertif or dessert beer. I’m extremely impressed how well this beer has held up.

VINTAGE: 2006 Pours a very nice brown with orange highlights and slight tones of rose pink when the light hits it just right. As is the way with these, it has almost no head at all. The smell is the star here. Nice big yeasty scents with traces of spices and apples. Like a freshly baked loaf of apple sweetbread. Taste is sweet and malty. Again, here are notes of spices and apples, from the Calvados, surely. Nice little hints of oak coming through. Like it’s brothers, this has the feel of liquid velvet in the mouth. So nice. A quite drinkable bottle, as far as I’m concerned. Perhaps a bit too sweet for some, or a bit too pricey for others, but I think it’s totally worth it. Mmmm...delicious!