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Lost Abbey The Angels Share

Lost Abbey The Angels Share - Barley Wine

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 Percentile 
100
overall
Brewed by Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: Barley Wine

San Marcos, California USA

bottled
common

on tap
common

Broad Distribution
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 Ratings  Average  Score  Seasonal  ABV  Style Pctl  Serve in 
5154.12/5.04.11/5.0Special12.5%99.2Snifter
View Statistics  P 

Commercial Description:
Down in Kentucky and across the pond in Scotland, distillers who age their whiskeys for many years refer to the evaporation of the spirits from their barrels as “The Angel’s Share.” We couldn’t agree more. Our Angel’s Share is a barrel aged burgundy colored ale infused with copious amounts of dark caramel malt to emphasize the vanilla and oak flavors found in freshly emptied brandy barrels. Each batch spends no less than 6 months aging in the oak. The beer is available in 750 ml bottles and on draft at inspired locations.

2008 ABV: 12.5%, gold lettering, 750ml and 375ml, with 2008 on label
2007 ABV: 11.5%, gold lettering, 750ml only
2006 ABV: 10.5%, black lettering, 750ml only
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 scrizzz (1246), kirkland, Washington, USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/103/58/103/515/20
Apr 14, 2009  
Brandy goodness! Candied cherry, sweet plum, no pop to the cork at all. Murky deep reddish brown. Completely still. Earth, oak, more brandy and restrained heat.


 nbutler11 (729), Phoenix, Arizona, USA
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/58/104/516/20
Apr 13, 2009  
2008 bottle from WeeheavySD. Pours a murky plum color with no discernable head, as warned. Smells very similar to port, with prominant notes of raisin and vanilla. Cavernous in flavor. Tastes of plums, dates, powered cocoa, malt, wood chips, and brown sugar. Seems to leave a resin on the palate. Certainly sweeter than I’d ever exect from a 12.5% beer. Good, but there’s just something sullen and depressing about this beer that I can’t place.


 pantani (1894), Salinas, California, USA
3.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/58/103/515/20
Apr 13, 2009  
Brown with no head. Aroma is oak, alcohol, caramel, alcohol, toffee. Taste is brandy, oak, alcohol, caramel, toffee. No sign of infection to me.


bulldogp04 (7), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
does not count click to see why this rating of Lost Abbey The Angels Share does not count
3.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/58/102/514/20
Apr 12, 2009  
’08 Vintage Pours murky-brown, with a hint of red tinge. Visible, thin-layer of clear alcohol rests atop the surface of this lowly-carbonated beer. Aroma is of figs, port wine, sweet brandy alcohol, oak, slight chocolate-caramel malt. Taste is nearly the same as the aroma, with quite a bit of warming (borderline fusel) alcohol. Ok for this beer and its age, though. Very low carbonation hurts the mouth feel just a bit, in my opinion. This is due to the syrupy-sweet, high alcohol flavor of the beer. A bit more carbonation would have helped to cut through the alcohol and syrupy-sweetness just a bit. Overall, a nice beer and, perhaps, more similar to a port in many ways due to the low carbonation.


marctacoma (34), Fircrest, Washington, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/104/58/105/518/20
Apr 11, 2009  
750ml bottle Pours deep brown, somewhat viscous, no head. Fascinating stuff, it’s like beer/coffee/chocalate in equal parts. Malt sweetness dominates, soft, velvety mouthfeel, wonderful complexity. A minor quibble may be that adding so much malt doesn’t accentuate the vanilla notes of the oak - it tends to overwhelm them. But they’re there, and the whole thing works quite well together. Very nice.


 ajm (902), Los Angeles, California, USA
3.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/105/57/103/514/20
Apr 11, 2009  
My deep thanks to Shyam for opening this legend, and I hope he is unoffended by how this review is worded. I am just really over this beer. Here’s the overriding concern: the flavor never develops. It starts out tasting like brandied dark strong beer, stays that way in the mid-palate, and finishes like brandied dark strong beer. The tartness of the brandy wood just permeates any caramel, apple, spice character that the base beer had - frankly I think the base beer is too weak to be aged, and wouldn’t be surprised to learn that it is flavorless (an overwrought dubs IPA masquerading as a BW) to begin with.


 jake65 (1657), Williston, North Dakota, USA
3.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/57/103/514/20
Apr 11, 2009  
Bottle (2008): Very dark brown pour with no head. Strong smells oak and earthiness, just a little sweetness from the brandy. Rich tastes of malt and lots of woodiness. Some more brandy. A little bready too. Not real distinctive in any one area. Very low carbonation, almost flat. Based on what I had expected, a bit on the dissapointing side.



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