J.W. Lees Vintages

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kuemmelbro

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Location
Austin, TX
We just received a shipment of J.W. Lees' Harvest Ale to our distribution area in central TX, '01-'02 & '07-'14 available; trying to decide what to pick up for my pub. Have only had the '02 so far; despite freezing it in my freezer on a bad late night whim, the next day it was still sublime & reminded me of Thomas Hardy brews of yore. Maybe the 11.5% abv helped overcome my idiocy. (& the freezer; I did drink it sober the 2nd night)

My question is, any thoughts on which vintages represent the best? They're probably all fine in their own way, but my experience with verticals teaches me there are always some years better than the rest. I'm guessing if they released so much here that we ain't the only ones. Anyone out there have tasting notes on various vintages of these brews?

Thanks for the feedback!
 
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May want to post here:

http://www.talkbeer.com/community/forums/cellaring-beer.25/

Although I think most of the people who post there probably will see this anyway. If you search for J.W. Lees' you'll find some individual reviews of older vintages, but I don't see anyone posting a vertical or anything like that, just random bottles.
 
Do yourself a favor and pick up the book "Vintage Beer" by Patrick Dawson. It is the single most informative book or resource I have ever come across on the subject of cellaring beer. Aside from all of the scientific info it provides, there is a section where Patrick goes into detail about several beers where he and his crew did 15 year verticals. Some of the beers included are JW Lees Harvest Ale, Brooklyn Black Chocolate, Cantillion Gueze, Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, and Rochefort 10.

It is fascinating how detailed their findings are. They go year-to-year and discuss specific changes in flavor, body, aroma, etc. There is even a graph for each beer that documents these changes throughout the 15 year period. At the end, they give their opinion as to when each beer "peaks". Which JW Lees Harvest Ale, they claimed that the 13 year old vintage that they had was the best of the lot. Again, you really need to see this book to believe it....it is THAT good and it sounds like it will provide you with the info you are looking for with JW Lees. Let me know what you think if and when you pick it up!

Cheers,
Scott
 
More or less what stupac2 says... They're all great, in their own way at different stages.
On the other site, I remember someone posting about a 25 year vertical they did and found that around 18 to 20 years was the sweet spot. But those are nearly impossible to come by, but your distro appears to be close. I've had some 07 lately and it's sublime.
 
We just received a shipment of J.W. Lees' Harvest Ale to our distribution area in central TX, '01-'02 & '07-'14 available; trying to decide what to pick up for my pub. Have only had the '02 so far; despite freezing it in my freezer on a bad late night whim, the next day it was still sublime & reminded me of Thomas Hardy brews of yore. Maybe the 11.5% abv helped overcome my idiocy. (& the freezer; I did drink it sober the 2nd night)

My question is, any thoughts on which vintages represent the best? They're probably all fine in their own way, but my experience with verticals teaches me there are always some years better than the rest. I'm guessing if they released so much here that we ain't the only ones. Anyone out there have tasting notes on various vintages of these brews?

Thanks for the feedback!

Dave, Kevin, Taylor, and I did a 11 year vert a few years back. At the time i ranked the top 5 as 04', 06', 02', 07', 01'

honestly, there wasn't an incredible difference in flavor between them. (i think 5 was the worst) Most of the variance was in the appearance. The older bottles held off the oxygen well, but the sweetness doesn't really mellow out like a Hardy's. I guess i would go with the 02', 07', and 01' in that order.
 
Order them all, send them to me.
We don't push the volume to order them all, but if you're serious I can probably round them up at bottle shops; already grabbed '01-2 & '07-9. Haven't traded by mail before but could do, or I'll be beer collecting round Oakland in June. They're going for $10-12/bottle depending on vintage.
 
We don't push the volume to order them all, but if you're serious I can probably round them up at bottle shops; already grabbed '01-2 & '07-9. Haven't traded by mail before but could do, or I'll be beer collecting round Oakland in June. They're going for $10-12/bottle depending on vintage.
If you're serious I will absolutely throw some SARA your way in an IP trade in June. I don't see these on shelves here, and I'd love to have a few.
 
Any insight in which of the barrel treatments age best?

