On 1 December, our friends at Beer Table held an event they called Harvest Fest 2010 in honor of the release of the newest edition of the J.W. Lees Harvest Ale. None of the 2010 vintage was actually available, but that was perfectly forgivable as they not only had a cask of the 2009 vintage, but they also had two wood pins on the bar of the 2009 ale aged in Lagavulin and sherry casks.
The evening started with a glass of the 2009 Harvest Ale and a plate of charcuterie from Dickson’s Farmstand, which included the first American ham I have ever enjoyed. For comparison’s sake, we had glasses of Thomas Hardy’s Ale, the other classic English barleywine, from 1993 and 1998. On another trip to Beer Table, I had the 1996 Thomas Hardy’s and thought it was one of the best alcoholic beverages I’ve had the joy to taste. The 98 and 93 didn’t quite live up to the promise. I seem to have misplaced my tasting notes from that night, but I remember the 98 being slightly medicinal and the 93 being described by the guy from Dickson’s Farmstand as “coffee and toothpaste”.
We moved on to a phenomenal cheese plate and a couple barrel-aged versions of the JW Lee’s Harvest Ale. The first was aged in Lagavulin casks, making for a combination of two of my favorite alcoholic beverages in one glass. I made a round trip between my apartment and Beer Table just to have more of this that night. I made at least three more trips to Beer Table to continue savoring the total fucking awesomeness in the following days. The malty sweetness of the barleywine meets the peatiness of the whiskey in an all-out blast of deliciousness.
The sherry cask was inevitably a bit of a letdown. The “master’s blend”, featuring a bit of each of the three casks of JW Lee’s getting together in one glass was quite interesting.
And the rest of the evening is a bit hazy. I can’t find the tasting notes now, but I distinctly recall the words “VICTORY BLEED!” being written rather prominently.
Very metal.