J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Port Cask) - J.W. Lees & Co (Brewers) Ltd

fdig23

Pennsylvania

4.1/5  rDev -1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Tiny bottle.

Appearance: Cloudy copper with a tiny head.

Nose: Interesting blend of port and barleywine aromas. A bit of apple and smoky peat are present along with an intense almond paste aroma. Really nice combination.

Taste: Sweet sugary raisins, smoky campfire, almond paste, and apples. A bit of the barleywine's natural bready caramel notes are hiding behind the port characteristics.

Overall: Very nice pairing of barrel-aging and base beer. Preferred this version to the Calvados cask version.

Serving type: bottle

12-21-2012 16:48:43 | More by fdig23

ystazi

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +8.7%

05-19-2013 01:44:53 | More by ystazi

csustar001

Ohio

3.75/5  rDev -9.4%

05-08-2013 21:20:33 | More by csustar001

Archemedies

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev -9.4%

05-05-2013 13:12:26 | More by Archemedies

nkeckhar

New York

3.75/5  rDev -9.4%

05-04-2013 01:49:21 | More by nkeckhar

pmarlowe

California

4/5  rDev -3.4%

04-22-2013 05:09:32 | More by pmarlowe

JMBSH

Colorado

4.5/5  rDev +8.7%

04-15-2013 14:22:24 | More by JMBSH

GratefulEdd

Alabama

3.75/5  rDev -9.4%

04-11-2013 14:57:05 | More by GratefulEdd

maximum12

Minnesota

3.58/5  rDev -13.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Thanks to my lovely wife who gave this to me for Christmas over a year ago, along with two others from this series. This is the last, saved because I adore a good port. Short, slender 9.3 oz. bottle, 2007 vintage.

Pop the cap: if there was a whisper, I'd have needed to turn up my hearing aids to detect it. Pours a lovely copper piping into the glass, hypnotizing me so that I react an instant too late, & wind up with fist-sized yeast glaciers hovering in the now much darker liquid. Carbonation between non-existent & barely-imagined. After a puff of aroma after its release, the nose settles right where the head is, hard to detect. Straining, one might find sweet malts & a port bottle left open two doors down. Not much.

Harvest Ale (Port Cask) hides the port - but how? After hiding out from the nose, the port is the overwhelming taste here. Port/sherry/mild oxidation melt together into a tasty after-dinner treat. Brown sugar, white sugar, enveloping sweetness, candied caramel. Flatness is somewhat distracting, but this small bottle won't be any problem at all, thank you.

Taste is definitely the high point, but this scarcely tastes like beer at all, more like a port cut with brown sugar & water. But hey, I like port. I like brown sugar. Ergo, this is a good beer. 'Beer'.

Serving type: bottle

04-04-2013 02:13:59 | More by maximum12

Zraly

Virginia

4.23/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 2 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Brewed in 2010.

Chunky, tawny ale poured into my CCB snifter. Lots of sediment: no head and ugly as hell. Sounds like the makings of a good aged barleywine.

Smells like a good bottle of booze -- maybe the trub of a bottle of dessert wine. A bit of earth and dead, dried flowers. A touch of must. Something comforting about the combination of these things. I feel like putting on my slippers and lighting a fire. Maybe.

Sweet and earthy in flavor. Alcohol is buried so I fully expect to stumble when I get out of my chair. It's a sipper, but it goes down smooth. But she ain't cheap! $9 to make you holler.

A sweet, full-bodied mistress. She and blue cheese will make you swoon.

Serving type: bottle

03-29-2013 03:16:20 | More by Zraly

Fhantom99

Florida

4.5/5  rDev +8.7%

03-29-2013 02:39:43 | More by Fhantom99

Boilerfood

Indiana

1.75/5  rDev -57.7%

03-29-2013 02:26:34 | More by Boilerfood

cfh64

Texas

4/5  rDev -3.4%

03-25-2013 01:29:50 | More by cfh64

dmattern

Florida

4.05/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

2008 vintage, $10.80 for 9.3oz bottle

Pours with basically no head, then come the chunks. You can avoid the majority of them, but either way some will find their way into your glass.

Smells like port, and a slight hint of malt.

Taste is quite good. Very sweet, its like someone blended a good barleywine with a little bit of port. After a few drinks, the alcohol becomes prevalent, but only as a warming sensation in your throat.

Mouthfeel is interesting, initially feels carbonated, then lays down to practically a syrup.

Overall an awesome beer, I would buy again, but not something you can drink more than one of. Actually, finishing the undersized bottle is a little much as it is so rich.

Serving type: bottle

03-24-2013 17:30:23 | More by dmattern

RedneckBeerz

North Carolina

4/5  rDev -3.4%

03-24-2013 11:16:10 | More by RedneckBeerz

BrownNut

Florida

3.99/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Brewed in 2005. Served nearly room temp in a tulip.

A - 3.75 - Rosy amber, dense off white head with a very aggressive pour, dissipates quickly. Tons of sediment.

S - 4 - Definitely smells of its port barrel. Hard to smell much else, but certainly malty.

T - 4 - Porty, sweet, malty, fruity. Surprisingly mellow for 11.5%, or perhaps not surprising given its age. The warmth doesn't appear until a while after you swallow - mild pleasant fumes coming up the throat.

M - 4 - Medium heavy, sticky

O - 4 - Overall not as complex as I'd hoped. The sweetness, port flavor, and mouthfeel make it slow sipper, which is always a welcome change. I feel like I'm drinking something more than a beer. It's nice enough and wins some originality points, but it's not interesting enough to buy again.

Serving type: bottle

03-23-2013 02:33:59 | More by BrownNut

impending

California

4.25/5  rDev +2.7%

03-05-2013 06:29:23 | More by impending

Seaba

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +2.7%

02-28-2013 19:17:33 | More by Seaba

madnismo

Florida

4.25/5  rDev +2.7%

02-24-2013 02:49:41 | More by madnismo

hiphops24

New York

4/5  rDev -3.4%

02-22-2013 04:35:52 | More by hiphops24

amrozga

Michigan

3.25/5  rDev -21.5%

02-16-2013 03:06:47 | More by amrozga

Sailracer

3/5  rDev -27.5%

02-10-2013 20:57:56 | More by Sailracer

Gonzoillini

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +8.7%

02-02-2013 13:53:00 | More by Gonzoillini

kevinscott

Texas

4.5/5  rDev +8.7%

01-31-2013 23:18:30 | More by kevinscott

BEERMILER12

Maine

4.28/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 1.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Brewed in 2005, 275 mL bottle. Consumed on 01/24/13

A: Pours a murky brown color with huge yeast particles that both sink to the bottom and remain in suspension... One of the grossest looking beers I've ever seen (although I guess it's expected as this bottle is 7-8 years old)

S: Huge notes of sweet malts, along with definite port notes and some fruitiness. Alcohol come out quite a bit, but it goes nicely with the sweetness and port cask notes. Pretty damn complex

T: Don't even know where to start because this is so complex... Starts off with the usual sweet maltiness and slowly moves into a very pleasant fruitiness along with port cask notes, which adds a great depth. From there, some of the alcohol can be detected, but it doesn't taste anywhere near 11.5%. Finishes with more malty sweetness and a hint of port

M: Medium-full bodied with low carbonation. Very smooth

O: One damn fine English barleywine that only gets better with the port cask. Hugely complex and definitely a sipper. The only drawback is the appearance... GROSS. I can definitely look past that because of the complexity, though. Very pricey at nearly $1 an ounce, but worth it every once in a while

Serving type: bottle

01-25-2013 04:08:31 | More by BEERMILER12