Lost Abbey Amazing Grace

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

LA- lets see how this fairs .. . pours a murky tan .. low to medium head, small slashes of lacing .. . light coco, raspberry skin, light musty wet wood, and pitted light molasses .. . coats the mouth nicely but everything else is a bit off, a bit more sour or fruiter would have been nice .. . . Bud, your hunches are about as useless as dental floss at a Willie Nelson concert.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

murky brown pour with minimal head and lacing. no hint of what this beer used to be, which is both good and bad. it was a nice abey dubbel, and you can't tell. but that said, this was a good sour fruity funky strong ale, for sure. aroma sweet and sour. you can definitely tell these were red wine barrels in the flavor and aroma, but we weren't expecting this level of sourness. very oaky, acidic, and vinous, with a sweeter lasting finish that's sour again going down the throat. i dig it! 2 bottles left, though, from the club...it's not quite great enough to seek out at $15 a pop in the future.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Aroma - first impressions were it reminded me of a Petrus dubble combined with their oud bruin, with the sour/sweet woody notes found within. It has an amazing winey aroma about it coupled with the sweet base malts...rather unfocued berry aroma too.

Appearance - muddy brown body, looks like something poured out of a rusty rain gutter. Sitting on top was a rather large dark tan head which decided to stick around awhile. No complaints.

Taste - very enjoyable and on the complex side of beers. Woody, sweet and sourish without being sour..maybe acidic is the better choice? Caramel, brown sugar...maybe some port like notes or madera...jammy might be a good term because it’s heavily fruit centric. The wood and acidic/sour notes just reinforces things.

Palate - tingly, lightly prickly, enjoyable mouthfeel.

Overall - loved the 12oz pour I received out of the bottle (shared with a few others). Really enjoyed the sweeter side of this beer which was only amplified by the acidicness of the beer.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottle courtesy of Bu11zeye: Poured a deep clear brown/reddish color ale with nice size foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of light tannic notes with some oak and tart notes. Taste is a mix between a light Belgian Dubbel (lighter then I remembered Lost and Found to be…) with some oak and tannic notes clearly discernable. Somewhat sour and tart but still well balance with the sweet malt form the original beer. Average body with good carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Well done.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Bottled, courtesy of omhper. Il really love Lost Abbey and Port Brewing incredible beers but this didn’t lived up to my high expectations. Pours out a in a hazy dark brown colour with a thick beige head. Yeasty aroma of cocoa, black cherries, black pepper, nuts and roasted malts. Medium-bodied with not so well-integrated flavours of cherry-skins, red berries, nuts, licorice and black pepper. Cant find a solid malt foundation to let all those flavours to blend successfully. Dried fruit, cherry-skins, yeast and, salt, licorice in the aftertaste. Well-made but could have been much better.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Received in a Beer White Elephant Exchange at Christmas. Pours with a slightly cloudy, borwnish-amber body topped by a medium thick to thick head with some lacing. It’s slightly sweet and malty with a nice tart brett funk and a touch of vanilla and barrel notes. medium bodied, well carbonated and a touch warming.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottled. Hazy amber colour with small off-white head. Aroma is alcohol, grapes, some woodenness as well as quite red wineish. Flavour is lots of sour wood, caramel, some sugary notes as well as alcohol and mild madeiraish notes. As a whole, a really warming and wellbalanced brew.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

This one already has a good bit of brett character and it’s not even that old yet. Fairly dry, the bottle was a bit of a foamer. Not as much malt character in the flavor, but plenty of yeasty funk.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

I don't know why, but I wasn't expecting this to be so funky, but as I pop the cork it gushes out and I am barely able to catch it in my glass. Also an unmistakable funky aroma of Brettanomyces reaches my nose as I quickly pour this beer into my glass. The head starts out about three-fingers in height and has a creamy tan colored texture. The beer is a murky, dark amber to brown color, but shows a hazy, bright cherry color when held up to the light. Musty, funky, sharp mushroom aromatics, moldy leather and ripe cheddar notes make up the dominant part of the aroma. Underneath the funk is some light woody character that adds some spiciness, a touch of buttery oak and even a touch of vanillin. Actually the oak barrel character becomes more noticeable with time. I was really hoping to get more of the dark fruit notes of the base beer, but I only noticed them a bit in passing at first and now only as an almost phantom aromatic from time to time.

This still has a medium fullness to it and has a rich, though soft, sweetness that is quite fruity, yet subdued due to the funk and barrel flavors. The body is actually quite a bit reduced from the heft that Lost & Found had, but still is not anywhere near that of a Lambic (not that this is anything like one). Up front flavors of berries, a touch of raisins and a tartness become fairly muted through to the finish as sharp, spicy oak flavors a piquant funkiness takes hold of the palate. I like the tartness of this beer, it reminds me of a mix of sour plums, tamarind and soured raisins. Brettanomyces seems to play the dominant role here as this tastes of moldy leather, rotting wood, definitely quite musty, a bit goat-like basically full of butyric acid notes. The oak character really melds in quite seamlessly with the Brett-funk; it seems to boost the spicy flavors, amplifies a tannic, woody backbone and only contributes mild buttery-oak and vanillin notes. There is some berry notes here and I wonder if some of this came from any residual wine left in the oak.

As the beer warms it starts to pick up some dusty cocoa notes and a wine-like berry note becomes much more amplified. While physically impossible due to the over-gushing, this beer really needs to be sampled on the warm side, I think some extended time to let it breath helps as well. So just open it when it is quite cold, pour some out and let it breath for forty-five minutes or so as it will open up quite a bit more. Except for the funky notes this really is quite wine-like in character; the berry (almost jam-like) flavors, soft oak contributions and light tartness all evoke thoughts of a fruit forward, oaky, best drunk young red wine.

This is quite tasty, but I think that it would be quite a bit better if more of the Lost & Found character came through. That rich, concentrated, dark fruit character would couple really nicely with the funk, wine and barrel character. The aroma is nice and funky, which I like, but is a bit too dominated by the oak and funk to be really great. Still this is interesting and I am definitely digging the wine similarities as the beer opens up. Really this beer needs to breath and warm up a bit to be truely enjoyed.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Tasted on tap at the 1st Annual Bistro Barrel Aged Beer Festival. This abbey double poured a medium brown color. Small sized white foamy head. Aroma is malty, fruity with a smoke. Medium bodied abbey double. Malts are fruity and sweet but a touch estery. It’s a little more banana and clove than the lost and found. Some oak and yeast. Think it could use some more aging. It really didn’t have a lot of oak flavor yet. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet with some spices. Lost Abbey Amazing Grace (2010 Bottle) Sampled on 2/5/2011. This sour ale pours a very cloudy amber brown color from a 375ml bottle. Small to medium sized white foamy head, with nice lacing. Aroma is fruity, tart, oak and yeasty. A medium bodied sour/wild ale. The malts are fruity and sweet, tart and funky. The hops are herbal. Nice carbonation. This is a totally different beer than I had in 2005 on tap. Nice mix of fruit, tartness, oak and tannins. Very nice beer. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly tart. 9-4-9-4-17