J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Calvados)

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 8

9.3oz bottle of 2006 vintage - Carbonation? Who needs no stinkin’ carbonation?!?!?!? Seriously flat with no head. Am mystified that they call it filtered as it looks like muddy brown water. Serious soy aroma coming from the glass. Flavors of sugary-buttery pears. Backbone of sugary malts. Bitterness on the palate. Interesting though it’s not on my absolutely have to retry list. It’s interesting how most bottle ratings are lower than draft ratings, if you go back and look at what people are scoring it as. Unfortunately, nobody most people aren’t mentioning what vintage. :-(

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 10 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

2005 Vintage. Pours clear copper with weak off white head. Without any effort a bold sweet malty and fruity aroma is offered up out of the glass. Upon further investigation sweet plums, prunes and figs are noticed backed up by molasses, wood, a hint of caramel candy and booze. The taste experience begins with an initial medium bodied mouth feel that grows thick and viscous into the finish. The fluid ushers in some wood and malty sweetness first before the dark fruity esters take over with sugar coated plums, figs, prunes and stewed raisins. About midway the fruitiness becomes more sweet boysenberry like. The malts seem to go from the initial sugary malt sweetness to caramel candy, mildly roasted malts and then toward molasses and maple syrup. Toward the finish the wood, maple syrup and sweet caramel malts mix with a sense of booze. I get a lingering sense of all the flavors going deep into the after taste. Very nice.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

Bottle: Poured light brown copper with tan head. Very stick caramel, toffee, barrel. Sweet sticky caramel molasses.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Pours out very cloudy brown unfiltered and looks like old fashion apple cider. The aroma is powerful like fermented apples. The mouthfeel is about a 7.5 the taste is bittersweet. A very good barleywine.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

A bright amber color with a white head. Aroma is of fermented apples, cherries, alcohol. The flavor is super sweet with some apples, molasses, brandy, candi sugar. Overall its a bit much but good. Needs age.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

2008 edition. My GF brought this back for me from the States (1 of 3 different Harvest Ale from J.W. Lees). Pours a cloudy amber colour with lots of yeast chunks floating all around. Decent light beige-coloured head that is slightly creamy and goes down slowly, not leaving much lace though. Very sweet nose of caramel, honey, raisins, plums, dates and apples (probably coming from the calvados - apple brandy). Medium-thick mouthfeel, kind of syrupy, but overall still refreshing as the thickness does not last too long. Still sweet tasting, but not as much as one would seem from the nose. A nice mix of toffee and red apples with a beautiful smoky aftertaste of burnt wood. Quite easy to go down, as there is no burn and I do like the finish in this one.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

So expensive, why? .... It pours out a dark copper with a thin light-tan head and a ring of surrounding lacing. An aroma of roasty caramel malts, mild hops, subtle citrus, sherry and cork, bitterness, and light spiciness. The mouthfeel is smooth and very rich. Flavors of roasted caramel malts, hops, orange and citrus zest, honey and brown sugar, sherry and wine, slight bitterness and nuttiness, and spiciness. I have no idea what a Calvado cask is, but I really like this ... don't think it is quite worth the price though ..

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

deifinitely a desert beer. super sweet and boozy aroma. body is rich, thick, and very smooth. taste also very sweet, with a touch of bitterness. hides the alcohol better than the aroma. more like a sherry or even a port than a traditional beer.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Muddy brown color with a minimal head - kind of like a sheen of scum to be honest. Not an attractive beer in my opinion. Huge malt and apple aroma - the kind you can smell from a few feet away upon opening. Mouthfeel is rather thick and syrupy. Starts off sweet and malty - very much like a brandy. Alcohol content boosts the sweetness and warms nicely on the finish. OK, but was hoping for better.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Very similar to the Sherry; which was sampled just prior to this although I got a more pronounced barrel flavor and mild nuttiness. : Thick amber brown body with a decent head and little lacing. Bran cereal, cedar, and mild tobacco. Thick and coating to the mouth it’s a very heavy beer. Sweet and calm. Strong woody flavor with caramel, dark fruits, raisins and red wine.