St. Ambroise Vintage Ale

Brewed by McAuslan Brewing
Style: Barley Wine
Montreal, Canada

2001. Thanks to jzzbassman for sharing this. Has a wonderfully beautiful nose, very well aged, smelling of oak, plums, with a musty hoppy bubble-gum scent. Nice and sour, not like I expected... smells similar to JW Lee’s but tastes completely different... some nice robust and dry oak, candy and sour sugars. A wonderful beer.

2001 Vintage acquired in trade with beerhugger (thanks!). Poured a medium and cloudy brownish-amber color with a smaller sized off white head. A couple of large floaters. Aromas of caramel, fruits, and earth. Tastes of caramel, citrus, and very light alcohol. Medium sweet. Smooth body and very easy to drink. A very good barley wine.

2001... Poured a murky brown color with a small, off white head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of port, caramel malts, chocolate and alcohol. Taste of sweet caramel, citrus fruits, very light hoppiness and a touch of alcohol in the finish.

Well malted mellow barleywine, liked slightly better than 2001. Good malt and carbonation still there.
Earlier Rating: 1/30/2005 Total Score: 4.1
#6200, thanks to Doug Shoemaker. I think it has a mellowed barleywine taste, closing in on a UK aged style. Much malts, which cushioned the aftertaste. 2009 was about the same, didn’t care for aroma but decent mouthfeel.

Bottle: (#8871) Dark caramel, cloudy, medium off-white head, clingy lacing.   Bready aroma, dark pitted fruit, hot caramel sweetness.   Very bready on first sip, slight alcohol, dark fruit, caramel, apple/pear skin.   Big body, somewhat viscous mouthfeel.   Semi-sweet finish, very bready, soft fig/date, lingering pale fruit skin.   Slightly sour as well.   Wished it were a bit sweeter rather than sour.   Otherwise fairly tasty!   Thanks again Jeff!


Earlier Rating: 4/13/2004 Total Score: 4
Bottle pours dark caramel, medium frothy head, with sticky lacing.   Sweet toffee, burnt sugar, and graham crackers on the nose.   Butterscotch & toffee up front, with raisin, dark plums, and figs on the back end.   Slight hop bite as it finishes.   Quite smooth and VERY enjoyable.   Solid mouthfeel & palate, very warming.   Thanks goes out to Rastacouere for the trade!

Couleur cuivrée tirant vers le brun aux reflets rougeâtres. Faible mousse beige diminuante se renouvelant volontairement à la moindre agitation du verre. Multiples arômes envoûtants d’alcool entre le sherry et le brandy donnant aussi une impression de début de madérisation. Puis nous arrivent de vieux barils de bois remplis de raisins secs, de figues et de vanille. Toujours en bonne forme, son corps est d’une épaisseur allant de moyenne à épaisse. Gros malt épais et collant, rempli de flaveurs de caramel brûlé faisant également allusion à la mousse de tourbe et aux vieilles planches mouillée. La texture est un peu huileuse. La présence du houblon n’attire pas beaucoup d’attention sur elle-même à part du léger mordant d’amertume qui arrive vers la fin pour finalement laisser place à l’alcool qui nous quitte très lentement. Bouteille Rahman, Mai 2005.

2001 bottle. Pours a reddish-amber...small off white head. Aromas of earth, butterscotch malts....very Fullers Vintage-like, light fruits. Flavor accentuates the malts, vanilla, light spice hedged by some nice hops. Full-bodied, another smooth one...could’ve let this one sit even longer. Thanks Rastacouere!

2001 : robe rubis orangée surmontée d’une mousse beige toujours renaissante mais fugace. Arômes de caramel, notes boisées, alcool évident, fruits rouges, un peu agrume. Saveurs de sherry, de caramel, d’orange et d’alcool bien balancées. Très très bon! 9-4-9-5-19 2006 : Robe orangée très claire surmontée d’une mousse beige qui s’estompe. Arômes de caramel et de houblon floral. Saveurs de caramel, de houblon floral, herbacé et fruité et de bonbon. Très bon encore, mais ressemble presqu’à une double IPA avec ses accents forts de houblon. 9-4-9-4-18