McAuslan Brewing
Montreal, QC
Imported by: Eurobrew
Ashland, MA
Available: ID, IL, IA, NJ, WI, FL, MD, MI, SC, GA, CT, NC, PA, OH, VA, NE, TN, NY, MA, MO, KS, IN, AL, NH, ME
McAuslan Vintage Ale is an English-style barley wine that is brewed once a year. The bottle comes packed in a cardboard tube, similar to some single malt whiskies.
ABV: 8
ABW: 6.37
Color: 13.4 – mahogany
Bitterness: 54
Original gravity: 1077.6
I’m drinking this beer as I’m typing, and I’m really lovin’ it! It’s like tasting vintage Bordeaux that’s still needs a little more time. Deep amber color. Nice fluffy head. Rich creamy texture. Sweet, with pit fruit (nectarine, plum), candy apple, citrus, all drenched in thick honey. A solid hop climax evens the score. Warming glow afterwards. Very good now, but it will definitely mellow, integrate and round out with some proper aging. Damn… that was my only bottle.
As the name indicates, this is most certainly a beer for aging and so is showing some serious sweetness in both the aroma and body. (I only recently had a 2000 Vintage Ale that had grown old most gracefully.) Dominant in the aroma is canned peaches and tangerine, both of which will soften with time. In the body, toffee notes hit first, followed by more very ripe fruit -- peach, plum, apricot, something citrusy -- and then a sudden appearance of aggressively bitter hop and sharply warming alcohol. Check back in four or five years.
John Hansell is an equal-opportunity drinker. He writes about beer, wine and spirits. He is the creator, publisher & editor of Malt Advocate, a magazine for the whisky enthusiast.
Once described as “beerdom's Brillat-Savarin,” Stephen Beaumont is the author of five books and countless articles on beer, spirits, food, travel, and how it all goes together.
