The Angel's Share - Bourbon Barrel-Aged
The Lost Abbey

Dark, rich brandy, booze soaked raisins, chocolate, coffee, oak barrel, bourbon, vanilla, dark caramel, molasses, dark dried fruits

 

 

 

 

 

Nice whiskey barrel flavors compliment a base ale.

 

 

Muddy brown strong ale, no head whatsoever, and absolutely no more disappointment after that. Great silky mouthfeel, vanilla flavor mildly allowing bourbon and even brandy notes to overtake it. Nice caramel malt finish, smooth from top of the glass to the bottom. Brandy flavor is more at the top, bourbon predominant through last sip. Superior effort!

2009 Vintage courtesy of acurtis.
(12 years old!)
Dark fruits,(prune, raisins), toffee, leather, wood, slight oxidization.
99% flat. No booziness. Smooth.
Overall: Though definitely old, this ages pretty well. Those melded flavors only age can produce. Ages better than most beers out there. From what I’ve read Lost Abbey was probably flat even when fresh.

The Angel’s Share is from 2016. Pours dark, dark brown. Almost black. Very little carbonation during the pour, and then a bit after it was all poured. Immediate aroma of bourbon. I was surprised it was so strong after 4-5 years. Taste follows - big bourbon presence, which makes me happy, because I love bourbon barrel aged beers. Between the color being almost black and the bourbon dominating, this is very close to a bourbon barrel aged stout instead of a barleywine. If given in a blind tasing I might think it was. There’s very little barleywine characteristic: it’s not sweet, don’t get any caramel or toffee. It’s still a bit boozy, but I like that in beers like this.

 

 

 

Viscous, opaque garnet-brown with no head; strong bourbon nose with hints of wood, cherry stone, candy sugar, moss, plum and oak smoke; fig, milk chocolate, red currants, a whisky hit with a big thread of vanilla, sweet comeback + warming end; medium-full, chewy, round.

3.75 4.5 4 4 4.25

Sat on this for 5 years.
No looker, but smells like a humidor - once you get past the booziness, the complexity of the aroma drips down the back of your throat.
The taste is dried dark fruit more than any caramel sweetness. And then that bourbon drops in… while among the most harmonious I’ve encountered, it does take over more than complement the base beer.
Not perfect: it’s flat + boozy - hard to avoid at 12.5%, but it should've mellowed with age. I see lots of good ratings for this, but some are a decade old - maybe this beer jumped out more before everything was getting put in barrels.
Overall, this has more in common with treacly English strong ales than anything else. But with a lot of bourbon.

More an advertisement for bourbon barrel aging than a complete beer.

Cork didn't want to get out, no pop. Pours dark brown, flat. Smells bourbon. Smooth mouthfeel, but could do with some carb. No alcohol to speak of. Taste is dry, woody, with some bice bourbon. Bit herbal, that old leather tobacco flavour from good barrels

Vintage 2016. Poured into a tulip glass. No head to speak of, just a full murky ruby brown. Aromas of fig,barrel, and caramel. Taste is similar, no hops semblance at this point. And that is ...Ok. I’ll give you six dollars if you can name where that quote came from. The heft was surprisingly light, carbonation low, mildly sticky as everything warmed. Delicious and coating.

vintage 2016 poured from a 375mL corked & caged bottle into a snifter. pours light brown but gathers in the glass a bit darker, almost chestnut, with the tiniest amount of khaki colored head that dissipates leaving small khaki swirls. nose is a combination of dark fruit, figs, toffee, chocolate, vanilla, oak and bourbon. taste is a little more oak and bourbon forward followed by sweet toffee and caramel. it suffers from a little oxidation but that’s my own fault for letting this sit so long. mouthfeel is medium to full. it sits on the tongue fairly full then finishes a little thinner. overall, pretty stellar bourbon barrel-aged barleywine. need to track down a fresh vintage as it was not my intention to try this for the first time with so much age on it. very much enjoyed it though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2014 Bottled

Consumed on April 13, 2019.

I pulled the cork slowly to only a slight release of air. No pop.

Brown, large and very loosely packed bubbles, indicating low carbonation. They disappeared very quickly. Dark brown color. Translucent and slightly murky.

This beer has a huge nose. Bourbon, chocolate, toasted coconut, vanilla, oak. Tons of dark, dried fruit including raisins and prunes. Coffee. A hint of cinnamon. Some ABV coming Through.

Lots of chocolate. Notes of sweet and dark over the course of the glass. Chocolate covered, bourbon soaked raisins and cherries. Some cinnamon. Some oak.

A medium body with no carbonation. Pleasant warmth from the 12.5% ABV and a semi-sweet finish with some woody bitterness. Residual, sticky sweetness coats my lips.

I am really enjoying this beer. There is tons of chocolate and dark dried fruit that comes through as chocolate covered cherries and raisins. I pulled this from the basement at 55-60F and put it in the fridge for about 30 mins. This beer has held up beautifully. Has it improved? Based only on my ratings from 14 and 15 I am enjoying this MUCH more, but there are too many variables to say it has improved. Right here, right now, I think it’s excellent. There is definitely some heat, which I think works nicely.

 

Pours a medium to dark brown with mahogany highlights. Thin tan ring of head, no lacing present. Really looks like rusty tap water. Smells of bourbon, oak, vanilla, malts and dark fruits. Tastes of bourbon, vanilla, caramel malts oak, raisins, figs molasses and toffee. Medium bodied for the style, minimal carbonation, syrupy mouth feel. An awesome sipper.

2016 Vintage

Uncorking let out the wimpiest of "pops" so I'm assuming its gonna be flat after 7 years in the bottle. Poured aggressively produces no head to speak of.

Nose is dark fruits blended into toffee pudding and smeared across a massive slice of caramel bread that's been soaked in Bourbon.

Taste follows suit. Starts rather sweet with fruity jam, English toffee, caramel, oak-y vanilla, bready malts with the Bourbon riding shotgun throughout. It doesn't overpower the other flavors but its always at the forefront. ABV is well hidden but it definitely has a nail polish kinda alcohol warmth on the finish.

Very complex and tasty for sure but I really wish it had some carbonation left as it would really help the mouthfeel blossom and support the weight of the flavors a bit more. 7 years is too much age for this

 

 

Dark brown with a murky ruby tinge and no head.

Smells of your typical english barley wine 'stinky foot' and bourbon barrel. Caramel, cherries, and butterscotch.

Tastes of caramel toffee, stinky foot, bourbon barrel, and a butter scotch finish.

Medium, syrupy body with a moderate carbonation.

I got this in Chico, and am drinking it Jan 26th, 2019. Very smooth, very well crafted and thoughtfully done brew.

Poured from a cork'n'cage 12 oz bottle into a Dogfish Head tulip. 2016 edition

L: Cloudy viscous dark mahogany brown pour. No head or lacing worth mentioning.

S: Sweet caramel and toffee... bourbon and booze.

T/F: Sweet and thick... big time dark sugars... caramel, toffee, and vanilla. Very boozy... almost overpowering. Warming... unbalanced on the sweet side. Rich and ABV not all that well hidden.

O: I wanted to like this more. It's quality, don't get me wrong... but too sweet/boozy and lacking the depth/balance I was expecting. Very glad I got to try it... but honestly not one I'd seek out again.

 

 

 

Caged and corked bottle poured into a snifter

Murky brown liquid, plenty of carbonation in the glass, a few brown bubbles cling to one side, settles to a ring

Aroma is bourbon whiskey

Taste is bourbon, bit of vanilla, bit of oak. The taste lingers but doesn’t have the alcohol burn

Smooth, almost creamy, no sudsing

Good beer