Review 159: J.W. Lee's Harvest Ale Aged in Lagavulin Cask

Review 159

5/3/13

J.W. Lee’s Harvest Ale Matured in Lagavulin Casks: 11.5% abv

Background: If you have stayed up to date on our reviews, you will know what this is all about. If you have not, just look down (you don’t have to look far) to Review 158. What you will find is that J.W. Lee’s is a brewery within the U.K. area. This is a barleywine called Harvest Ale, and the last review had the barleywine being aged in refill sherry casks. This beer was so interesting, we simply couldn’t wait to bring on the second variation of this that we had in our stocks. That could be a good or bad thing, because we had high expectations for this beer; rightly so, because this particular beer is being aged in old Lagavulin single malt Scotch barrels. Now, we haven’t reviewed Lagavulin, so I did want to take a minute to remind us what Lagavulin is. Lagavulin is a single malt Scotch made in Islay, which although not foregone, does make it a very peaty whisky. This is what interested us, especially since we thought the last Harvest Ale did contain a lot of peat and tobacco influence in it.

Nose: This starts off as a malty and wheat-like nose, with a slightly more peaty influence than the sherry-casked beer. It is also definitively woody. There is also sense of tobacco here. This beer smells old, not from a maturation standpoint, but as if it was slightly musty and briny. You will find, as a more prominent note, citrus flavors of orange and lemon. If you dig into the smell enough, you will find a sort of chemical aroma, close to wood lacquer. This sounds relatively off-putting, but it isn’t over dominant and we couldn’t find a better way to describe this smell. There is even a small portion of popery SP in it.

Arrival: There is a yeasty, malty arrival to this, more akin to the notion of a barleywine. It is decently sweet, with earthy, grainy tones coming to the forefront. There are still some thick, sweet flavors of honey that go along with the malt, with slight vanilla overtones as well. With a full glass at a chilled temperature, there is an enhanced smokiness to the arrival here.

Body: This part of the beer can be well described as a bridge between the two flavor profiles of the beer, from beginning to end. There is a stronger amount of apple cider here in the body, with some orange citrus as well. While chilled, one can find some vanilla in the body that accompanies the sweetness.

Finish: There is an optimum amount of peat in the end of the body, with the finish brandishing tons of malt flavors. There is, unlike in the sherry edition, some hops and grapefruit notes coming through as well. There are flavors of overly-ripened orange with some sour tang to be tasted. To add to the list of fruit notes that can be found in the beer, pear is also found in the finish as well. As the beer settles on the pallet, a reminiscent flavor of peat can be traced back from the taste.

Final Comments: I would like to propose that this version of Harvest Ale is not nearly as compelling as the last one we tried, which was a shock to us, and it should be a shock. Peated whisky can be some of the most complex, richly flavored, and ostentatious whisky available in the market (not meant in a bad way). So why in the world would this rich, heavy flavor not carry over into the beer like the sherry cask did? Some may propose that the sherry is more sweet and rich, and this will provide a larger sweetness to the flavor. We weren't satisfied with that, so we came up with a different theory. The theory is this: the Lagavulin cask is a highly “name” branded thing. It is like the Lamborghini of the cask world, if you will. Unlike an equivalent bourbon cask, this cask could be reused a number of times before Lagavulin needed to get rid of it. So to buy one from them would cost a fortune. What probably happened with J.W. Lee’s is they ended up getting a cask that was deemed “too worn” from Lagavulin and used that to age the beer. At this point, the oak would have a difficult time pulling flavor from the cask. J.W. Lee’s might also be a more gun shy in over-aging the beer in this barrel, so it would result in an early pull. The end result of this is a disappointingly less compelling beer, although it is adequately tasty and complex. 

Why you’d buy it: You are a Lagavulin fan and freak out at anything with the word printed on it.

Why you wouldn’t: The complexity, nor the namesake, does not warrant the amount of money they ask for the beer, and will leave you partially disappointed.

Score: 8.75/10

Review 158: J.W. Lee's Harvest Ale Matured in Sherry Casks

Review 158

5/3/13

J.W. Lee’s Harvest Ale Matured in Sherry Casks: 11.5% abv

Background: J.W. Lee’s is an independent brewery owned by a family in Manchester. That is a pretty interesting point, because we haven’t reviewed a lot of authentic U.K. beers. They were founded in 1828, and now are on their sixth generation of family ownership. They also own a number of hotels as well.  This brewery tends to show off cask-aged ales, so that seems to be the focus. These guys produce quite a few beers, but as it tends to be in the European brewers, their beers tend to be very low percentage. This one, on the other hand, is not low at all, being at 11.5%. This is a Harvest Ale. This is actually considered a barleywine, which will explain why some of the flavors of malt come out more. This particular special release is aged in sherry barrels, which by itself is not very well seen in brewing today. We were very excited to see what this did to a beer.

