Lost Abbey The Angels Share

On tap @ the Lost Abbey... Pours dark dark brown with a thin head.. Smell is vanilla, caramel, toffee, brown sugar and raisins..Taste is sweet with dark chocolate, dark fruits, brandy with a alcohol burn..Mmmm!!!

Poured brown with little carbonation activity. Nose was a complex medley of dark fruits, warming booze, brown sugar, caramel, wood, vanilla, some sherry notes and mild red wine. Flavor was alcohol sweetness, pleasing malt tones on top of everything from the nose. Flat or not, this beer is a treat. All the belly-aching is rediculous. How carbed do you need a barley wine anyway? This beer is more like a fine wine.

2008 bottle courtesy of Gillard. Pours a dark cola brown with thin tan head. Aroma is sweet and malty with notes of vanilla, bourbon, wood, brown sugar, molasses, caramel and hints of dark chocolate and toffee. Flavor is sweet and malty with notes of vanilla, wood, chocolate, toffee, booze, hints of bourbon and rum-soaked raisins. Generally medium to full body with a pleasing malty bourbon finish. This was lightly carbonated but still an amazing beer and not deserving of the rampant complaints. Anyone bitching about this beer can send your bottles to me!

07 bottle. Pours a murky red/brown color with a medium sized tan colored head, yes this one’s carbonated. Aroma is brandy, huge alcohol, brown sugar, musty. Flavor is brandy, huge alcohol, brown sugar, caramel, cardboard, and more cardboard. Palate is medium to full bodied, mild carbonation, finished hot and sweet. Did not like this beer for one second, huge disappointment. Lost Abbey fails to impress me time and again. All their barrel aged beers seem to be hot, sloppy messes. This will be the last LA beer that I seek out, they’re batting about 1 for 8 now. I hope this was a bad bottle, but I’m starting to think LA is just not for me.

Bottle: Poured a deep murky brown color ale with no head whatsoever. Aroma of of alcohol vapor with some gross residual sugar. Taste is overly dominated by brandy notes with some sweet sugary malt with an almost gross feel. Body is full with no carbonation and strong alcohol showing. I know the issue this beer had with carbonation but the fundamental issue are bigger then only carbonation – way too much alcohol is showing even though I understand beer as been barrel-aged with a lack of complexity. I must admit that this example is definitely over-hyped and fall well below my expectations.

Bottle, thanks to Gillard for sharing. Poured a dark reddish brown with almost no head. Nose is full of caramel, vanilla, oak, rasin and brandy. This was part of the "bad" batch, carbonation was extremely soft but it was carbonated. Really, I don’t like my barley wines with much more carbonation. The flavor was complex, lots of sweet caramel malt, vanilla, oak, and booze. Finishes sweet with a good amount of warming alcohol. Very smooth. Excellent!

Early birthday present from bman1113vr. Bottle. Amazing beer, where do i begin? Pours with a dark brown hue with no head whatsoever. Aroma is of burnt brown sugar, dark fruits, roasted coffee, and lots of brandy. The alcohol scent in this beer is very strong, but very pleasant. Everything else about the aroma is beautiful, which is why i over look the strong alcohol note. Flavor has a very sweet beginning, with a medium to strong bitter, alcoholic ending. Wow! Very warm feeling beer as it goes through the upper digestive system. Syrupy texture, almost no carbonation. A special thanks to bman1113vr - my best friend - for this opportunity!

Bottle of the 2008’ vintage. Color is a solid muddy brown with almost no carbonation and no head at all. Aroma is a sweet vanilla, coffee and dried fruit scent with a whiff of alcohol. Taste is rich and flat. Starting with a full body it goes down with a flat sweet feel. Finish comes in sweet with just a hint of dried fruit, a touch of vanilla then a big brandy and oak like taste. After taste has a strong alcohol feel that leaves you warm inside and ends with a slight bitterness. I’m very disappointed, why can’t Lost Abbey get the carbonation right, most that I have had, have had poor carbonation. This seems like it could be a good brew if it had even a little carbonation, but it comes across a bit bland and flat. I am very torn with this brew, after drinking it awhile my taste adjusted to it (could be the alcohol kicking in) and I get a little more complexity in the character, but for the price and I am still very disappointed and yet I like it.