Lost Abbey The Angels Share (Bourbon Barrel)

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

Name: Angel’s Share 2008 Bourbon
Date: April 04, 2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Brewery
Appearance: opens with a loud pop and a quick gush, solid black, creamy tan head that stirs up big and thick on demand, thick sudsy lace
Aroma: bourbon and chocolate aroma with lots of vanilla sweetness and a hint of peppery alcohol, eventually some sweet dark caramel shows up, aroma is too faint for a beer this big
Body: huge thick and creamy body
Flavor: rich chocolate flavor, nice dark caramel sweetness blends with the whisky and vanilla to give it a candy quality, touch of ripe dark fruit, the sweetness continues to pull out the richness of the chocolate, just a hint of oak adds complexity rather than balance as the beer is already quite balanced by the rich array of flavors
Overall: I did not think it was possible to beat the original brandy barrel version, I was wrong

Name: Angel’s Share 2008 Bourbon
Date: July 03, 2008
Source: Ale Atlanta
holding steady

Name: Angel’s Share 2008 Bourbon
Date: December 13, 2008
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Appearance: carbonation is huge but pulling it out a 33 degree fridge works great
Flavor: flavor holding steady

Name: Angel’s Share 2008 Bourbon
Date: April 04, 2009
Mode: bottle
Source: cellar stock
Appearance: from the super cooler it opens and pours with normal carbonation, good tan head with drippy streaks of lace
Aroma: sweet bourbon and oak aroma, dark caramel and vanilla adds to the sweetness
Flavor: sweet caramel and vanilla flavor is well balanced by tempered bourbon, nice chocolate
Overall: characters are melding together well, loosing some of the sweetness

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 9/10; Palate: 9/10; Overall: 18/20
Rating: 4.3/5.0
Drinkability: 9/10
Score: ***4

Name: Angel’s Share 2009 Bourbon
Date: July 26, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: Brewery
Appearance: opens with a nice pifft, opaque dark brown, scant head, viscous
Aroma: sweet bourbon aroma, vanilla sweetness, dark caramel, dark fruits, tart oakyness
Body: sticky body
Flavor: sweet caramel and bourbon flavor, hot caramel, vanilla sweetness, earthy oakyness, chocolate, dark fruit

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

Dark brown colour. Plummy, slightly smokey with hints of wood. A little bit spritzy (subsequent samples were not, ftr). Spicy, with a bit of alcohol burn. Well-rounded. Three recent resamples have revealed some wonderfully rich malts, and a well-integrated bourbon accent.

Hazy brown with medium beige head. Sweet vinious aroma with caramel, bourbon, chocolate and roasted malt. Sweet flavor with caramel, roasted malt, bourbon, oak and dark overripe fruits. Ends sweet.

(375ml bottle, thanks kmweaver) Brown-black body with giant beige head. Aroma is medium sweet, Bourbon, chocolate, plum/raisin. Taste is moderately sweet, raisin, some Bourbon/alcohol, chocolate, caramel. Medium body, some effervescence. The Bourbon is complementary rather than overpowering.

Cask Stillage at the GBBF Earl’s Court, London 08/08/2008 Bourbon and fruit aromas. Dark red coloured a little rich on the palate and strong in alcohol. Fruity and smooth. A little bitterness in a lasting whisky finish.

Cask at GBBF 08. Very very deep ruby with lasting beige head. Really very bourbon and vanilla aroma. Wow that’s just too much on the vanilla. Great flavour in the mouth. The original beer struggles through all that vanilla. Great toffee flavour. It’s very very intense. Big and huge. Hot alcohol. Pretty good once it settles down.

Bottle from Mashmaster, shared with good friends @ jbrus’s place. Corked bottle, opens with a loud bang. Vanilla, oak and bourbon in the aroma. Fruit confit, a hint of oak, cherry, alcohol, bourbon and vanilla in the flavor. Good complexity. World class.

A Mes rate: Gravicask at GBBF.
How amazed I was when I saw the Angels share on the cask list at BSF. How utterly flabbergasted I was to discover on my arrival at the festival that it was the barrel aged version. A very attractive black red colour with a thin but lasting bubbly tan head. Huge oak, (massive wood?) rich malt, chocolate, slight peaty earthy notes and some stunning pina colada notes from the coconut infusion from the barrel. Absolutely stunning mouthfeel. Loads of length. Huge stuff all round. Maybe a little over the top and it’s not unusual for me to say that about Lost Abbey, but here it really really works beautifully. Superb beer.