Lost Abbey The Angels Share

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

Tasted on tap at the 2007 Bistro West Coast Barrel Aged Beer Festival. This Barley wine poured a deep amber color. Small sized white foamy head. Aroma is malt, caramel, dark fruit, chocolate and brandy. Med to full bodied barley wine. Malts are caramel and toffee. Touch of oak and vanilla. Very smooth, but this one still has a touch of an edge to it. Nice balance of oak and caramel. Very complex beer. Contrasted nicely with the 2007 version at the fest as well. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

Bottle. Dark withe a beige head. Sweet aroma of caramel and brown sugar with notes of ethanol. Flavour is sweet with caramel, raisins and brown sugar along with a little dryness and some wooden chips. Nice!!!

Bottle. Blackishh beer with a tan head. Brandy, malt, vanilla aroma. Big dark malt, chocolate, caramel, brandy, vanilla flavor that just all comes together very nicely. Good complexity. Rich full body. Alcohol gives a nice warming affect without seeming too high. Flavors linger with a bit of fruit added.

Sampled at the Champaign Urbana Beer Club November meeting courtesy of Noah. Thanks, Noah! What a treat this was. Sometimes one encounters a highly rated beer only to be disappointed in the end. This was simply not the case. It ranks among the best beers I’ve enjoyed in the last 12 months. The mouthfeel is fabulous, viscous and rich, and sometimes one feels as if they are chewing an artisan caramel toffee candy. Notes of vanilla, sour cherry, plum, ginger, soy, and brown sugar dominate. It reminded me somewhat of Sam Adams Triple Bock in its flavor profile, yet without the harshness of that beer. Marvelous!

Strong, juicily malty aroma, plenty of toasted wood characteristics, plums, raisins. Soft, sweet flavor, toffee, cherries. Pipe smoke-laden creamy finish, slight warming; delicious.

01 Nov 07, BW Tasting. 750mL bottle. HAzy dark brown, dark tan head. Aroma of sweet malt, hints of barrel. Flavor is amazingly smooth, Big Malts. Big Hop. Save this bottle for Xmas.

2007 bottle. Pour is very dark brown and has a small white ring that stays for the entire session. The aroma of this beer is terrific...caramel, chocolate, oak and brandy. Flavor is sweetness balanced by the brandy/alcohol burn. A bunch of roasty caramel, chocolate and wood- like flavors as well. Has a very full body and silky smooth texture. This one will be even better after a year or two. Update 2008 Bottle...Pours with just a few sparse bubbles. Aroma is bourbon and vanilla. Flavor is bourbon, vanilla and caramel. I’m going to say this batch is not up to par. It lacks the complexity of Angels Share of the past. If they fix the problems it will become a great beer once more. Right now it is good, but nothing to get excited about.

A deep copper tint with slight garnet reflects. Bold and impressive nose with strong American identity, minus the cleanliness. Pretty yeasty and estery, but obviously even more so malty. Barrel influence remains restrained, though clearly responsible for the smoky notes. Full on the slick grape, plum, toasted bread, maple-like, chocolatey, vanilla laden malts, supported by a mellow wooden base. Sweet and potent all along, yet not so heady as I would have expected. Despite its active and dynamic fruitiness, I can’t call it vinous, it is too cerealic for that. Well integrated, rather velvety body never gets cloying and for an exception, its sojourn in the barrel may be partly responsible for the graceful thinning of the final product. Very solid and not so pretentious as many, not pushing an element forward, but striving for heavy balance.