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5th November 11, 11:50 AM
#1
J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Lagavulin Whisky Cask)
I tried this beer the other night and all I can say is WOW.
It has a very strong peat flavor, extremely smokey. It is a thick dark beer and I will admit it took a bit of getting used to. I have found other reviews on line, but I have to say I am no good at identifying or describing flavors the way "professional" tasters do. At the beer tasting I was at I got three reactions as I shared bits of it.
First was mine: Interesting, mostly what I wrote above.
Second was from a home brewer: disgusting, never want to have that again.
Third was from a beer taster who is also a fan of Single Malts: Tastes exactly as it is supposed to, very much like that specific single malt (Lagavulin).
This brewery has made the same beer aged in different types of casks, so far I have tried the sherry cask and this one. Both pick up all the flavor of the casks. Enough to make me curious to try the others.
At one local liquor store that sells individual bottles of beer this is a $10 bottle. It is the only place I have seen it so far, but they have all the variants. I think the next one I want to try is the Port Cask.
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5th November 11, 12:06 PM
#2
Re: J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Lagavulin Whisky Cask)
As a homebrewer, I'll take the other side and say I love that stuff. My faves from JW Lees are the Lagavulin and Sherry casked. I tried the Calvados (apple brandy) variety once as well, not so much for me. I have seen a "plain" as well, aged I guess in new rather than used oak, I liked that one better than the Calvados.
US$10 for a just under 12oz bottle is pretty much the going rate in my experience. Thanks for reminding me.
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5th November 11, 07:16 PM
#3
Re: J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Lagavulin Whisky Cask)
I've never seen or tried that brew before, but a local brewery has put their imperial smoked porter in red wine, apple brandy and rum barrels and sold a 3-pack of the varieties under the name "Smoke from the Oak". I tried to make them last as long as possible, but sadly they're all gone now...
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5th November 11, 07:31 PM
#4
Re: J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Lagavulin Whisky Cask)
Originally Posted by AFS1970
I tried this beer the other night and all I can say is WOW.
It has a very strong peat flavor, extremely smokey. It is a thick dark beer and I will admit it took a bit of getting used to. I have found other reviews on line, but I have to say I am no good at identifying or describing flavors the way "professional" tasters do. At the beer tasting I was at I got three reactions as I shared bits of it.
First was mine: Interesting, mostly what I wrote above.
Second was from a home brewer: disgusting, never want to have that again.
Third was from a beer taster who is also a fan of Single Malts: Tastes exactly as it is supposed to, very much like that specific single malt (Lagavulin).
This brewery has made the same beer aged in different types of casks, so far I have tried the sherry cask and this one. Both pick up all the flavor of the casks. Enough to make me curious to try the others.
At one local liquor store that sells individual bottles of beer this is a $10 bottle. It is the only place I have seen it so far, but they have all the variants. I think the next one I want to try is the Port Cask.
Having spent 8+ years in a brewpub as the head brewer I experimented with barrel aging before it ever became popular. We had chance to get a couple Elijah Craig bourbon barrels which I took into my cellar, added a copper tap to the bottom and fixed it with a tube to my nitro tank to keep a blanked of nitrogen on the beer to ward of oxidation. I racked a barley wine in one and an Imperial stout in another. It was interesting to taste the stuff through the years. The first year it waxed and waned between ok to not really good. It wasnt till the second year that it started to take on the charred barrel taste and the bourbon aroma. A couple more years and we brought it up on vintage nights into a brandy snifter via beer engines, British hand pumps. Each successive year brought more complexity and less similarity to a beer. By the final year of serving, about 5-6 years of aging, the beer was amazing. It transcended being beer though it was not a bourbon. Many people thought it was higher ETOH content but I assured them the bourbon was just an aroma and a preceived feeling. Perhaps there might have been a little more due to evaporation but I figure that just made the flavors more intense and concentrated.
Barley Wine on bourbon== Full bodied, dark rich mahogany colour, huge bourbon, oak and dark fruit nose. Tastes of dark figs and dates with hints of dark brown sugar. Full palate with a clean finish.
Imperial Stout on bourbon= Full roasted burnt heady aroma in a black black brew. Sense of warmth from the ETOH in the initial beer. Dark plums and cooked apricot flavors. The roasted grains of the stout complimented the dark plum making like the burnt edges of a heavy plum pudding or cake. Clean mouth feel and palate. Great compliment to a dram of good scotch.
This is what I did, having created a huge following for 3-5 year old heavy brews. The whiskey and bourbon aged beers are appearing everywhere and are really worth trying and enjoying.
Cheers \_/\_/
"Greater understanding properly leads to an increasing sense of responsibility, and not to arrogance."
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5th November 11, 08:50 PM
#5
Re: J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Lagavulin Whisky Cask)
Ahh a good old Manchester brew. Used to drink in a Lees pub years ago.
Chris.
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8th November 11, 11:17 AM
#6
Re: J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Lagavulin Whisky Cask)
As another homebrewer and BJCP judge, JW Lees is one of my all time favorite wood aged beers. :-) Your homebrew friend likely needs to cut back on the hops a little. ;-)
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