Lost Abbey The Angels Share Grand Cru
Nearly four years ago, we hired some Angels to work their magic on all manners of oak barrels and beers in our barrel program. As Angels go, they’re alright. Sometimes they misplace barrels. Other times, they’re selfish and hide the best barrels. And at least one of these Angels is mischievous from time to time adding grapes to the barrels to see what might happen.
Recently, we found some of these "Angels Barrels" which we’d lost over time. After tasting them, we decided to marry some of the barrels together creating a time in a bottle snapshot of some of our favorite Angel’s Share barrels. This Grand Cru bottling has been thoughtfully blended to bridge the first batches with our most recent releases. We hope that you, like us and our Angels, find it worthy of the designation Angels Share Grand Cru.
[new batch in 2014; draft only at the current time per David at LA.]
Recently, we found some of these "Angels Barrels" which we’d lost over time. After tasting them, we decided to marry some of the barrels together creating a time in a bottle snapshot of some of our favorite Angel’s Share barrels. This Grand Cru bottling has been thoughtfully blended to bridge the first batches with our most recent releases. We hope that you, like us and our Angels, find it worthy of the designation Angels Share Grand Cru.
[new batch in 2014; draft only at the current time per David at LA.]
4.1
247 reviews
San Marcos, United States
Community reviews
Draft at Monks Cafe. Spectacular! Opaque dark brown pour with just a slim tan ring. Broad rich barrel malt flavors. Complex range of dark fruits, chocolate and caramel. Liquorice and vanilla beans. Dark chocolate cherry cordials. Raisin pie. Brandy and bourbon. Nice creamy element that hides the alcohol and smooths the finish to perfection. Hints of a wide variety of notes too numerous to mention. Milkier than the Deliverance. Way to easy drinking for all the huge flavors - not to mention the 12% ABV! One of my highest rated beers. Just spectacular!
Cask gravity dispense at GBBF 2015. Black with a small tan head. Aroma is strong and boozey with molasses, fruitcake, sherry, solvent and raisins. Body is medium, smooth, low carbonation. Taste is tangy booze, chocolate syrup, molasses, fruitcake, some yeasty bovril, liquorice dirtiness, astringent boozey finish. It’s a huge beer and it’s going to divide opinion. For me, it’s just too sweet and harsh to be great. Still, it’s very good.
Aroma: strong alcohol, heavy sweet dark berries, malty, caramel, toffee. Appearance: black, spare, frothy, light brown head. Taste: heavy sweet. Palate: intense sweetness, prunes, dark fruits, sweet wood. Overall: excellent Barley Wine, nice aroma and intense palate. Pint at GBBF 2015, Kensington Olympia.
Cask gravity at gbbf 2015 day 3. Aroma is lonely, Sherry. Raisin, fruit cake, layer, booze soaked fruits. Mahogany brown coloured pour with a loose tan head. Flavours is soon rich marzipan fruit cake, booze sherry, caramel. Hint of wood. Very boozy but very smooth with a warming alcohol in the finish. Palate is full and velvety sticky sugar. Lovely.
Bottle shared with a friend. Poured a Deep mohagony Brown colour flat as a pancake. Barrel notice upfront. with sweet caramel malts, barley, sticky toffee, white grapes, raisins, green apples, vanilla, bourbon, caramel fudge, mouthfeel is quite hot. Flat, but very oily. The lack of carbonation is not a real miss here. It’s very Well balanced. And maybe still a little bit hot. Lovely
On tap at tiger tiger in San diego..dark brown pour with kaki head... had this with brian nate slop sara in ca.. love it
On tap at the source. Pours brown with a thin head. Aroma is dark Frits and malt. Chocolate and caramel. Very sweet. Super nice beer.
On tap at Stein’s for the 2 year anniversary. Aromas of chocolate and dark fruit. Pours a murkey Mississippi Mud brown with taupe head that lingers only as a collar. Complex flavors of deep dark fruit and bourbon. Moderate high floral hop aspects. Mouthfeel is spritzy - tingling the tongue. Overt molasses more pronounced as it warms.
Draft at Huna 2015. Pours dark brown with nearly no head at all. Nose is all booze with cocoa and fudge. Taste is mostly the same. Difficult to discern any particular barrel, but is definitely barrel forward. Base beer is smooth, malt forward, and really hides the alcohol well. Overall very enjoyable.
Taster pour at Sam Fest Barleywine Festival (2015). Hazy darkish brown in color with a slight tan head. Nose is malty with some slight booze. This is nice, but lighter and more nuanced than some of the other barleywines sampled at Sam Fest.
HMOG 2015. Honestly had no idea that there was a grand cru version. Thanks to whomever held onto this. Barely carbed, but still nice flavors of bourbon, caramel, aged fruit, lingering boozy sweetness.
Draft pour at toronado. Dark brown almost black pour. Strong barrel aged alcohol aroma, you can definitely taste it to, great mix of bold flavor, can taste the wood in the after taste.
