Lost Abbey The Angels Share (Bourbon Barrel)

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

Dark brown, almost black pour with small head that dissipates rapidly. Moderate legs. Aroma is loaded with maple, bourbon, vanilla, and raisin malt. Some boozynes evident, complimented nicely by some port-like vinous notes. Bourbon impartment is very evident. Caramel is powerful as it warms. Flavor is alcohol up front with extreme amounts of caramel, dark fruit, toffee, caramelized brown sugar and some milk chocolate. Palate is heavy and syrup like, finishing with a warming, welcomed alcoholic burn. Leaves a sticky, smacking finish. Extremely well balanced and quaffable, mellow and nearly perfect. This is the best of the style I’ve sampled so far.

Bottle 2008 Pours an iced tea brown with no head at all. No lacing also, as figures. Has a sweet aroma of bourbon,wood, vanilla and caramel. Has a very light carbonation. The flavor is thick and alcoholic. Has sweet malts and a good burn to it. Has an oily texture. The body is full. Has a strong finish with a sour aftertaste. Shared this with friends and it has good points but seems to miss alittle.

Courtesy of Immy at the RB Richmond Gathering. Very dark brown and well carbonated. Dark roast malts with oak and bourbon in aroma.Very sweet dark roastyness with chocolate vanilla and bourbon flavors. Honey or maple sugar sweeetness and very full mouthfeel. Finishes with bourbon and a bit of woody bitterness. Extremely tasty...thanks Immy.

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.

Pours a dark dark brown wiith a large tan head. Aroma of dark fruit, vanilla, wood, and alcohol. Nice sweetness, good stuff.

An explosive opening burst out the heavenly aroma. Lots of caramel and dark fruit with underpinnings of bourbon. The beer is a very dark and slightly murky mahogany colour with a thick fizzy brown head. Vanilla, caramel, bourbon, and alcohol are prominent in the flavour. There is a bit of oak and yeasty flavour n there as well. One of the more drinkable big barley wines out there though I think it’ll improve a bit with age.

Poured into champagne flutes. Brown color with a lively head. The flutes focused the aroma up and out of the glass in an explosion of vanilla, oak and whiskey. Taste is of molasses, malt, bourbon and vanilla. I catch a taste of other dark fruits. Excellenty Barleywine.

06 version tasted at the Bistro’s 2nd Barrel-aged Festival. Strong malty aroma, brown sugar, molasses. Thick chewy body, slight acidic edge, lightly roasty. Assertive, woody, bourbony; comes off as more bitter and less soft/refined than the brandy barrel version, despite having more age on it. Still really good though.