St. Ambroise Vintage Ale

Brewed by McAuslan Brewing
Style: Barley Wine
Montreal, Canada

This is NOT AT ALL THE SAME BEER AS THE OTHER VINTAGE ALES (2006)... Beautifull long lasting creamy head... fantastic looking body... Amazing looking beer. Creamy caramel, butterscoth, toffee, nutty, prunes, Honey... Increadibly amazing nice tasting beer... nice sweet mellow bitter taste thats long lasting... the taste is long lasting... I have a strange feeling that this beer will be worth a big 5 on 5 in another 5 years. Buy 2, drink 1 and let the other age... enjoy! ...

1999: In a red wine glass: Hazy amber body with an off-white/orangey head. It’s not too generous though and while aging probably is a cause, this remains one of the only blames I can give this fine beer. The aroma is to dream of, aroma itself is warming with alcohol peaks, complex dark malts giving it a nice balance of fruits(berries, and caramel with. The taste is very good, but not quite up to the delicious aroma. It remains rather complex with hints at bread, spices, caramel and a nice balanced hoppiness. Bitter, but mostly sweet grapes aftertaste. Excellent full mouthfeel. It sure did age well, especially that the keeping conditions in the store I found this in .(Liqueurs Populaires on Taschereau Boulevard in Montreal’s South Shore). 9/3/8/5/17=4.2

2001 Version: Evocative malt layers aroma with obvious citrusy hops -that are, imo, not overexpressed as in a Hog Heaven for instance- which resembles to Columbus (pine, vanilla, toffee). As it enters the mouth, what surprises me is the very creamy sensuous body, I don’t remember it being that corpulent from earlier vintages, very pleasant to say the least, the malts are chewy, not too sweet, but complex and pronounced. The hops are abundant, but not necessarily providing much bitterness, just giving it a chewy biting aspect. I’m really hooked on that malt profile though, desperately trying to suck the flavors out of my tongue as I finish the glass. 9/4/9/5/17=4.4

Vintage 2006: Clear orangey auburn. Feeling quite hoppy at this young stage and I suspect possible tweaking on the hop bill as earthy, citrusy grapefruit rind accompanies the otherwise bittering, spicy and lean hops. The head is initially dense enough, but fades at a constant, rather quick pace. More spruce than I remember. As far as the malt goes, perhaps its a youth effect, but I don’t quite quite catch as much vinous factor as I remember, though there’s plenty of toastiness, and fruit-soaked rum bread flavors in there, finishing with more than honest preserving bitterness. Not so silky as I expected, but quite smooth. I’d bring it down from past years, but I’m less fond of intensity nowadays. 8/4/7/3/15=3.7.
Earlier Rating: 7/17/2003 Total Score: 4.1
Massive caramel and vanilla scent. The aroma is great really, very inviting. Sweet taste of caramel flirting with good drew hop bitterness while alcohol watches on top of it all. Marvellous degustation ale.

[Vintage 2001 sampled 2005]
A hazy orange beer with a disappearing orange head. The aroma is sweet and quite hoppy. The flavor is sweet and very hoppy with a slight alcohol burn. Nice for a barley wine to by so hopped. Thanks, Per, for sharing.
Vintage 2000 - Sampled 2006 - it definately is over the top [4/3/5/3/10=2.5]
An amber beer with a fast disappearing orange head. The aroma is extremely oxidixed, but also has notes of oranges. The flavor is sweet and again very oxidixed but not as bad as in the aroma, but also has notes of fruit

(Bottle 34,1 cl) Hazy, amber golden with an off-white head. Fat, caramel aroma with a tart edge. Fairly full-bodied with notes of overripe apricots. Sweet caramel malts and sherry like accents. Perhaps somewhat oxidized. 290806
Earlier Rating: 8/15/2005 Total Score: 3.4
(Bottle 34,1 cl) Vintage 2001. Hazy, amber golden with a nice, beige head. Aromas of sweetish malt and hops - lovely aromatic, hoppy nose. Sweetish and quite alcoholic with loads od sweet caramel. 120805

Bottled. Amber coloured. Unclear. Light brown dense head. Sweet citric and flowery aroma. Loads of pruny and sweet almond notes. LIght herbal and spiced. Very dry and full of alcohol. A bit too much alcohol for my likings.
Earlier Rating: 2/13/2005 Total Score: 3.7
Bottled 2001 vintage: Murky orange/amber coloured. Beige dense head. Flower, liqourice and alcohol in the nose. Flavour is quite smooth and hoppy. Some alcohol and maltsweetness is present. Is nicely bitter in the end. Nothing extraordinary, but a decent brew.

Bottled. Slightly hazy amber coloured. Very oxidized. Loads of old prunes. Very sweet. Far too old and mature for my likings.

Orange-brown. Honey aroma with notes of chocolate and raisins. Honey flavour with notes of spices, hops and alcohol. Sweet with dry finish.

Vintage 2001 tasted early 2006. Orange-brown color, some particles, very little head. Some candies pierce through the very strong alcohol aroma (smells like a “baba au rhum”). Taste is very sweet, strong alcohol (feels even more than “only” 9.6%), syrupy, some grapes and various dried dark fruits. The hop profile is gone. Definitely past its prime and not worth the current high price tag. Unfortunately I didn’t take notes when I had these past few years. Used to be great, now it’s just ok, in a few years it will be so-so and a few more years and I’ll be ashamed to admit that I once enjoyed it… funny how I feel the same about many ex-girlfriends.