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St. Ambroise Vintage Ale

Percentile
98
overall
Brewed by McAuslan Brewing
Style: Barley Wine

Montreal, Canada

bottled
common

on tap
unknown

Broad Distribution
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RatingsAverageScoreABVStyle PctlServe in
2983.86/5.03.84/5.09.8%90.4Snifter
Commercial Description:
Also known as St.Ambroise Millésimée.

In honour of our tenth anniversary, McAuslan Vintage Ale has been brewed to continue the centuries-old tradition of strong ales and barley wines. Vintage Ale is rich and malty, with a surprisingly well balanced and clean hop finish provided by classic Goldings hops. The ale is unfiltered and derives its orange hue from wheat malt blended with pale and Munich malts. The malts also provide a hints of caramelized fruit reminiscent of a Christmas pudding.
McAuslan Brewing will celebrate each new year by brewing Vintage Ale on our anniversary. As a vintage product, we estimate this ale will remain in good condition for a number of years.
The 2006 edition is down from 9.4% to 9.2%. In 2007 this went to 8%. In 2009 this went to 9.8%.

All vintages of this barley wine are to be rated on this page.
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 ajm (917), Los Angeles, California, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/517/20
Apr 21, 2009  
Bottle from Lt. Butler. Very nice sleeper beer. Nose of barrel, sweet baked goods, sherry. Flavor is the same plus brighter fruit and the tongue happiness of champagne. Color is a nice red brown. A surprising hit.


 Papillon (172), Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
3.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/57/104/515/20
Apr 19, 2009  
341 mL Bottle. Hazy amber body with a small but tenacious head leaving good lacing. Aroma of caramel, alcohol (and rightly so with that 9.8 octane), and innuendos of banana, mango, and apricot. The flavor is intense but smooth; an acquired taste. Smooth malt with an accent of cotton candy and a noticeable alcohol expression; wine-like but with a creamy mouth feel and a hop bitter aftertaste followed by a bitter-nutty finish.


 CapnCascade (116), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
3.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/57/104/515/20
Apr 5, 2009  
2007 vintage shared with mgermani on 04-Apr-2009. Hazy copper pour, moderate white head with good retention and small lacing. Boozy aroma, brown sugar, figs. Flavour of candy sugar, figs, slightly vinous, moderate dry finish with a prominent hit of bittering hops. Doesn’t hide its booze, but pleasant.


 diabel (1369), Aarschot, Belgium
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/515/20
Apr 3, 2009  
Bottle, at LCRBM 2008, ’s Hertogenbosch, Netherlands - Vintage 2006
Hazy, orange to amber body. Aroma of fruits (pear, apple, grapes, ..) and caramel malts. Moderately bitter, lightly sweet flavour. Good balance and there is some complexity. Not great, but certainly a good one.


 SuzyGreenberg (1337), Seattle, Washington, USA
4.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/105/517/20
Mar 22, 2009  
12 oz. bottle - thanks after4ever; 2006 vintage; clear orange with thin white head; thin body with not a hint of booze; sweet, dry and lots of candy malt, brown sugar; quite sweet with a mildly dry finish; fantastic


 bedainedebiere (284), Terrebonne, Quebec, Canada
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/517/20
Mar 20, 2009    Updated: Apr 20, 2009
It is written here "2009"... Never seen a 2008 or a 2009. I hope to see one soon. I had a 2006 a year ago, before knowing about this site. I thought then it was at least one of the best beers I had ever tasted. It had a warm creamy unforgettable texture, a caramel and powerful malt taste, with subtilities that go far beyond imagination. I had a few 2007 since then and although I really appreciated these beers, they were shadowed by the previously higher ABV brew... Which leads me back to that 9,8% ABV for that mysterious 2009. A beer store owner told me a few months ago that McAuslan had stop brewing this beer. I really hope Ratebeer.com is right. One of the very best from Quebec’s imaginary country! Rating for the 2007.


 fonefan (11090), VestJylland, Denmark
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/103/516/20
Mar 2, 2009  
Bottle 341ml. @ LCRBM 2008, ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
[ Vintage 2006 ]. Clear medium amber color with a small to average, fizzy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, roasted, caramel, vitage, cask wood. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and moderate bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20081025]


 daknole (2895), Plantation, Florida, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/516/20
Mar 1, 2009  
2000 bottle generously shared by Oakes and Beershine. Amber pour with hardly any head. Aroma is full of caramel, honey, malt and fruity. Flavor is very nice even though some oxidation is present. As Oakes told me, the oxidation works well in this beer...meaning the brewer knows what the hell he is doing...right? I really enjoyed drinking this.



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