St. Ambroise Vintage Ale

Brewed by McAuslan Brewing
Style: Barley Wine
Montreal, Canada

2001 Tasted 4/07. Thanks to BeerBuzzMontreal for the bottle. Aroma is malty, caramel, mild but pleasant oxidation. Flavor is malty, carmel, toffee, alcohol, and earthy.

341 m bottle, 2007 vintage - pours a lovely, hazy dull orange, giving it the appearance of a glass of apricot jam. Very nice thick cream head with good retention and lacing. Beautiful aroma of fresh juicy citric hops, some Italian plum, raspberries, and floral notes. A bit of booze, too. I just want to smell this forever. Boozy and a bit rough around the edges in the mouth, but there are some underlying flavours here that show great potential for aging. More of the same as the aroma, but with some hints of pepper and mint. Bitter finish. I really look forward to aging the 2 bottles I have left - I think this will come together superbly in a year or two, but even this young, it is still quite good.

2007 bottle. Appearance: Pours a clear, orangey body with a small, bubbly white head. Smell: Candyish toffee aroma with a hint of grain and bright fruitiness of dried figs and grated orange peel. Taste: Rich toffee maltiness with a medium sweetness that gets kicked in the jimmy by a spicy bitterness. There’s the zest, there’s the figs. The sweetness manages to recover in time for a bittersweet finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Warming alcohol presence. Slight stickiness. Drinkability: Yeah, that was pretty ok! Recommended.

2007 bottle, aged in my cellar for almost exactly a year. Still pretty hot, hoppy. Body is nice on this, not too brutal, a nice maybe Belgian yeast to it, kind of lemony, sage finish. Still a bitch to drink, though. This beer needs some serious time. I’d say 5 years should work.

’07: Pours a slightly hazy copper color with a white head. Aroma is caramel, apricot, and some toasted malt. Flavor is malty, caramel, a hint of fruity apricot, toast, and a bitter hop finish.

Shared at Cleveland tasting 3/15 2007 Bottle: Pours a clear copper with an off white head. Aroma, some caramel, boozy, grains. Flavor, yeast, sweet caramel, some vanilla, fruits, and an earthyness to it.

Cleveland tasting

Thanks to whomever popped this open about halfway through the festivities. It was an interesting change of pace from the other St Ambroise beer I’ve tried (the relatively easy to find Oatmeal Stout). This was the 2007 vintage which means it probably will be very solid for the next few years to come.

Aroma / Appearance - The transparent golden body was fluid with a bit of lacing. Graininess mingled with vinuous aspects to create an airy headspace. It was hard to detect much of what I would consider a barley wine. This smelled more like an old ale (at least at this point). Perhaps with time it will settle into something more mellow.

Flavor / Palate - Warmness keeps the palate busy while honey and watermelon kick things off. The vinuous finish brings it around to a blend of hops and malts which are balanced evenly. This is an easy going sipping beer for a nice winter night which should be good for a few years to come.

Bottle shared at the Cleveland tasting. 2007 vintage under the name Millesimee. I love my barley wines, so was excited for this one. Pour was a pretty amber orange color. Aroma was raisins and toffee. Flavor was carmel, fruits, some woodiness, and even some bitter hoppyness...I prefer a much sweeter stronger barley wine. This one was a tad disappointing to me.