Lost Abbey The Angels Share (Bourbon Barrel)

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

From bottle at Lost Abbey before RBSG on 08/02/2008. Deep brown body with a medium brown head. Big bourbon and yeast aroma. Bready caramel, yeast and light bourbon flavor. Full body with moderately low carbonation and a smooth finish. - 8/4/9/4/18-4.4 Bottle courtesy of Immy on 04/19/2008. Dark brown body with ruby highlights. Molassas, maple, vanilla aromas with caramel hints and a light bourbon ending. Sweet caramel and molassas flavor, light vanilla and caramel. Medium full body with moderate carbonation.

Thanks to xmarcnolanx for sharing this highly regarding beer. Pours very dark brown with a nice tan head. The aroma has a ton of oak, only a hint of whiskey to me (marc apparently felt differently), dark caramel and some vanilla. Medium / full body that seems lighter than what was expected and lots of sharp carbonation. The flavor starts with grainy oakiness, brown sugar, toffee, dark caramel, heavily toasted malt and some definite alcohol. the finish has quite a bit of bite with citric traits and sharpness. There seem to be some hops showing through as well. Very nice beer.

Aroma is sweet bourbon, lots of bourbon, but not overwhelming, sweet caramel. Taste is bourbon, sourness, vanilla. Deep, rich alcohol, oak. Finishes fizzy, alcoholic, cloying. This is very good.

375ml bottle. I had this in the truck for about 5 hours but let it settle for a couple when I got home because I know how much the Lost Abbey yeast can negatively affect the beer. Let’s just say it’s one of the many reasons I’m not such a huge fan of this brewery. They do have some winners, though, namely the Brandy Barrel Angels Share, which I absolutely love. So on to the rating... out of the bottle it’s foaming and overcarbonated and lands in the glass under about twelve feet of thick brown foam. Okay, I can wait. The nose is primarily semi-sweet bourbon, complete with the maple and vanilla that seems to be the norm in bourbon aged strong ales or barley wines, something that doesn’t come through so dominating as with a stout or porter due to the roast and chocolate. But this one smells nice enough, with some spicy charred malt, some boozy alcohol, some barrel tannins and some tobacco/plum/date/nut notes, which is pretty nice but doesn’t impress me as much as the brandy barrel version. Texture is overcarbonated but sticky, with a resinous nut and dried, spiced plum flavor that’s most prominent. The finish has a hint of alcohol, not completely transparent but not overpowering at all, and as a whole it comes off heavy with the nut character. There’s some sweet maple-flavored bourbon for sure, and also some peppery wood and graham cracker flavors hidden a little deeper. Overall it’s a fine beer, has a lot going for it, especially the dried nuts and wood, but it doesn’t measure up to the brandy barrel version, but then I’m a whore for brandy and wine barrel barley wines (bourbon belongs with stout, brand and wine with barley wine). Quite good, but dare I say overrated a bit?

Shared by nolonkowal. I was very unimpressed with this beer. The regular version was better in my opinion. Lighter body with a mostly a watered-down bourbon flavor with some heat, and hints of oak. Definitely not a good mix.

Bottle from Dunk. I drank this a few weeks ago, was supposed to save to drink with illinismitty, but he came the following week. Anyway, Dark brown with ruby highlights. Big fluffy/fizzy tan head. The aroma was of sweet caramel, wood, and light brown sugar. The flavor was the same with light sour notes and bourbony finish. Massive lacing left at the end. Good, but not great like the other Angels Share. FYI can’t sniff Old Stock Bourbon, know that.

375mL bottle. Pours a dark, murky brown color; slightly viscous; fizzy light-tan head with patchy lacing. Lots of warming bourbon, dried fruits, and chewy brown sugar in the aroma; soft, generous bourbon character. Highly carbonated. Full mouthfeel: chewy bourbon, toasted oak and dried fruits; intense, viscous chewy malts underneath, coupling well to a generous bourbon presence; impressively tasty and dense, although I think I prefer the original brandy version a bit better. Lengthy finish, showing chocolate, dried fruits and caramel, and lingering soft bourbon.

Bottle shared by nolankowal: Pours dark brown with a tan head. Aroma, oaky, bourbon, vanilla, some caramel. Flavor, bourbon, vanilla, caramel, earthy notes, some booze to it. I preferred the brandy version, but this would probably do well with some age on the bottles.