Nose: Starting off as a fairly neat nose, one can relate the slight fruitiness of this beer to a Belgian style, but the uniqueness takes over from here. There are some notes of subtle raison, nuttiness, and slight malt. There are sweet notes of caramel and honey which front the nose, charging forward with ornaments of molasses following behind. If I had to guess, I would say this was aged in an Oloroso sherry barrel, although the size is hard to approximate. It adds a sort of obscure wine-like character to the beer. Not only does this beer look like apple cider, but you do get some notes of apple cider as well. The nuttiness, as the beer starts to open up, resembles toasted nuts; maybe not almonds per say, but none the less a toasted smell. We even started to sense some notes of dried oak, albeit not an aggressive smell, and a unique bit of plum as well, with even a hint of dark cherry.  

Arrival: The arrival, after smelling this beer for a few minutes, will knock you down. It has a sweet sherry and nuttiness at the beginning. There is some honey and maltiness in the arrival, but it is a pretty tightly packed, solid flavor. The arrival will start sweet at a slightly chilled temperature, and the sherry sweetness spills over into the body quite well. You will catch those apple cider notes in the arrival here as well. There is definitely some raison quality to this arrival. This might appear to be overly sweet when the beer reaches room temperature.

Body: To completely contradict the arrival, you will find interesting notes of peat and tobacco dominate the palate. It is not at all like the arrival, and leaves you a little astonished at what you just tasted. There are some burnt paper qualities to it. There is still some sweet raison to it, rich flavors of honey and the smoke becomes pretty powerful. This will calm down after the beer warms up though. The smoke flavors get pushed back to the finish as the beer transitions in temperature.

Finish: There is a little more peat in the finish than in the body, but you still get some prominent malt notes, along with the strong flavor of burnt tobacco. There is a strong amount of nuttiness to the beer, with the residual feelings of Oloroso and raisons. After the beer warms up to room temperature, the tobacco is right in the finish and kills the complexity.

Final Comments: This is probably one of the most complex beers we’ve ever had, with a dynamic influence from the temperature change. This has a great diversity, and the nose will tease you into thinking this would be simple and sweet, but it isn’t. This beer does model the sweetness of sherry, but takes on some prominent notes of other flavors as well, making this one of the most education beers we’ve ever had to drink.

Why you’d buy it: You don’t mind spending money, and want to try something completely different.

Why you wouldn’t: You are bitter and hateful and frown upon everything happy and good.

Score: 9.75/10

Review 156: Stone Old Guardian Barleywine Oak-Smoked

Review 156

4/22/13

Stone Old Guardian Barleywine Oak-Smoked: 11.4% abv

Background: Old Guardian, as we have established in the past, is a Cali microbrewery that has just celebrated their 16^th anniversary. Apparently, a tradition they have set up in recent years is to release a special edition beer on every odd year. This one has German oak-smoked barley thrown into the mix, in a “healthy dose” as Stone phrases it. They do this in parallel with the regular release of Old Guardian, so you can feel free to get both and see how the difference in ingredients changes the flavor. Since we’ve already tried Old Guardian, we were compelled to do just that. Look what we found!

Nose: The nose comes across as being aggressively malty, with interesting mellow notes of woody character. There are some subtle nutmeg flavors to the nose, with mild vanilla as well. As far as fruitiness goes, there is a mild cantaloupe and strawberry presence there with some baked apples and cinnamon complimenting the flavor. The nose is not very prominent, and does not depict any brutality that is so common-place with bitter Stone beers. There is a savory, maple character in the nose as well.

Arrival: The arrival starts out with a blast of bitterness and sweetness, battling to get the center of attention. The arrival starts off with a big fruity, malty flavor. There are contributions of vanilla, berries, and light citrus notes of lemon as well. The arrival is the most mild part of the beer, contributing a vast range of sweetness and a foreboding, yet minuscule bitterness as a precursor to the intensity to come.

Body:  The body is composed of ripe fruits like bananas and ripe berries, and Moscato grapes. The body contains some notes of sweet agave, but is counteracted by some dry black pepper notes. There is a dry grain, and something reminiscent to Belgian Trippel ale. The body starts a developed yeastiness which resembles sourdough.  There is some raison-like quality to the body, almost close to a Fino Sherry character.

