Lost Abbey The Angels Share (Bourbon Barrel)

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

Bottle. [thank you, after4ever]
[vintage 2008]
Pours dark brown with a big, frothy, brownish head. Fizzes away rather quickly. Impressive aroma. Lots of dark chocolate, fresh ground coffee mixed with a heavy load of prunes, raisins, toffee, burnt caramel, vanilla, oak and bourbon. Lowish carbonation, fat and oily mouthfeel. Flavour is equally many-facetted, but somehow seems a bit more composed than the aroma. High sweetness with prunes, plums and raisins as its base. Then dryish oak and more sweet spices - vanilla, coriander. There is no hint of the alcohol anywhere except in the far finish, when it warms nicely. Here, the chocolate creeps up again. There is some bitterness in there as well, but this is mostly a sweet BW. Still, it is truly magnificient.

Bottle shared courtesy of EDA. Poured a brownish color with a medium sized off white head. Aromas of wood, vanilla, raisins, and bourbon. Tastes of raisins and all around dark fruits, lighter bourbon, wood, and vanilla. I was slightly disappointed with the tastes after enjoying the aroma so much. Lively body.

(Draught) Pours a murky amber-dark brown with a spare beige head. Aroma of caramel, fruit, roastiness, vanilla, oak, toffee, and brown sugar. Flavor of bourbon, caramel, toffee, subtle fruit, bread, and some chocolate. Excellent!

We tried both Angels Share blind during a tasting and just guessing which is which was already a challenge. Surprisingly, the Bourbon one came out as my favourite of the two. Basically, it felt less alcoholic to me and also seemed tighter in its aromas, with more of the pleasant vanilla overtones. Both remain quite similar, very complex and integrated barley wines with endless dessert malt and fruit layers all the while not being fatiguing with its high sweetness. The body also felt a bit tighter, not necessarily rounder, but less oily in the bourbon one.

Cask at GBBF08 with uber party shack disco dance bruno’s bast mates dance off boyz. Alround rating: Big toffee malt character, big bold sweetness, some fruity berry raisin character, quite drinkable stuff actually. Tastier than the ordinary, but still a bit big and sweet for me.

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

2006 vintage sampled at the second annual Bistro’s West Coast Barrel Aged Beer Fest: Pours a nearly opaque dark mahogany with a large, long-lasting creamy dark tan head. Aroma of sweet caramel toffee and oaky bourbon complexity with some doughy yeasty notes. Starts rich and dark caramely sweet with a touch of licorice and vanilla along with some milk chocolate toward a drier, complex, earthy finish. A pretty good bourbon-aged barleywine.

Bottle… GIABMISGFAB… This beer rocks!… Dark prune-colored ale with a mid-sized, beige head. Terrific retention. The malty, earthy nose imparts a luxuriant mélange of caramel, buttery praline, bourbon and oak. Full-bodied with a creamy mouthfeel and lively carbonation. Leans heavily toward the sweet side of balance. Big notes of caramel and sourmash whiskey with an undertone of dried plum. Finishes sweet and fairly boozy. Mgumby10 donated this world class bottle of beer!