J.W. Lees Harvest Ale

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

Serve in Snifter

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UPDATED: DEC 20, 2006 1988 Vintage sampled in mid-June 2006: Pours a hazy copper mahogany with a thin ring of off-white head, otherwise still. Big complex, light fruity strawberry complexity and lots of sticky caramel toffee maltiness and a touch of medicinal alcohol in the warming finish. Body had thinned some but has good comlpexity and I’d say has aged quite well.

1999 Vintage sampled on 4/13/06: Pours with a good amount of carbonation, leading to a thin-lacing, frothy tan head. This is just as sweet as ever and is borderlined cloying. Still has a ton of complexity and pleasant dark fruity notes. You gotta have a sweet tooth to be in the mood for this, but when you do, it really hits the spot.

1998 Vintage rerate, sampled on 8/2/05: The sweetness is still rich with dark sugars and caramel toffee. Very complex and has a great viscous, silky mouthfeel. This stuff will age a long time.

1989 Vintage sampled on 3/5/05: This is the best sample I have had yet! Pours a cloudy muddy dark copper mahogany with a thin coating of bubbles. Aroma is rich sweet and complex with lots of caramel maltiness and some butterscotch. Very rich, sweet, and malty with good aged complexity and some dark fruits. This has aged magnificently and still hides the abv well.

1999 Vintage sampled on 3/1/04: Still very caramely sweet, but a little more tolerable than the last. Aroma of toffee and oxidized old ale with plenty of malt. Body is very one-sided and sweet, but has some nice fruity complexities to it.

1998 Vintage sampled on 2/6/03: Could smell the sweet malt before I even got the cap all the way off. Pours a viscous dark ruby with a thin ring of bubbles. Nose of caramel, sugar, alcohol, plums, and raisins. Very syrupy mouthfeel with a little alcohol burn, but for the most part the abv is well hidden. There is a good amount of complexity, but it tends to get masked by the tremendous sweetness present. If there were ever any hop presense, it has long since faded. This would make a good dessert and is best enjoyed in small sips. Definite warming effect after a few ounces. Five years of aging, and could probably use another five. Had to use water to wash the sticky sweetness out of my mouth and finish this.

Ruby brown, thin head. Aroma of dark fruit-rasini, plum, fig, along with molasses, bready malt, earthy. Taste is rich and complex, lots of dark fruit, leather, tobacco, molasses, mellow sweetness.

Bottle from Booths Ripon. Cloudy dark red brown with a sweet sugary warming red fruity flavour, leather and smoke with more sweetness on the finish.

275ml bottle from the 2006 crop. Pours out dark amber with zero head apart from a dozen or so bubbles. Wonderful toffee aroma. The taste moves through stages: first the deep caramel tones with added campfire hints, then the fruitiness (possibly aided by the ageing process) comes to the fore. It then gives a blast of heat before finishing on a few of those unfortunate cardboard notes. I notice the cardboard finish decreasing as the glass empties but I don’t have too many qualms about its presence; after all this is six years old now. Overall it’s a well-crafted barley wine but I think I’ll have to try a fresher one, as I suspect I’d enjoy it a little more.

VINTAGE 1987! Holy fuck was this a good beer. Pours a cloudy brown with a respetable off white head for a beer this age. Tons and TONS of huge floaties. Huge woody, nutty aroma. Pure bliss in the nose. Impressive taste. Very smooth, sweet, nutty, caramel, toffee. Amazing vintage. Tasted and smelled like a campfire. WORLD CLASS.

2006 edition.pours cloudy burgundy with quite a bit of sediment.has the appearance of apple cider.aroma is malty sweet with caramel and over ripe apples and pears with perhaps what i think might be nutmeg.flavor is very sweet.caramel,apples,pears raisins and nutmeg and the alchohol is very well hidden at 11.5 abv.has a oily mouthfeel and a long sweet finish.harvest ale is perfect description because this will definitly remind you of autumn.aroma is wonderful in this but then its all average from there.well hidden alchohol but it takes on almost a carmel apple pie flavor which for some might be pleasant,but for me is over the top sweet.if i had this in a two ounce pour as a dessert beer i think that would have been more fitting.glad i had it but i wont search it out again

2006 Vintage. Muddy cider-caramel with almost no head / Musty, nutty nose of cooked orchard fruit, caramel, and oak / Medium to full body, some astringency, sweet and malty but mellow, with good balance but very bitter finish / Flavor of apple cider, caramel, big tobacco, nut, grass, and oak / Score is very tentative as haven’t tried a more contemporary version of this 6 year old. It is a treat to try something this old.

The 2006 vintage. Ruby red to dark brown in colour with a weak head. Very vinous nose, grapey port-like aroma with a nutty, meaty background. Full bodied mouthfeel. The taste follows the aroma, nutty, grapey and port-like, with a slightly sour, meaty flavour in the finish.

Bottle - 2008 vintage sampled in 2012. Murky orange pour with a smaller white head and lots of sediment. Huge nose of caramel, sweet sugars, molasses, plum, and some booze. Full palate. Taste is sticky sweet sugars and fruits, with plenty of caramel malt. Really good stuff!

Vintage 2000. Sampled on 2/15/10. Poured into a snifter. Pours a thick, syrupy mahogany with a thin tan head on top. This disappears to just a ring around the edge. Little spotty lace. Scents of toffee, molasses, syrup, and wet wood. The body still retains a good amount of carbonation, but the finish is extremely smooth and warming. This is a very sweet beer after all these years. Big toffee and caramel notes. Sugary syrup finish. Sort of a chalky mouth on the back end. This is almost too sweet for me. It’s definitely a slow-sipper. Not a bad bottle to split among friends, and enjoy by the fire.

2008 bottle at home tasting, having tried 06 and 07 in the past. Murky amber/brown pour with barely any head and some sediment. Aroma dominated by sweetness with caramel, toffee and a little fruit. Flavour is the same, dominated by sweetness but in a nice way similar to a Stille Nacht with a few years on it. Full bodied with low carbonation. A really great beer.