Lost Abbey The Angels Share (Bourbon Barrel)

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

Notes from 4/5/08. Bottle from the Sinners Club. Shared with Ethan, Aubrey, and Henning at Aubrey’s place on a stormy candle filled night. On to the brewski: pour is darker and cloudy with very nice head retention. Aroma of wood, sweet bourbon, toffee, earth, vanilla. Flavor is so smooth for such a big beer. Bourbon barrel takes on surprisingly earthy and tart characteristics. This is very a very different beer from from the brandy barrel release, but it is a very good one. I’m glad I’ve got a few more in the cellar.

So good. This is a crazy brew. A bit hot from the alcohol but such smooth flavor. Sweet with vanilla and bourbon and oak and even some dark rich fruits like figs and maybe plum or cherry flavor. Something I would like to age.

Bottle shared by kmweaver. Thanks. Poured an opaque dark brown color. Head was khaki with good retention and lacing. Good looking beer. Aroma was of bourbon, vanilla, and brown sugar. Sweet on the tongue and boozy with bourbon, raisin, brown sugar, and toffee flavors. Creamy, medium to full bodied mouth feel. Good stuff. Not over-bourbonated, some might say.

Sampled at DLD 2008. Nice looking frothy head with some decent lacing. Wonderful aromas of bourbon, vanilla and oak. I absolutely love the 2006 brandy barrel verison and was really excited to try this. Much thinner on the palate than its brandy counterpart. Bourbon was a bit too much and rough around the edges. Still had a wonderful deep caramelization to it. Sticky and slick on the palate. Good complexity in the base beer, but the whiskey just didn’t seem to blend as nicely as the brandy barrel version. A bit let-down, but overall, tasty stuff and still well made.

#1700. Tasted 10/29/09. Thick and pitch. Tan head. Aromas of alcohol, leather and raisins. Dark berries and fudge. Vanilla oaky aromas. Man, there is a lot going on in my olfactory. Full bodied with a ton of malts and a ton of burn. The wood really has a strangle hold on this beer. Very big with a vast complexity. This is indeed a champ. Dried fruit and dark esters. Little light on the hoppy end, but still generates a ton of flavors. Good base, good wood, good flavors. Good burn but still well blended.

375mL 2009 bottle. Dark nearly black pour with some mahogany highlights and no carbonation.. Very rich dark fruit with notes of vanilla bean, oak, and alcoholic bourbon. There’s also some hints of tobacco and black tea. The flavor is almost too rich at first but as it rolls past your tongue it leaves wonderful notes of dates, oak, cognac, vanilla, bourbon and a nice alcohol kick on the end. The body is oily and full with no carbonation and strong alcohol warming.

Bottle... Poured hazy ruby with a light brown head. Aroma of bourbon and barley grains. Smooth palate with noticeable bourbon and malts that helped balance the alcohol. A little tangy with a tickle from the alcohol in the finish.

Sweet oaky burbon aroma, very thick. Black body with a ivory head, nice lacing. Far less bufbon in taste, great. Chocolate, vanilla, some caramel. Sweet ending with a light burbon burn.