J.W. Lees Harvest Ale

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

On tap at Paradiso. All proceeds benefit Haiti. Pours a nice cloudy deep amber with a bellowing yellow head. Awesome retention and lace. Honey, vinegar, overall flanders sour nose. Taste is a super sweet and sour dichotomy with light tamarind. Very odd mix.

2000 limited Edition, courtesy of Fritz from the Washington Post, at Pizzeria Paradiso - thanks Fritz! Deep golden amber with very small white head that disappears quickly and leaves scant to no lacing. Aroma of sour apple and vinegar. Flavor is apples and wine with slight cinnamon in the background. Sour, complex and fascinating.

2000 Limited Edition release. It pours a dark mahogany-amber with a quickly diminished head. The bouquet, heavily sweet, contains caramel, toffee, vanilla and aerated sugars. The flavors are of liquid toffee, maple syrup and brown sugar, finishing with rum butter and a faint kiss of alcohol behind a toffee-espresso candy. The ABV is very well hidden, but provides a comforting warmness. Highly complex, the mouthfeel is thick and syrupy, with a palate of Werther’s Original candies and an almost chewy texture. A perfect nightcap, I’m so glad I waited the 10 years in aging before presenting this, as it has mellowed so much in contrast with other JW Lees’ more current counterparts. Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!

Bottle, 27,5cl. Pours an unclear orange beer with a firm offwhite head. The aroma is hops, raisin and alcohol. The flavor is sweet, hops and earthy. The palate is bold and complex. Overall a sweet and bold beer, that could use some hops for better balance.

1999 vintage. Bottle. Poured a deep amber color with a very thin tan head. Nose is complex with notes of brown sugar, alcohol, caramel, chocolate, floral hops, and loads of honey. The body is a bit thin. Flavor is loads of honey and caramel with secondary notes of fig, currants, dates, and light cinnamon. Finishes with a bit of warming alcohol.

1988, which makes this beer 21 yrs old at tasting. Smells like sweet raisins and caramel. Murky dark brown with no head or lacing. Very soft and smooth palate, also sugary sticky, it stays on your lips, nice! Very complex beer, hard to describe! Sweet fruity, raisin, malt taste. At first, this beer had a background flavor of almost cardboard,(thought that maybe it had oxidized a little) but after it had time to breath that taste disappered. This was a gift and a good one! A special treat, i liked it!

Deep red-brown color. Caramel aroma, fruity and rich, with some wheat underneath. Not much carbonation, texture syrupy and sticky. Sweet, full body. Seemed almost like a sweet liquor, very rich.

275 ml 1999 bottle. Pours a deep red kind of brown with a creamy light tan head. Aroma is very sweet and fruity, lots of big malts coming through with a heavy dose of dark fruits, sweet toffee and some prune and plum characteristics. Tastes so rich with maple and oaky notes in the start along with the dark overripe fruits. So very sweet from start to finish, barely any hops present tiny bitterness in the finish. Boozy but blends perfectly like a nice port. very rich full sticky body and almost no carbonation. Damn this is a tasty night time sipper