When they hit here in TX, I was overwhelmed with the amount of vintages and barrel treatments, and have been afraid of what I assume is a large amount of research to determine which are the standouts.
 
Any insight in which of the barrel treatments age best?

When they hit here in TX, I was overwhelmed with the amount of vintages and barrel treatments, and have been afraid of what I assume is a large amount of research to determine which are the standouts.
Not the Laphroaig. I mean, maybe if you really like Laphroaig, but goddamn that was bad. The others all seemed good to me though that was a long-ass time ago.
 
Any insight in which of the barrel treatments age best?

When they hit here in TX, I was overwhelmed with the amount of vintages and barrel treatments, and have been afraid of what I assume is a large amount of research to determine which are the standouts.

As a huge fan of aged J.W. Lee's Harvest, I find all four of the barrel treatments to be pretty lackluster and in particular to not age very well. Generally I would recommend aging the regular, and drinking the barrel versions when they're released (in my order of preference: Sherry, Calvados, Port, Scotch). If you can get your hands on some the Zymatore Moscatel, it's quite tasty but doesn't seem to have what I'd want for long-term aging. The 2011 25th Anniversary Edition (750ml bottles only) was finished with champagne yeast and is crazy drinkable (drier, fruity, surprisingly bright) for only being 4-5 years old, but I'm unsure on how it's going to age long-term (I'm currently optimistic, though).
 
If you're serious I will absolutely throw some SARA your way in an IP trade in June. I don't see these on shelves here, and I'd love to have a few.
I am definitely down for that; will troll some bottle shops to try & make you a good series. Seems like interest has been low around here so far; both my pub & Jester King have more in stock; you know the beer kids don't respect history! (Shiny baubles & sours anyone?) Have to say I've had a few of my stock & they have been awesome; but I admit, I still have reverence for the Euro brewers that led the way. Will report once they are in the hold man! A last question though- do you want the newer brews too? (Up to '14) Since my original post I've read that some age smooths out the original unbalance.
 
I am definitely down for that; will troll some bottle shops to try & make you a good series. Seems like interest has been low around here so far; both my pub & Jester King have more in stock; you know the beer kids don't respect history! (Shiny baubles & sours anyone?) Have to say I've had a few of my stock & they have been awesome; but I admit, I still have reverence for the Euro brewers that led the way. Will report once they are in the hold man! A last question though- do you want the newer brews too? (Up to '14) Since my original post I've read that some age smooths out the original unbalance.
Definitely the 01 and 02, maybe then like 07-09? I think the rest are available here.
 
This seemed like a good day to drink one of these, I picked the '01 because why not? And holy ****, it's amazing. Everything that I look for these old beers with no signs of bad oxidation. I could probably drink this until I exploded. Where the hell were these stored? Not in any hot warehouse, not unless this beer is some kind of aging wizard.
 
They were stored at the brewery. Something happened with it being difficult to sell in the UK due to laws and so they asked by United if they wanted some older jw lees. Obviously, sex ensued. Ive gone through about 80ish 10 cases of various vintages at my store since they arrived.
 
They were stored at the brewery. Something happened with it being difficult to sell in the UK due to laws and so they asked by United if they wanted some older jw lees. Obviously, sex ensued. Ive gone through about 80ish 10 cases of various vintages at my store since they arrived.
I never saw any here, though I never looked super hard. Are there more still around? I'd like to get a few more bottles.
 
In MN I know of a few stores that have them. Bought a few 02 and 01 for myself and could probably grab around 12 @10-12$ a piece if you want. Saw 07s and others as well.
Cool, I'm going to look around here since these are apparently so common (tosh, you've been to every store in the greater bay area, you seen any around?) but if that fails I'll definitely hit you up!
 
I could do a little better price if interested. Ive got them for 10 a pop if you want a mixed case of 01,02,07.
Well even with shipping that could easily be cheaper than out here, what would you want for them? Beer, cash, bit of both?
 
Cool, I'm going to look around here since these are apparently so common (tosh, you've been to every store in the greater bay area, you seen any around?) but if that fails I'll definitely hit you up!
Don't think i've seen any that old. I'll let you know what I see around.
 
I need to find an 01 and 02 to replace my last 2 that broke during my move earlier this month. Wouldn't mind being able to find a few 06s as well.
 
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