Lost Abbey Cable Car

Brewed by Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: Sour Ale/Wild Ale
San Marcos, California USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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Bottle at GABF 07. Hazy light golden in color with a little white head that left a nice lacing on the glass. Fruity musty belgian candi sugar aroma. Fruity oak and sour green apple flavor. Cinnamon and citrus notes. Sour tasting. Very nice. Finish is vanilla. Wow. Very drinkable. Well done. Delicious.

Much thanks to Phatz for sharing this rarity of a gem. Appears a hazy, light gold with a small white head that slowly fades into a mild cap. Lacing is scattered all over the glass like tiger stripes. Streams of CO2 quickly rise to the top. Smell is of caramel, candy sugar, vanilla, barnyard, funky must, cinnamon, and cardamom, with a touch of apple. Taste is of the mentioned aromas that meld together in a lemony zest, citrusy, sweet, funky, and tart blend that tantalizes the tastebuds into craving this different but enticing brew. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, chewy, full of candy orange, funk, with a dryness covering the palate with citrusy zest.

GABF 2007. A Belgian pale w/ sour notes. Very drinkable for a sour brew. Tomme does it again.

Cloudy straw color w/ a nice white head. Funky aroma, hints of leather, some earthy tones, and an oaky overtone. Nice full palate. Funky sour flavor. Dry oaks, bret, tart, leathery.. complex and delicious.

I must first thank metallitone1 aka (deftim13) for this spectacular treat. A better man have only walked the earth once, since the beginning of time. Tim you a great man and good friend, and I feel honored to have made your acquaintance. I sure hope Tomme Arthur makes more of this beer. It is worth the price you need to pay whatever that may be. I *love* sour wild ales and this is a masterpiece. This beer is quite different from but as good as “Supplication” [also provided by metallitone1]. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to share this beer with Hopdog, egajdzis, weeare138, froggyfrog, and Risser09. Appearance: Pours a clear golden color with magnificent lacing on the walls of my snifter glass. The head is slightly off white and the carbonation is lively. Smell: It has a huge bold sour cherries and Brettanomyces funky aroma that flood the nose with aged lambic like acidity is that the Pediococcus, I believe. Who cares! It is sensational. The citric rind, apple-cider vinegar woodyness and the plethora of magnificent indescribable aromas left me salivating like a dog. Taste: How could the flavor live up to such a grand aroma? IT DOES! Sourness, abounds with fruits and sweet and tart flavors that run the gamut. Apricot lemon cherry wood and large sour apple with a funky yeast and Lactobacillus presence that gives its spectacular sour attribute. It makes my mouth pucker in pleasure on each and every sip. There is a spice element clinging to my cheeks in the aftertaste, like cinnamon, vanilla and ginger along with the sourness. Each tastes beckons the next. Mouthfeel: The sour sting and the light carbonation a fairly acidic body give this a very lambic-like mouthfeel. Dry and long-lingering. Drinkability: If the Egyptians had it right with their tombs. I want my sarcophagus placed in a conditioning tank full of Cable Car so I can drink it for eternity. Otherwise, I am certain this will be the flavor of my heaven. This is a beer I could drink day and night, if only it were available. Hope this is helpful. Cheers!

UPDATED: FEB 8, 2008 Sampled at the 2007 GABF. This was by far my favorite of the festival. I had several samples.

UPDATED: AUG 13, 2008 Tap at the GABF. Pours a hazy golden color with a white fizzy head. Tastes hugely sour, bretty, just funky and yummy. Aroma is bretty and sour (a little acidic vinegar). Very well balanced, nice yeast profile. I did not get a lot of the grapes and cherries and all of that that everyone else got. Definitely got the citrus and woody notes however. Very solid, but definitely in need of a re-rate.

750ml, corked and caged bottle, shared courtesy of Phatz (thanks!, I guess I owe you my next new born). Poured a medium and lightly hazy (darker haze as we got towards the bottom of the bottle) golden color with a smaller sized off white head. Upon the first whiff, I was greeted with a plethora of incredible aromas that instantly put me in that ‘special’ place in my mind! I could smell this one all day and night long. Aromas of cherries, grapes, apples, funky, brett, light yeast, citrus, and vanilla. All the aromas melded together perfectly. I was also getting a light spiciness, maybe cinnamon. Tastes of tart green apples, citrus, woody, light yeast and vanilla. Light and soft body.

Poured a hazy golden color with a small, off white collar of a hear, that left sparse lacing on the glass. Aroma of cherries, brett, pedio, vanilla, cinnamon, with some stinky feet, cheese, light citrus, and pineapple. Taste of lacto, with some apple, oak, pineapple, citrus fruits, with some vanilla, light toffee, and a dry, sour finish. Thanks to Phatz for sharing this!

Bottle from Toronodo’s 20th bday. Yellow to golden color just and a touch cloudy. About a finger of white froth. Smells like a sour champagne. The taste matches but with a lot of apple too. Stinging, sour, and clean. Lots of pretty cobweb lacing when your done. Very nice; and a handsome bottle worth keeping.