Lost Abbey The Angels Share (Bourbon Barrel)

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

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.

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.

On draft at the Bistro’s BA fest 07. Dark garnet pour. Woody, dark fruit aroma with bourbon notes. Sweet malty goodness with pronounced bourbon and wood notes. Tons of caramel. Somewhat hot but it’s really young right now. Dark fruits, especially raisins fill it out nicely.

Pours opaque ruby brown with a ring of bubbles. Nose is bourbon and bourbon alone. Fortunately, the taste rounds out the bourbon with vanilla, oak, chocolate, and cocoa powder. Sadly, and probably because of the build-up to finally having this beer, it left me wanting more. Not complaining, this was excellent, but I still wanted more.

Merritt Island Throwdown ’08: Bottle, courtesy mMFgumby10. Pours a very dark brown, with a thick foamy cream-colored head. Nice wet lacing on the glass. Sweet aromas, candy corn, bourbon esters, molasses. Flavor is sublime: very sweet overall, with raisin and brown sugar being predominant flavors. Caramel is there too, but it’s intertwined with rich, alcoholic booziness. A nice vanilla aftertaste finishes each sip. Delightful. Medium-bodied, and very well balanced. Alcohol is present but it’s masked by the overall flavor and complexity of the beer.

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.

Thanks for sharing Yaniv! Heavens to Mergatroid, what a lovely beer! Dark reddish brown with a creamy tan head. Sweet round malty nose. Vanillay bourbon. Fruity chocolate. Caramel, toasty oak. All flavors fused seamlessly. I think there might be some alcohol in here, but it smells like fumes from heaven. Full creamy body. Full soft mouth. Big ass flavor attack in my mouth making magic happen all the time like it is its job. Alcohol is there, no doubt. Sweet round malt. Chocolate. Vanilla. Fruity oaky cherry. Toasty charred up bourbon goodness. Alcohol again. Lingering toasty fruity. Some chocolate in the finish. Full rich and yummy. I’d love to get my hands on some of this magic!

375mL bottle. Pours deep mahogany, nearly opaque, with a moderate sized mocha head. Rich aroma of roasted chocolate malt, vanilla, oak and bourbon. Palate begins on the sweet side, with raisin, vanilla, chocolate, and caramel. Long finish, with raisin, chocolate, oak, and warming alcohol. Velvety smooth mouthfeel. The bourbon is integrated nicely; I enjoyed this more than the brandy version. I’d like to try this side-by-side with the original version in the near future for better comparison.