Lost & Found Abbey Ale

Brewed By: Port Brewing/The Lost Abbey in San Marcos, California 

Purchased: Single holy bomber (25.4oz) bought at Binny's in IL; 2011 

Style/ABV: Belgian Dubbel, 8.0%

Tonight we are taking a trip out to San Marcos, California, to try a beer from The Lost Abbey. The Lost Abbey is part of the Port Brewing Company, and is located in Stone Brewing's old brewery location. The Port Brewing Company/Lost Abbey emerged from Pizza Port in 2006, and now operates independently. There is a lengthy history page on The Lost Abbey's website. The main story goes: back in the day, Vince Marsaglia (owner and co-founder of Pizza Port) was interested in brewing American-made Abbey style beer. In 1997, Vince joined forces with brewer Tomme Arther who worked to brew some awesome Belgian beer at Pizza Port. In 2005, when Stone Brewing moved from their San Marcos location, Vince, Tomme, Vince's sister Gina, and Jim Comstock founded the Port Brewing Company. Port Brewing opened in May of 2006, and the rest is history.

Lost & Found is an Abbey Style Belgian Dubbel. There is a ton of good info on the Lost & Found info page. The bottle that I have in front of me says 8.0% ABV, despite the website stating 7.5%. This beer uses Two Row, Wheat, Medium and Dark English Crystal, Special B, and Chocolate Malts. There are two hops - German Magnum and German Tettnang - and Belgian Yeast (duh!!!). What makes this beer especially interesting is that it uses "Chef Vince's" specially crafted Raisin Puree. I'm expecting to get huge dark fruits in this beer, dark malts, and big bold raisins.

Lost & Found Abbey Ale

The pour reveals a dark Belgian-looking beer. This is a beer that is clearly purple-brown in lower light. I imagine the less light you have, the darker this beer will look. When held to bright light, this is a hazy, cloudy, carbonated beer that has hues of purple and red/orange/brown. This is a lovely looking beer. My pour yielded about one finger of tan, purple-tinted head. There is great head retention with a nice thin layer of Belgian bubbles chilling on top. There is some lacing as well.

The aroma on this beer is out of this world. I was expecting to get assaulted with huge malts - and I am - but there is also quite a bit of dark fruit goodness going on. I'm picking up on huge raisin, grapes, plums, and hints of wine. There is also a boozy alcohol note playing off the raisins, giving off a boozy raisin aroma. There is some Belgian yeast as well, which is fruity and Belgiany. And there are hints of toasted malts and lots of sweet malts. Sweet malts, fruity, and boozy.

This is a deviation from the typical Belgian Dubbel...and I love it! I'm tasting some leather in here, some wood, as well as some pulls towards a finishing smoke note, and there is some nuttiness in here. I'm really getting that raisin puree - lots of raisin, grapes, and plums. Then there is an earthy raisin note, which finishes with hints of that earthy or herbal smoke. Then there are lingering raisins on the finish, emphasized with a boozy raisin finish. I'm picking up hints of toast as well. The front is loaded with Belgian yeasts, and there are pleasant hints of spice. 

Mouthfeel deviates from the typical style as well. This is slightly tangy or zesty with assertive carbonation that pops on the tip of your tongue. The middle is woody and earthy, and remains supported by the carbonation. This is medium in terms of mouthfeel, with moderate to high palate depth, and a ton of complexity. This drinks very well for a 8.0% ABV beer. The finish is lingering raisins, booze, and some woody/smoke/earth dryness. You get a blast of carbonation, Belgian yeasts and spice, raisins and grapes on the front; followed by some woody, earthy, toasted malts, leather; followed by that raisin back. Lovely stuff.  

Rating: Above-Average

Score: 88% 

I love the Belgian Dubbel style...this beer is a nice detour from the "typical" Belgian Dubbels. There are a lot of fully developed and really good flavors going on in this beer. The best part? A bomber of this stuff is like 7 or 8 bucks compared to a Chimay Red bomber that will run you 9 or 10 dollars. This is a really interesting, innovative, developed, and flavorful beer. This is a worthy beer and you should check it out.