St. Ambroise Vintage Ale

Brewed by McAuslan Brewing
Style: Barley Wine
Montreal, Canada

(on bottle at RBESG 2005, vintage 2001)Even though is has had some 4 years to mature, this beer is still very alcoholdominated. Nose of alcohol and peat-honey. dark amber colured and with a small, lasting, white head. Not complex in taste either; burnt figs and alcoholwarmth is overwhelming. Too much for me.

Hazy dark amber, thin white head with some lacing. Malty nose. acidic, vinegar flavour. Somewhat alcoholic. Slight woody in finish.

Bottled @RBESG’05 (vintage 2001)
Nut brown, small tanned head. Strong "barley wine -nose". Licorice, liquerish palate. Alcoholic punch in the finish. Full-bodied. Good, maybe could gain even more when it’s really old.

Bottle RBESG. Vintage 01. Rich, chocolate, malty aroma. Full, herby, sweet, hoppy flavor. Feels thick and soft in the mouth. Sticky finish.

I know I scored high, but I am disapointed. bought this bottle in 2001, kept for a special ocasion, forgot about it for years, found it last month and shared with wife last night. It’s amasing, well aged mild/barley wine hybrid, but I was hopeing for somthing more based on the standard st-ambois pale ale, with domonant bitter american variations of hop, loveing nothing in this world more than extremly bitter beer. So while I was expecting somthing diffent, this was still amasing. Pored fairly clear amberish yellow, High major sediment in the bottle, was probably much cloudier before it settled. Aroma is complex. Oak barel, strong malt, vinila, grass clipping, dry barley and a slight roseyness, and tropical air. Flavour is strong malt, oak tones, vinila, strong earthnotes, dried apricot, brown rice, rich caromel and tea dipped biscut. Aftertaste is where I can finaly taste the hops, bitter aftertaste with notes of mellon, moist fruitcake, grape skins and a final chewy finish. Not my choice, could be called an "Imperial Mild" but it’s great, just great. Maby my next long age barley wine will be as bitter as I’m hopeing for. Cheers

2001:I’m so grateful to my Secret Santa for sending me this. I saved it for a worthy occasion and was glad to share with Mike and Ann. Everything I love about a barlywine, with hints of oak and vanilla in the aroma. The flavor was strong caramel and biscuity, with a bit of dried apricot.

Cloudy caramel body with a ring of white lace. Excellent aroma and flavor of malt, caramel, candy and alcohol. Medium body, vinous and syrupy texture, soft carbonation. This old favorite is still pretty solid.
Earlier Rating: 5/5/2004 Total Score: 4.5
This is one of my favorite beers and after five years it is still pretty amazing ! Absolutely no head at all, very nice amber color. Huge and delightfull aroma of malt and alcohol. Amazing flavors of malt, alcohol and caramel. The good news is, I have 4 bottles of this great vintage left !

Aroma: oak, carmel, some hay, some honey, mustiness, some air freshner, coconut
Appearance: golden yellow, small cream head, some lacing
Flavor: oak, mustiness, carmelized brown sugar, some hay, carmel, and red grape skins
Palate: smooth, musty carmel aftertaste
2001
Thanks to jzzbassman for sharing