Lost Abbey Angel's Share at $14?...does it cellar well?

It tasted alright, but not as good as Bourbon County Stout.

If I were you, I would pass on that and just age some BCBS. If money is not an issue, sure throw it in the cellar for a few years! However, I paid half of that and was pretty disappointed with it fresh.

 

I had it fresh and thought it was WAY too hot. I say yes, pull the trigger and sit on it for a year minimum.

 

BCBS is a stout. Angel's Share is closer to a barley wine. Not a great comparison IMO.

 

Not a huge fan of Ange's Share. Can't imagine it would improve with age but who knows. If you have an extra $14 laying around with nothing better to spend it on, then go for it.

 

Wasn't comparing on style but rather what I consider to age well. Never was a comparison...

 

I love it fresh, and I've had one at a year and liked it, but I have heard of a few vintages souring a little. The brandy barrel bottles are more prone to it but know that going in, you may end up with a different (although still good) beer after aging.

 

I had a 1 year old and thought it was great, wish I kept it aging longer, however mine was $17.99 so it's definitely a splurge beer.

 

Yes it does age well. I had a 2008 earlier this year (750ml) that was the beginning of the "carbonation issues" (the beer is supposed to be flat, get over it people from 2009 & 2010). It held up very nicely, the bourbon was still strong but nicely married with the other flavors. Mouthfeel was still sticky and thick, but everything seemed to have come together. I couldn't finish the 750ml myself (even though I wanted to), but all four of us agreed that it was a sleeper, and we should have gotten more when we could.

 

What year is it? They seem to have fixed it in 2012, but prior years had corking issues that lead to little or no carb in some bottles, but of course you won't know that until you open it. And they maybe didn't even fix it in 2012, it's just that every bottle of Angel's Share and Deliverance I've had that is 2012/2013 has been fine.

This beer is great in the cellar for a year, maybe two. This beer strikes me as one that needs some booziness from the barrel to balance it out. It's one of my absolute favorites, though, so I am hard pressed to recommend trying to change it too much through aging.

BTW, $14 is pretty cheap. I pay $20 for it, minimum.

 

Lost Abbey is so hit/miss sometime stuff is good and sometime the next bottle is not
it is very inconsistent and last few years they have had lot of carbonation/infection issues more problems with the carbonation Personally I would not want to waste my limited space on aging something like that, but to each his own and if you have ton of space and extra $ to throw away go for it. you should age a Mother of all Storms or an Arctic Devil if you like those styles or easier and awesome beer to age is Firestone Sucaba.

 

Damn - when I was in PA I picked up a bottle for $16 or so, and that was in the Philly suburbs!

 

Also agree on passing on these...for their price on what you get and the inconsistency.

 

Are you guys speaking from experience? I've had probably close to 20 bottles of Lost Abbey Angel's Share and Deliverance, as well as several keg pours in the last couple of years. The keg pours have been completely consistent. I have popped a couple of flat bottles from before 2012, and a couple more with suspiciously low carbonation. None have been infected, and everything from 2012 and 2013 has been stellar. I have yet to encounter an infection, and flat or not, the beer in the bottle has been very consistent on flavor.

I know Lost Abbey has had issues in the past, but I don't think it's fair to keep beating them up for an issue that seems, at least in my experience, to be fixed.

 

Absolutely from Experience.

Purchased two bottles in the past few months of Deliverance and both were flat. I'm not speaking about Angel's Share (which this thread is about) but Deliverance, which was VERY disappointing. I'm paying $32+ on roughly 25oz, I expect near perfection. I also found this to be the case with a group of guys in AZ on Facebook after asking them what their experience was. Flavor aside, carbonation is a huge part of beer and made drinking it completely unenjoyable. I expect my beer to be carbonated when I'm paying such an incredibly high premium. I get that some strong ales don't have carbonation, but that's the extreme at 20-25%+ ABV. Some may choose to disagree but I won't be wasting any more money on these...

 

I opened a 2009 bottle in May; it was drinking great. Probably had more time left in the cellar if desired. I've had it fresh too, but in my opinion it does age gracefully and I enjoy those flavors more.

 

What year were they from? 2013 Deliverance has not been out for a few months, and it is not uncommon to see 2011 versions of these beers on the shelves. I have popped 3 2013 bottles of Deliverance. All have been very well-carbed and awesome.

Also, I have heard that Tomme and his crew are pretty helpful in righting the wrong of uncarbed bottles. Might be worth contacting them.

 

All are new 2013 vintages. Maybe I'll shoot them a message....thx.

 

Please let us know what happens.

 

I cracked open last years burbon angelsshare a couple weeks ago and it was pretty phenominal.