Lost Abbey The Angels Share (Bourbon Barrel)

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

Serve in Snifter

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5/5/07. On cask at Lost Abbey 1st Anniversary Party in San Marcos, CA 5/5/07. Cask! Muddy dark brown color with a creamy tan "malt ball" Whopper-like spongy head that is amazingly well retained. Despite this and the well-integrated carbonation that lasts way longer than it has any right to, I still cursed the use of the sparkler they served it through. A beer this intricately nuanced certainly deserves better. But otherwise this cask was in peak condition. Aroma is wildly different from the regular Angel’s Share, with a succulently fruity cherry-bourbon medley and other assorted dark fruits, like candied figs and bourbon-drizzled dates (yes, THAT decadent). The sweetness is apparent but wonderfully checked by the bright cherry-like fruitiness, a raw wood hum and the gentle warmth of fine bourbon. The lone downfall is a shade too much bourbon, but this is markedly different from your sleazy TGIFriday’s well shit. The bourbon has a softness to it that keeps it from taking over, and allows the base beer to show a whole different expression than the brandy barrels will allow. The flavor is incredibly wonderfully malted, mostly of molasses, dates, and hints of sweet tobacco. Rich vanilla and still some striking fruity wood notes. But once again the bourbon leaves a little too much heat behind, masking some of the subtlety even as it ramps up the complexity. It’s a trifle of a complaint, but it sadly keeps this from being completely out-of-this-world. Full body with a warm woody texture and lovely dry caramelized sugar in the finish. Long, great malt depth. A surprising improvement on an already outstanding beer. I can’t wait until they release this in bottles. If the bourbon intensity can mellow out a bit with extended age (and I’m not really talking about alcohol heat-- moreso just intense bourbon FLAVOR), this beer could be simply incredible. As it is, it’s damn close.

The aroma is sweet bourbon, chocolate, soy sauce, dark ripened fruit. The apperance is deep brown, almost black, with a tan head which dissipates quickly. Low carbonation. The flavor is sweet bourbon, vanilla, oaky, dark fruits. The finish is again bourbon, booze burn. Followed by a light sweetness, and pine needles. Nice thick, oily body. Excellent.

Bottle. Pours dark brown with an off white head. Big boozy bourbon aroma with dark fruity and malty notes. The flavor has a dark fruity and malty sweetness, with vanilla. Good stuff.

I don’t normally love Barrel-Aged Barleywines, but when I do, I prefer Bourbon Angel’s Share. Had on draft at Monk’s during Philly Beer Week two years ago; also on several other occasions in bottles at various tastings and releases. As long as it’s carbonated and not infected, this beer is just so delightful, lots of smooth caramel malty flavors and sweet cherry with a bourbon kick that rounds everything off nicely. Docked a few points for inconsistency, though.

At: vanilla, extremely rich, like nothing I’ve felt before, port Wine, raisins, oak, alcohol is evident, but not boozy, prunes, dark fruit, jam and honey. Ap: colour is black, no head. F: Whiskey up front, lots and lots of bourbon, vanilla, spicy, acidic, very rich, but the bourbon overpowers the flavours from the beer itself, alcohol is very evident and it is very boozy all the way through, notes of port and chocolate and coffee. In my opinion the flavours are not balanced, there are lots and lots of interesting flavours, but they are not in harmony and the booziness and bourbon flavours are so distinct and powerful that you struggle to find the other notes. Given time you find very complex flavours beneath the initial blast. M: Very thick mouthfeel almost no carbonation. T: This is a real experience, very cool to have tried, demanding, not balanced, but When you wrap your head around it, it delivers!

Dark brown in color with very little head and decent legs. Aroma is heavy in bourbon with oak, lots of vanilla, toffee, light raostiness, and caramel. Taste is of bourbon. wood, vanilla, caramel, brown sugar and toffee.

Hard Liver. Dark brown/black, tan head. Wow I did not know this beer was this dark. Aroma of molasses, dark fruit, some soy and tobacco, leather. Taste has a slight earthy bitterness, lots of malt/dark fruit sweetness, nice bourbon taste.

UPDATED: APR 5, 2012 Murky brown, hardly any carbonation, just a film of a head. Strong bourbon aroma, and there is a pleasant whiskey edge to the proceedings. Strong sweet malt kept under control by hops and barrels. Oak, strong alcohol warming.

On tap in a chalice at the Watering Hole. A dark, murky brown color with almost no head. Bourbon dominates the aroma with some fruitiness (raisins and perhaps a hint of pears). Extremely boozy, bourbon forward, so much so that the bourbon hides much of the barley wine characteristics. It has a medium body with a slightly slick texture. Overall, a great barrel-aged barley wine, but I think it needs to age awhile to mellow out the bourbon and bring out its true awesomeness.

Poured with vigor to the glass, this brew yielded no head at all with zero lacing. The color is a deep murky brown with slights hints of red in the hue. The aroma is wonderful, chocolate, molasses, vanilla, caramel, sweet dark fruit, malt, and a very small amount of booze. Taste, vanilla, some sweet plumb, roasted malt, and fig. I find a lot more booze in the taste than I did in the nose, but still pretty well balanced. The mouth feel is pretty interesting... No carbonation at all. It has a light syrupy feel, but also has the same cloudy tongue coating texture you get from a strong cup of cuban espresso that is starting to cool down. It defiantly has some warming to it as well

2011 bottle. Dark brown pour with only a small tinge of carbonation visible. Aroma was big time booze, bourbon, lots of caramel, vanilla and oak. Flavors were actually not as ’in your face’. Lots of caramel, bourbon, notes of vanilla and wood, not as sweet as one would think going in. Nice bittersweet finish, lots going on here. Carbonation was very soft, mouthfeel slick and oily. Extremely drinkable, AKA dangerous.