Lost Abbey The Angels Share (Bourbon Barrel)

Brewed by Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: Barley Wine
San Marcos, California USA

Thanks to beastiefan2k for sharing this at Dickinsonbeer’s hoboken gathering. Dark brown in color with a tan head. Aroma: Bourbon, molasses, dark fruits, and vanilla. Taste: alot of molasses, bourbon, chocolate, dark fruits, oak and vanilla. Body is big but the beer is actually very smooth. Alcohol is moderate in the finish. I’ve been wanting to try this for a long time now, and I am glad I did. Thanks Eugene.

375ml bottle. Just short of a gusher. Pours cloudy brown color which ends up almost opaque in the glass. Large head. Aroma of bourbon, vanilla and a lot of oak. Plum, fig and brown sugar. Some chocolate malts in the taste. Heavy body without much hint of the alcohol.

bottle@Hoboken#1-thanks beastiefan2k–pours a thin offwhite head and dark brown color. Aroma is medium malt, wood, alcohol. Taste is vanilla, medium malt, wood-bourbon, alcohol. Occasional. Sipping. 3.4

5-25-08 bottle
Thick dark dense brown with a good head and nice lacing. Smell is rich chocolate and bourbon with a hint of hefty dough - a nice bold smell. Nice flavor but a hint milder than I wanted - malt and roasted bourbon come through, but just barely. Not boozy at all to me. Palate is a hint on the thin side but not dreadful. The regular Angels Share is more to my liking.

A dark brown appearance with a carbonated beige head. The aroma is whiskey, chocolate, dark fruit, alcohol, and licorice. The flavor contains a slight sour presence with some chocolate, raisins, licorice, oak, and whiskey. The aftertaste is thick and sweet. Overall a nice beer!

375ml bottle from the Sinners Club. A vigorous pour, dark brown to burgundy, with a fast rising but quickly diminishing head. Crisp carbonation makes the complex nose even more rich, with not only a nice balanced wood and bourbon aroma but a subtle, vinous character that’s extremely appealing. Hard to ignore the nutty aroma and flavors in there too, a nod to the glories of the English style. It all blends together sumptuously. There are lovely hops in there, making the barrel presence light rather than syrupy and cloying. The malts are also not too sweet, but just there to add depth. Dark fruits and bourbon mellow out into something with a full, smooth mouthfeel but with a liveliness and zest that you wouldn’t ordinarily expect. So much going on with this beer. It’s truly awesome and I’ll be very curious to see how it ages.

Big thanks to Ken for this one. Dark brown to black body, tall gushing tan head. Aroma of warm brown sugar, caramel, vanilla, strong bourbon character, noticeable alcohol. Flavor has an overwhelming bourbon note, cola, coffee bitterness in finish. Effervescent body. Bourbon is boring.

375ml bottle sampled at Noog4 thanks to the generosity of John C. Big lacing on this one. Murky chestnut pour with a lasting head. Plenty of wood barrel to this. In fact, too much IMO. Buttery bourbon and light fruit (date?) is also present. The flavor is not as bright and fruit as the regular Angels Share. It certainly is complex but it is overtaken by lots of wood and buttery bourbon. I still note some dark fruit but it is nearly swept away by the bourbon barrel. Full mouth feel, creamy and slick. Good, but I preferred the original.