Bottle courtesy of tkrjukoff. Pours slightly hazy dark mahogany with no head worth mentioning. Smell is malty and fruity with caramel, sweet dark bread, charred wood, grapes, kumquats and orange zest. Taste is sour and malty with caramel, dark bread, lemon juice, dark grapes, moist wood, red wine vinegar, leather, moist soil, kumquats and orange zest. Mouthfeel is dry, tart and medium to full bodied. Finish is sour with dark bread, caramel, lemon juice, grapes, red wine vinegar, leather, moist soil, kumquats and lemon zest. Quite alright as a strong American sour but clearly infected and not a barley wine or what the brewer intended.
Bottle at Bryggerivisning o lite bärs, Sätila, 150109. Clear deep amber/mahogany beer with a small head. Malty caramel aroma, sourish, grapes, fruity, sourish, grapes, vinous notes. Sourish vinous flavor, grapes, citrus, sour. Guess it is infected or something.
Draft. Blackish beer with a tan head. Rich caramel/toffee aroma with bourbon and light fruitiness. Caramel/toffee flavor with bourbon and brandy. Medium-plus bodied. Caramel/toffee lingers with bourbon, light brandy, and light cocoa.
Pours a dark murky reddish brown. Aroma is brandy, booze, oak, cherry, molasses. Taste is sweet, brandy, booze, oak, malt.
Pours murky brown with a thin tan head which quickly fades to no lacing. Aroma is of brandy, rum raisins, dark fruits, cherry, molasses, boozy bourbon, sweet malts, and some oaky notes. Taste is pretty similar to the aroma with a lot of brandy, rum, and bourbon oaky notes. Has a full body with a creamy mouthfeel and a sweet, slightly warming, medium long finish. Overall, a world class barely wine that shows characteristics from all of the different barrels used for Angel’s share.
Tap, dark pour, off white head, nose is caramel, taste is super duper boozy, more caramel
on tap pours murky brown with low head. aroma is boozy brandy and alcohol with big raisins and sweet Belgian candi sugar. taste is similar with a huge booze and sweet malty finish, 5 oz is too much for me
Bottle thanks to GT. Pours a very dark brown with small tan head that diminishes to nothing. The aroma is strong caramel, raisin, and oak. Medium moutfeel with nice roasted malt, toffee, caramel, brown sugar, light booze, easy to drink, very nice.
Taster at Strong Beer Fest. Pours mahogany with a scant off white head. Smells amazing, like bourbon barrel chocolate covered cherries. Flavor has all of that, finishing with milk chocolate and toasted oak.
No retention and no lacing. Smells of dates, dark fruits and cherry. Tastes of dates, dark fruits and burnt sugar. Sweet aftertaste.
Tap at the Ale Arsenal 2nd Anniversary. Pours murky chestnut, minimal tan head, a bit of lacing at best. Aroma is vanilla, oak, rum raisin, cocoa, fig, molasses, lots of dark fruits and sugars, plus a boozy note. Flavor is all of that, fully sweet, light bitter, bourbon, cherry. Full body, a bit chalky, pretty flat. Not really digging the mouthfeel, and the flavor became cloying over time. I am not as much as a fan as many others seem to be, but I am glad I got a chance.
On tap at Capitol Beer & Tap Room. Pours dark brown with a modest tan head and a magnificent bourbon and vanilla aroma. There is a full-bodied dark molasses and bourbon flavor with a vanilla chaser. Very tasty.
Tap at Capitol Beer in Sacramento, CA. Pours dark brown with a slight tan head. Aroma suggests dark fruit, treacle, chocolate and maybe bourbon. Flavor is very chocolate with almonds, dark fruit and it seems a lot of bourbon. It’s not dry in the finish, but a little oak arrives to help.
Draft at Beer Authority. Pours deep, dark brown, almost completely opaque, with a ring of tan head. Aroma: whoa, did I just mistakenly get a Deliverance? No? Awesome. Aroma is actually very similar to Deliverance, so it’s hard to differentiate meaningfully. Vanilla, brown sugar, oak, raisins. Thick, full, rich body. This is a really impressive brew. Glad to see it on draft, and glad my wife could watch the kid for a spell while I try this.
Draught @ Mikkeller Bar, San Francisco, CA
Pours dark brown, almost black with a smooth brown head. Lovely complex aroma of ripe fruits, wood, oak, vanilla, bourbon, raisins, roasty malts, licorice, brandy, apples and dark chocolate. Taste is heavy, sweet and malty with loads of different barrel notes, wood, vanilla, oak, apples, syrup and dark chocolate. Finish is sweet, sticky and complex with loads of ripe fruits, syrup, barrel notes, vanilla, brandy, oak, chocolate and licorice. Quite an extraordinary beer.
On tap at Beercraft. Pours a deep muddy brown with a small tan head. Aroma doesn’t impress me much, raisins and wheat bread, slight cherry and prune, driven home by a boozy undercurrent. Flavor is baller though. Heavy butterscotch pudding with golden raisins and lingering burnt caramel. Finishes warm but not boozy. Whoa.
On tap at Beercraft. Pours a dark brown color with a tinge of red. Not much head. Aroma of raisins and strong alcohol that blows off quickly. Nice raisin flavor and lots of maltiness. Some harsh alcohol t the beginning, but after a few minutes it eases into a great strong sweet brew.
Pours murky brown, minimal tan head
Smell sweet oak, vanilla, maple, brown sugar
Taste smooth coco, vanilla, caramel, fudge, heat, rich and complex
Fuller body
Really good