J.W. Lees Harvest Ale

Brewed by J.W. Lees
Style: Barley Wine
Manchester, England

Serve in Snifter

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2003 vintage. Wow, interesting. I don’t really have a point of reference for this. Honey biscuit nose. Quite sweet, but not cloying. Malty. Booze isn’t distracting. Still a slight spritz. Not at all over the hill. Also not my style, but incredibly interesting.

December 24, 2012 bottle from Blue Max. Light brown pour with some head and quite a bit of sediment. Caramel, dark fruit, alcohol and little bit of wood in the aroma. Taste had the sweetness from the caramel and the dark fruit, plus a splash of alcohol and wood. Super smooth and medium bodied. 2008 vintage.

Serving: bottle. 2001 vintage. It pours a dark red color with no head. The nose is almost spot on for sherry. The flavor follows suit with dark caramel notes and some leather. Viscous mouthfeel with nice legs left on the glass. I would peg this one at higher than 11% ABV. Warming on the way down. Definitely different. Looks like sherry, smells like sherry, tastes like a light sherry. Not bad, just not what I was expecting. Definitely an after dinner drink and one bottle is best shared.

9.6 oz bottle 11/29/12 ’93 Vintage-43° in Tulip-Pours a murky brown with a small tan ring for a head. Aroma of sweetness and molasses. Taste of the same with a bit more sweetness, caramel, toffee, and slight alcohol. I would like to taste this full bodied brew fresh but I think it has held up somewhat decently.

2010: Hazy, semi-translucent, medium brown in color with nearly no head, just an off-white ring. No lacing, but some light oily vines Aroma is great- rich malts, vinous notes and a bit of smoky whiskey. Flavor has sweet malts with raisins and kind of a light creamy finish.

Pours a hazy pulpy caramel. Aroma of sour leather. Taste is aged sweetness with old boot mixed in. The aftertaste is mellow with a touch of residual bitterness. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

UPDATED: FEB 23, 2013 From a bottle at home. 2005 vintage. Pours a cloudy brown with virtually no head. Intoxicating dark cherry and toffee aroma. Sweet candy sugar, caramel, raisins and licorice. Wow! Later 2011 vintage on draft at the Mad Fox Barley Wine Festival, Falls Church VA. Pours a cloudy amber with no head. Has some smoky notes not evident in the aged bottle version.

2006 vintage, decanted from cask, at the Butchers Arms, Herne. I’ve never tried anything else like this, astonishing... This is to beer what a fine port is to wine. Aroma of raisins, brandy, berries, taste more of those, plus treacle, hint of petrol (that sounds horrible but it was delicious). Warming, intense, thick and sweet but not cloying. Pretty amazing stuff...

2008 Vintage from bottle. Great orange and amber color. Almost no head. LOTS of floating particulate that shouldn’t bother me but it knocked appearance back two points for me, as it was almost completely saturating the 10 oz bottle. Aromas are light since this bottle is very old. It has almost a sweet wine scent, not unlike port. Very pleasant. Lots of amazing malty complexity. Not too sweet since it’s only 11.5abv, but the sweetness that is there is fantastic. Mouthfeel is solid. I detected a little oxidation, but not bad for 4 years old.

Bottle at home. Pour is hazy copper/orange with little-to-no head, but decent lacing. Fairly sweet aroma with notes of raisins, figs, toffee, light grapefruit, bread, and brown sugar. Taste is super sweet, toffee, caramel, and raisins with a horrid ashy/smoky flavor, seriously like cigarette buds. I don’t know what else to say about it, it doesn’t smell bad by any means, but definitely a drain pour for me. I will return to this one with a different vintage.