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

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BA SCORE
95
world-class
-
993 Ratings

THE BROS
100
world-class
-
read more »

rAvg: 4.29
pDev: 13.99%
Reviews: 763
Hads: 230

Ratings Help

Brewed by:
J.W. Lees & Co (Brewers) Ltd

United Kingdom (England)

Style | ABV
English Barleywine | 11.50% ABV

Availability: Year-round. bottle (718), cask (28), on-tap (17).

Notes:
No notes at this time.

View: Beers (16) | Events (0)

Reviews

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Reviews by zhanson88:

zhanson88

Montana

4.5/5 rDev +4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

1999 vintage. Poured into a snifter.

Appearance: Pours a nice mahogany color with an outstanding amount of tan colored head, considering the age. Retention is actually decent, lacing is limited.

Smell: Smells of caramel, toffee, brown sugar, fig, and raisin. Very rich. Oxidation is also apparent not too surprisingly, which retracts for me.

Taste: Outstanding. Taste is rich with toffee, raisin and fig with other dark fruits as well. Oxidation is much less apparent on the palate and doesn't retract at all. Finish is a sweet mix of toffee and dark fruits.

Mouthfeel/Overall: Medium bodied with low, fine carbonation. Smooth, and the amount of carbonation left in this beer is excellent. Overall, a beautiful beer. Would love to get ahold of another bottle of this.

Serving type: bottle

10-29-2011 03:59:45 | More by zhanson88

More User Reviews:

Photekut

Azerbaijan

4.25/5 rDev -0.9%

05-18-2013 22:03:43 | More by Photekut

raffy313

Texas

4.5/5 rDev +4.9%

05-18-2013 00:05:31 | More by raffy313

gpawned

Ohio

4.5/5 rDev +4.9%

05-17-2013 05:13:04 | More by gpawned

Tom-Peters

California

4.5/5 rDev +4.9%

05-13-2013 18:53:57 | More by Tom-Peters

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

4.25/5 rDev -0.9%

05-13-2013 18:43:41 | More by Slatetank

vrbulldog22

Ohio

4/5 rDev -6.8%

05-13-2013 02:07:52 | More by vrbulldog22

Bill235

Ohio

4/5 rDev -6.8%

05-12-2013 22:35:06 | More by Bill235

ipas-for-life

Virginia

4.25/5 rDev -0.9%

05-12-2013 15:56:31 | More by ipas-for-life

nbaeteer

Pennsylvania

4.66/5 rDev +8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

2010 poured into a wide bottom wine glass.

Appearance: Striking, flat light brown color with almost no variation from light. Very little if any head that completely dissapears very quickly.

Smell: Wow. Can they make scented candles that smell like this? Brown sugar, raisin, malt.

Taste: Complex sweetness up front with the alchohol showing up late. The kind of taste so powerfull you want to swirl it in your mouth as long as possible to hold onto it. So complex I might have to drink another one and revise this post.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, smooth, smooth. Perfect weight.

Overall: This feels like a beer I should be sharing with friends to celebrate a special ocassion. Now I understand the JW Lees following and price tag. This is in my personal beer HOF.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2013 06:11:19 | More by nbaeteer

jjheinrichs

Wisconsin

3.75/5 rDev -12.6%

05-09-2013 02:08:08 | More by jjheinrichs

bigclydeoliver

Ohio

2/5 rDev -53.4%

05-09-2013 01:01:51 | More by bigclydeoliver

mctizzz

New York

3.33/5 rDev -22.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

2006 Vintage.
This great brew has diminished into a flat sweet syrup with almost no hint of booze. I would like to try it after 2 years but this makes me question whether cellaring a brew for 7 years is even worth it. I have only had 3 beers now that have been cellared for over 5 years and this is the only one I know was far over the hill, live and learn...

Serving type: bottle

05-08-2013 22:12:26 | More by mctizzz