Finish: The oak-smoked barley plays a big part here, showing the oak in center stage as a large flavor contributor. Raw oak, bitter oak, with a long woody aftertaste. There is still a large contribution of malt to the finish as well, trying to impose a failing sweetness to the fading flavor. There is a definite hops and grapefruit bitterness in the finish as well. There is a slightly underplayed strawberry note that gets buried by the bitterness of the finish, not unlike the complexities we found in the regular Old Guardian. There is also a hint of the smoked flavor that comes through in the finish, although not nearly as dominant as you might expect.

Final Comments:  The nose might seem underwhelming, not presenting a large foreshadowing to the beer. The taste, on the other hand, has a dynamic, malty, flavor. This transforms, rather rapidly, into a West Coast, bitter dominant finish which stays with you for quite some time. This is an influential beer, but what makes it the most impressive is when it’s compared to the regular Old Guardian Barleywine. The biggest similarity is the signature bitterness in the finish, but in other ways, this Old Guardian is much different than the original. Surprisingly, we can’t say it’s just “more smokey”, because this oak-smoking of the barley has really brought about some unique and sweet flavors that you wouldn’t really call akin to a campfire. This is no peat-smoking equivalent. It is a different animal, and we like it.

Why you’d buy it: This is a very interesting experiment from the regular Old Guardian.

Why you wouldn’t: You don’t like bitterness or intensity.

Score: 8.75/10

Review 125: Founders Bolt Cutter

Review 125

12/19/12

Founders Bolt Cutter: 15% abv

Well, it has been a while, Founders, but we’re back with another review, and hopefully it isn’t a roast. We have high expectations for Founders because they produce a high quality product consistently. This should be no different, and unfortunately for Founders, there has been a lot of hype around this particular beer. Almost to the point of it being annoying, we’ve heard about the 15th anniversary of Founders. We are happy for you, we baked you a cake, but my understanding was that there were TICKETS for buying this beer. TICKETS. This beer is not going to see the London Symphony Orchestra, here. Now it is time to see if Founders did it right for their 15th birthday, or if all the hype was just the usual marketing nonsense. 

Founders Bolt Cutter is a barleywine. As we have said in the past, barleywines are heavy in alcohol content, which gives them the “wine” designation, but they are definitely beers. Most barleywines will sit at about 10-15%, with beers rarely exceeding the 15% limit. This one certainly does its best to be up there at 15%. Don’t be afraid my friends. Just as Devil Dancer could be tamed, so too can the Bolt Cutter. Also, for your information, pouring this over any type of metal will effectively do nothing, despite the name. 

This beer, as soon as you start to smell it, will come off with big fruitiness and sweetness. Notes include honey, grapefruit, cantaloupe, strawberry, kiwi, pineapple, lime, green apple, barley, wheat, green grape, oak, and even some vegetal notes. This is a very sweet, complex nose, and gives us a huge variety of smells that you would expect and enjoy out of a barleywine style ale. 

When you taste the beer, the arrival contains a lot of the same sweet flavors that the nose has. This includes honey, vanilla, barley, molasses, toffee, lemon, melon, and some cream. It’s a relatively satisfactory arrival, which leads into a relatively satisfactory body. The body has more sweetness, with caramel, butterscotch, honey, maple, grain, barley, wheat, cream and melon. Finally, in the finish there is slightly more hoppy, piney bitterness that accompanies the sweetness. There is definitely grapefruit and pine, but there is also cream, honey, caramel, toffee, barley, orange, apple skins, and allspice. The finish is medium in length, but admittedly not totally impressive. 

This is not an unworthy beer. Let’s be honest though: if you don’t have this one by now, you’re probably never getting it. We were very excited to do this review, but paid a hefty price to try this beer. The end result is a good, enjoyable experience that will get you drunk, breaks the bank, and is virtually impossible to procure. We still think it is good quality and we will score it based off of our standard criteria. Nonetheless, if you want a good barleywine, visit some of the standards  first and see if they treat you better. 

Score: 8.75/10

Review 113: Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine

Review 113

12/7/12

Dogfish Head Olde School: 15% abv

Dogfish Head again, with a limited production barleywine. We’ve done a few barleywines, but they are not frequent. Since we’re waiting to do Bolt Cutter by Founders, it seems we will give you a teaser with this beer. What makes this beer interesting is it is brewed with figs and dates, which means something somewhere. This barleywine is obviously strong, at 15%, and we haven’t tried a whole lot of 15% beers that are easy drinkers. At this level, flavor is huge and the beers are sippers. This is no exception. But let’s see how it treats us. 

