Lost Abbey The Angels Share

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

750ml from Lost Abbey. Deep, complex ruby pour with a dark brown center. Not much carbonation in this one, but a lively glow nonetheless. Kind of an odd aroma, with smoky malts and, of all things, coconut milk tending to dominate. Some lovely brandy in the flavor and the odd notes in the nose seem to fit somehow. But there’s a chewy, grainy, ripe bark thing happening that’s just a bit off-putting. A bit thin, too, for what that’s worth. With my next bottles on the way, we’ll see if a re-rate is merited.

Sample @ EBF ’09 - one of the best beers at the festival. Pous a deep brown with barely any head. Aroma is dark fruit, malt, vanilla, caramel, and a slight brandy tinge to it. Taste is roughly the same with the flavors sublimely shifting across your tongue. The beer is amazingly smooth, and you can barely detect the alcohol. I’m usually not one for barleywine but this is just incredible.

2008 bottle at Lost Abbey dinner. Absolutely amazing finish to a great night. Pours dark brown with no real head and perfectly still. Aroma honestly reminded me of premium blue agave tequila (weird I know). This glass was enjoyable from cellar temp all the way to room temp and the flavours constantly changed but they were all great.

EBF 09, Pours a dark reddish brown with a small off white head. Wonderful aroma of dark fruits,caramel,vanilla, brandy and some alcohol.Full bodied with some fizzy carbonation. wonderful mouth fell. Awesome beer was well worth the 5 year wait to try it.

Bonus bottle (2008 vintage) received from wetherel (Thanks bud!) Pour was syrupy dark brown/almost black with a little bit of carbonation. Aroma was of raisins, malts, and some noticeable alcohol. Flavor was mellow oak, stone fruits, a little smoke, vanilla and some warm alcohol and molasses on the finish. I’m not generally into barleywines, but this was decent.

750ml bottle, 2007 brandy-barrel vintage courtesy of Weibull, thanks! I have been looking forward to this beer and my birthday seemed as good a day as any to pop this bottle. The color is a real nice dark-brown with red edges and a nice foam that dissolves into a smattering of off-white bubbles ringing the glass. It looks good! The aroma is very oaky, woody, and boozy with some vanilla. This sounds weird but the smell reminds me of Oaked Yeti but there is also just the hint of cognac. The flavor is pretty exceptional the moment it passes the lips. It is woody, more booze and sweet syrups abound. Wow, the flavor is also kind of hard to pin down as I am tasting different flavors with each sip, and odd gum flavor like Blackjack and candy. Perfect silky mouth-feel but the drink-ability is oddly not hampered by the ABV and the beer is boozy (in a very good way). This is a very complex tasting beer and if I was more articulate I would tell you why. Instead, all I can say is that if you like barrel-aged beers, seek this out, its tasty. The complexity of the flavor is helpful, aiding the drink-ability making you want to keep sipping and get blasted with a new taste. I had to bump the drinkability score, no problem drinking the whole bottle. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 04-15-2008 02:29:09

On tap at Toronado on Lost Abbey night. Tomme didn’t show up which was a bummer. Oh well. Wow this is good. Dark brown, almost black, with a light tan head. Aroma is sweet with vanilla, oak, dark fruit, roasted malt, and some alcohol. Flavor is more of the same - really complex and really, really, REALLY good. A lot like a fine port with roasted malts and all kinds of other great stuff. I couldn’t get enough of this beer. Smooth and full on the palate, but maybe a little low on carbonation.

Tap at the Toronado. Pours with an almost balck color. Aromas of coffee, chocolate and wood. Flavors are dominated by chocolate, some coffee and a definite oakiness. Very smooth but thick, slightly hot due to the alcohol, so I think that may have been a rather fresh batch. All in all a very tasty brew.