Lost Abbey Avant Garde Ale

Brewed by Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: Bière de Garde
San Marcos, California USA

Shared by emacgee. Thanks Ethan! Pours a caramel tinted orange with a steady white head. Nose is bready, caramel, and yeasty. Flavor is sweet initially, with more bready and yeasty notes and finishes with a mild bitterness. Well done, I could not find any flaws. A bit heavier in the mouthfeel than I would like but that just may be the style.

Thanks Southbay. Pours a hazy copper gold with a 1 to 2 finger frothy offwhite head. The nose is pungent, sweet, caramel, malty, candy, phenolic, mild warmth. The flavor is sweet, very malty, caramel, mild noble hop character, dry. The palate was sweet and a tad grassy. Some phenol.

I don’t have a lot to compare this to, as this is the first Biere de Garde I’ve ever had. I just brewed one, and figured that I should try a commercial example first. I must say, I drank half the bottle out of a Belgian style tulip glass and it tasted a lot better than the second half, which I drank out of one of those Sam Adams "perfect beer" glasses. Appearance- Dark copper to orange color with very little head. It was hazy, which did not clear as it warmed. Aroma- very appealing, fruity with some citrus hops. Taste- The aroma does not translate to taste. The munich malt is very muted, with a bready taste that is very subtle. As it warmed it took on a taste of dried fruit. I definatley think that it is worth trying once, just drink it out of the appropriate glass. Usually I think that glass stuff is bunk, not in this case though.

Bottle. Rich gold with average head. Very fruity nose with some grassy, breadyness. Bright mouth with a rapid drying bitterness. Lots of yeast, probably would go great with a baguette.

750 ml bottle from Jimbo. Pours a cloudy, reddish-orange with a small white head. Aroma is sweet and very fruity: tropical fruits, pineapple, honey, and some spice. Flavor is fruity and spicey, with hints of must and spice. There is a nice breadiness. Mouthfeel is slick and the carbonation is nice. This is a badass beer

This is my third brew from the Patron Saints Club. Aroma is flowery with hints of honey. Color is a golden orange with light carbonation and a thin tight head. Taste is very floral and spicy. Starting with a medium body it goes down crisp. Finish jumps out with a floral spiciness that has bold coriander and pepper flavors, then some honey notes and a slight melon like taste. After taste is a lingering bitterness that seems to build a bit. Although this has a very complex flavor its just not a brew I would seek out again. I think the spicy flavor, especially the pepper, just stands out too much.

Bottle. Poured a cloudy orange color with a small white head. Aroma of bread and a fruity note. Flavor is dry and not as spectacular as I had hoped. Slightly bitter. Light bodied with good carbonation.

Bottle. Head is initially small, frothy/fizzy, off-white, mostly diminishing. Body is hazy medium amber, bottle conditioned. Aroma is lightly to moderately malty (grain, cookie), trace hops (herbs), lightly yeasty (mold, dough), with a strong note of peach, light note of lemon zest, hint of celery. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. Suprisingly lackluster. Aroma reminds me a bit of a peach flavored American wheat, not at all of an authentic Biere de Garde. Flavor also seems like it has fruit juice added. Malt is kind of rough and raw, and there’s even a touch of vegetal character to it. Probably the worst Lost Abbey beer I have tried so far.