On the nose, you get apple, pear, barley sugars, sweet sugars, raspberry, light peach, caramel, wheat, malt, and honey. You can tell right off the bad that this beer does reflect quite a few sweeter flavors, but doesn’t hold a large amount of complexity. The arrival is actually a little more complex than we are used to in a beer, with caramel, berries, apples, blackberry, honey, lemon-lime soda, and maple. Again, there is a theme here. The body is pretty light in the variety of flavors, containing malted barley, wheat, sweet apple, caramel, and maple. The finish gets slightly more complex with honey, banana, wheat, barley, dry red wine, grain, maple, yeast, and a slight sourness. 

This beer is straight forward then. Not terribly complex, but super sweet and prominent. This isn’t like other barleywines in that it lacks the bitterness or slight hoppiness that counterbalances the sweetness. This could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you prefer your drinks. This is a rich drink, so it will probably be your only one for the night, lest you desire a cavity. There was some disagreement amount the group on how to score this beer. It lacks a lot of complexity, but it is a unique offering among a group of barleywines, and you might like that. Originally slotted for a 7.5 out of 10, but on further consideration, it seems this still has the potential to be an enjoyable, quality beverage. It might not be worth your cash unless you want a sweet, relaxing beer. 

Score: 8.0/10

Review 74: Stone Old Guardian Barleywine

Review 74

7/2/12

Stone Old Guardian Barleywine: 11.3% abv

Stone is a well known micro brewery from California. Before we go any further, this is a good time for you to know that this beer is not for the faint of heart. It will kick you in the face if you aren't ready for it. Here's an example for you. The IBUs for this beer is 85, which is higher than most of your average beers. FYI, IBUs are International Bitterness Units, and they're a real thing. And we confirmed that when we tried the beer for the first time. Don't think this changes anything for us, because we can handle any acronyms this beer throws at us. So let's see what we experienced when we tried this barleywine. 

The nose gives a wonderful blend of flavors, including sweet fruit flavors of apple, lemon, pear, and a counteracting bittersweet grapefruit character. The nose continues with sweet notes of caramel, molasses and brown sugar, honey, sweet malt, chocolate and toffee. The nose is wonderful, and everything about it eludes to a complexity following in the taste and finish. If this was foreshadowing, then we were excited. And sure enough, it was. 

The taste is insanely complex, showing an odd creamy character with hints of vanilla, with extreme balance of bitter and sweetness going at the same time. Bitter notes include pine, hops, and grapefruit, with sweet notes of malt, caramel, wheat, pear, apple, and a maple brown sugar flavor hitting as well. Unfortunately, the finish is slightly disappointing, as the bitterness overpowers any details tasting notes, but pine, grapefruit, and a long lasting flavor are noticeable. This is a sipping beer. If you want to pull a prank on somebody, try having them chug this beast. It is a complex, wonderful beer, and you should definitely try it. The lack of complexity in the finish really is the only reservation in this beer. Give it a try.

Score: 9.5/10

Review 69: Oscar's Brewing Company Barleywine

Review 69

6/24/12

Oscar's Brewing Company Barleywine: 11% abv

I'd be willing to bet you haven't heard of Oscar's Brewing Company, and there's also a good chance you've never had a barley wine either. Well, you get both in one review. Oscar's Brewing Company is actually a one man operation by a gentleman in western Michigan who crafts his own brews. You might wonder why we're messing with the small fries, but really we're not. This particular brewer has some accolades to his name, including winning a contest with Bell's and having his IPA produced by them for a limited time. That's the same company that makes Oberon. So now we've got your attention. 

Here's the deal on barleywines. Categorized also as Old Ales, these are beers that sit between 8 to 12%, which gave them the title as "wine", for being on par in alcohol content. Some tasting notes before you get bored: On the nose, we got apple, malt, lemon, orange, honey, rye, wheat, slight floral notes, and a creamy character. The nose is well balanced and pleasant. 

The taste is malty and creamy as well, showing off some citrus notes of lemon and grapefruit, even going so far as to showcase some orange. We also noted tastes of caramel and cereal grain. The finish was medium in length with complex flavors of grapefruit, oak, dry pine, apple, pear and slight bitterness carrying through. So in conclusion, this is a fantastic beer, albeit not the most complex, nor having the best finish. It almost felt as if some unknown quality was just slightly missing, but we couldn't put it on paper. We'll be doing several more of OBC's beers scattered over the next reviews. Keep a look out if you liked what you've seen. 

Score: 9.0/10