Lost Abbey The Angels Share (Bourbon Barrel)

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

Tasted at Port’s 1 year. All i can say is wow this was one good beer. You could smell and taste the wonderful bourbon, vanilla, and oak. My favorite beer of the day by far.

On tap, poured by Tomme. Aroma is amazingly good with lots of oxidized sherry qualities, vanilla and chocolate. Can’t stop smelling it. Taste is very oxidized compared to the bottle of Brandy Barrel I had a couple of months ago. Still very good and rich with plenty of dark fruits and spices. Syrupy mouthfeel with light carbonation rounds out this amazingly complex beer.

This poured mahogany in color with a creamy head. The nose was nicely complex with scents of roasted malts, vanilla, chocolate, dark fruit and a slight herbalness. The palate is similarly complex and medium to full-bodied with great richness and balance. There is plenty of carbonation to keep this deep beer fresh. Aging should allow this to mellow out a bit and be potentially perfect for my palate.

Absolutely amazing. Well apart form the carbonisation level but this is so good you djust dont care - just leave er in the glass and savour her a little longer. Aroma is burnt coffee beans lingering over railway sleepers covered in bitter chocolate with some lovely tart fruit. Amazing caramel and toffee malt flavours on the pallet - almost a coca-cola caramel sweetness. this soon dissipates as the barrel and hops take over. Taosty bourban favours and bitter fruit from the hops. amazing body and mouthfeel. I love this!

A: Popped the cork and foam immediately came flowing from the bottle. Poured it into a Russian River Barrel Aged Tulip. The beer was a radiant dark black/brown hue. The head with four fingers high, big, bold, and rocky. Tons of carbonation this one... it did not want to die. Once it finally died down it did leave nice spots of lace all the way down the glass. S: I am in love. Wow this smells even better than bourbon. Tons of oak and vanilla right up front. I have had some hard to get highly regarded bourbons from little known Kentucky distillers that did not smell as nice as this one. Beneath the barrel is a nice complex brew. Nice tones of dark fruits, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, and chocolate. Boy can’t wait to taste this one. T: Best barrel aged brew period. (Though to be honest I won’t compare it to barrel aged stouts as it’s a whole different monster). The flavor is wonderful. This has the perfect amount of bourbon goodness without going overthetop at all. Tons of oak, vanilla, and whiskey. That being said the wonderful flavors of the ale Lost Abbey started with are not lost. Nice whiskey soaked dark fruits make an appearance. As does nutty toffee and burnt dark brown sugar. Soo complex and sooo good. Wonderful. M: Medium in body smooth and creamy. If there is one flaw it may be a bit too over carbonated. D: So nice. I had planned to share this one and to be honest I am glad I kept it all to my self. It has been quite sometime since I enjoyed a brew this much

THIS IS A DRAFT RATING ONLY. What an amazing beer. Pours the same as the regular AS. Nice aroma and flavors with a faint bourbon undertone on the finish. Well done

Pours super dark brownish amber with a massive rocky 3 finger head that almost overflows the snifter. Retention and lacing are excellent. Smell is wonderfully sweet with brown sugar and caramel. There is a definite boozy bourbon aroma as well but extremely well integrated with the sweetness of the malts. I actually also got the slightest hint of sour in the nose at the finish. As much as I would like to "buck the hype", this is one of the best tasting beers I have ever tasted. It’s wonderfully creamy with molasses and caramel up front with the bready malts. The bourbon is present but very subtle and plays with the sweet vanilla tastes and dark fruits. In a word, spectacular. As mentioned before, for a bourbon barrel beer this one is incredibly smooth and creamy yet highly carbonated. The bubbles just tingle the tongue...so, so good. This is my first Angel’s Share and I have to say it’s one of my desert island beers. The flavors are so big yet so well balanced, the hype is completely deserved.

375ml 2009 bottle. Aroma is incredibly pungent, with very strong vanilla notes layered atop dark, dried fruit such as fig and raisins. The bourbon is also quite evident, smooth, sweet, smoky and creamy. Color is dark brown with some violet, no head besides some bubbly wisps after the pour. Flavor is WOW. Really strong woody vanilla on the entry, coupled with bourbon notes and raisins. Oh my, the finish. There is more sweet in the finish -- vanilla, some licorice and bourbon – but in a wave of ridiculously delicious complexity, I also got robust earthy, almost peaty notes in the finishing essence. Angel’s Share just evokes all of the human senses in ways I have never experienced in a beer. And to add my two-sense to the LA carbonation debate: the 2009 bottle is basically flat, BUT I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT. The richness and sweetness of this brew actually successfully complements a low-carbonation rate, in my opinion. It also helped bring out the earthy notes in the finish in ways I definitely appreciated. Enough ramble, I’ll sleep well tonight.