Lost Abbey Saints Devotion

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

More similar to the saison-like base beer than some crazy wild sour ale. Just hints of funk and grass on the nose and a pleasant tartness on the palate. I thought I'd dig this, and I did. Nice dry, grassy finish. 2014 more tropical fruity hop goodness than the first time. Even better.

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

Embrace the Funk Fest. 2012 version. Lightly hazy amber orange color with a bubbly white head reduced to a white cap and ring, large lacing. Tart Bretty citrus nose and flavor, sharp and zesty, floral and funky. Very nice long tart funky zesty linger. Another surprise beer at Embrace the Funk Fest.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 10 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Sampled on 2/21/2009. This Belgian Ale pours a medium orange gold color from a 750ml-corked bottle. Medium sized white foamy head, with nice retention. The aroma is fruity and sweet with a touch of must and funk. A medium bodied Belgian Ale. The malts are fruity and sweet, with some orange peel. There is a touch of funk, must and leather. The hops are floral and earthy. A fairly big hop bite, especially for a Belgian Ale. . Nice balance. Good carbonation. It probably could use some more bottle aging, its just now starting to dry out. Nice crisp dry finish with a soft delicate palate. The mouthfeel is full and round. The finish is crisp and nicely dry. The aftertaste is slightly sweet with some dryness.

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

Served at ~58°F / 14.4°C into my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip. The beer starts out with a four-finger thick, dense, tan-tinged, off-white colored head. The head leaves lots of lacing sticking to the sides of my glass and it also forms some rocky & mesa like structures as it slowly recedes. The beer is a pale-red tinged, honey color that shows a brilliantly clear orange-gold color when held up to the light. The aroma is nice and hoppy with notes of hay, lemon grass, a touch of pine needles and a nice herbal note. Underneath this the Brettanomyces is noticeable; it is still pretty subtle, but contributes aromas of rubber, a touch of muskiness, and a soft barnyard note. There is also some sweet, grassy grain character and some cracker like malt that I noticed as I was trying to figure out the Brett aromatics.

The beer has a dry, grassy and herbal character to it up front. The middles sees a peppery carbonation and the Brettanomyces kicks in with some tongue coating phenolics that remind me of rubber and musk. A light malt sweetness in the finish helps accentuate (or maybe it is the other way around) some fruit notes reminiscent of pear and apple. This beer is quite light bodied, which is very nice, though there is a certain palate fullness to this beer that seems to be wrapped up somehow in the Brett phenolics. This has an almost velvety texture to it that is quite nice in a beer that is this dry, light and effervescent as this is. The hop character provides a nice bitter hop bite as well as a touch of lemon zest citrus character that morphs into a Meyer lemon note and then even tart orange (this moves more towards orange as the beer warms, though it never loses the lemon zest entirely); there is also a nice herbal component that mixes with the Brettanomyces phenolics. There is a hint of cracker like malt flavor to the finish as well as a grassy grain note that gets wrapped up in the hop character.

I definitely like this a bit more than the standard Devotion, the Brett adds that little something extra to this nicely hoppy Belgian'esque ale. The sharp Brett notes actually compliment the hop character. I really wished I hadn't missed out on picking up a couple extras of this beer, one is simply not enough.