Lost Abbey Avant Garde Ale

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

bottle. Heavy deep orange color, pretty large bubbly white head with a lot of sticking power and lacing. Smells of a light yeasty tartness and some grainy, musty malts. Flavors of light spicy hoppiness, some sweet candy sugar, boozy fruity phenols, and some sharp yeast notes. Good balance of flavors, if not entirely within the norm for the style. Very crisp, clean, and even palate.

In short: A fruity Bière de Garde. Highly drinkable.
How: Bottle, 750ml, about 8 months old
The look: Cloudy light golden body with a very small white head
In long: Somewhat sweet with crisp honey, very bready, some orange peels. Quite a bit of fruity yeast esters with pineapples, mangos and apricots. A bit dusty. Nose and taste lack the farmhouse character of the good French Biere de Garde and there are a bit more fruity yeast flavours than usual but everything else feels very much French Bière de Garde. Highly drinkable. To me this to me is a mostly typical Bière de Garde but with a light nice Abbey Tripel twist. A very good beer that doesn’t stays mostly within the boundaries of the style, if all Avant-Garde would be that groundbreaking and innovative Home Alone would be considered experimental cinema.

Sampled at the Lost Abbey beer pairing dinner with Tomme Arthur event at Chandler Whole Foods. Pours a glowing gold with minimal white head. Nose is a touch sour at first with yeasty bread, grassy/earthy tones, some citrus and Belgian spices. Palate is malt, bread, a bit of spice and a mellow hop finish. Medium mouth feel. Went well with its goat cheese pairing. Decent, refreshing brew – you can tell why this is a base for a lot of Lost Abbey’s mixed creations – not real complex.

Sampled @ the Tomme Arthur Beer Master’s Dinner in Phoenix. Nice neutral session brew that isn’t aggressive...14 karat with a small off-white head. Nose is a bit grassy/citrusy. Flavor has spicy undertones along with more prominent flavors of buttermilk biscuits and Granny Smith.

4-11-08 and 6-1-08 bottles both shared at tastings (thanks Humulone_Red)
Semi clear orange. Smell is sugary sweet. Flavor is spiced and somewhat watery fruit. Medium body with an average mouthfeel overall. Overall, not too terribly impressed.

Amber colored with not too much head. Apple, nutmeg, other fruits, and fruit punch in the smell. Taste has some alcohol, fruit, apple, some spices. Pretty good.

750ml bottle. Poured a clear light orange color. Head was bubbly and white which reduced gradually to a thin foam. Aroma was of yeasty bread dough and sugar cookie with a hint of orange. Dry and effervescent on the tongue with a splash of alcohol. There weren’t any particularly strong flavors. I tasted a bit of citrus, light alcohol, white pepper, and biscuity malt. Some mild bitterness emerged at the end.

Bottle. Spicy yeast nose, very bready. Clear gold with a thin bubbly white head. Very sweet and unbalanced, spice in the finish. Dry palate, not particularly drinkable.