Lost Abbey Judgment Day

Brewed by Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
San Marcos, California USA

Rich and complex aroma offers notes of plums, raisins, marzipan, bubblegum. Opaque brown body is topped by a low, fine bubbled, tan head that recedes rapidly to a partial cover. Flavour is sweet up front with plenty of vinous fruits and some dark malt bitterness, but alcohol is very apparent. Thick and chewy in texture with somewhat low carbonation and moderate warming. Tulip glass. Cellar temperature. Bottle picked up last summer in California. Jul-08.

750 ml bottle. Pours a dark muddy brown with a small, quickly dissipating tan head. Aroma is loads of dark fruit, plums, prunes and raisins. Some spices and molasses are there too. Flavor is sweet, mostly raisins, some chocolate and a little too much alcohol. Black cherries and figs. Palate is thick, carbonation is light. Really a great beer, but it loses a couple flavor points because of the alcohol. A bit of cellaring would do it good.

Bottle. Blackish/brown beer with a strong head. The aroma is mildly malty, and the flavour is whisky, deeply malty molasses and bitter at the finish. Overall a nice strong beer.

Bottle from Sam’s in Downers Grove, IL. This pours a deep brown body with orange/red highlights and a diminutive head of bubbles that vanishes rapidly. The aroma is dark dried fruit, burnt brown sugar, alcohol, and brown spices. The flavor is mainly dark plums, raisins, and alcohol. It finishes on a sweet & fruity note with a low alcohol burn. Okay, but I was expecting a whole lot more.

750 ml bottle. Dark brown pour with a thick, light tan head. Good amount of lacing. Aroma of raisins, plums, cinnamon. Sticky, sweet mouthfeel. Candi sugar, dark fruits, chocolate, and some toffee in the flavor. Dry, bready finish. Not my favorite style, but a really good beer.

Dark ruby with a small off-white head. Aroma of dark sugar, molasses and licorice, figs and raisins, and alcohol. Sweet and heavy with sugar and hot alcohol.

Pours dark brown with little tan head. Sugary nose, raisins are present. Thick across the palate. Lots of candied sugar, dark fruit, some chocolate. Sips well, alcohol isn’t overpowering, but definitely present. Very good.

75cl bottle from Phil L which he gave me during GBBF 2008 and had recently brought back from his travels on the West Coast. So massive thanks Phil for letting me have a go at a beer which otherwise I would probably never have a go at. A long way from cask De Koninck at The Railway Hotel, Appledore at our first meeting, eh?? First impressions? Pours really well, behaves itself and clear until nearly the end. Doesn’t explode. And then the aroma hits you of intense chocolate toffeee. Clear really deep ruby colour, thin lassting beige head. Yes choc toffee on aroma but also loads of dark sour fruit too. Black cherry coulis over a choc toffee dessert. Even before I’ve even tasted this beer, I know that I am going to love it. It really is bizarrely a bit Belgian. I know it’s supposed to be, but so many beers that try, miss by many thousands of miles, but having this after a 7 month old Orval, doesn’t seem incongruous. Yes the fruit and sweet choc toffee don’t meld too well, but they are both wonderful in their own part. It is almosst the opposite of ersatz. It is great almost because of its individual parts. A fruity quad? Enormously drinkable. I had this whilst listening to R.E.M. playing live in Athens, Greece instead of Athens, Georgia and this beer is from California instead of Belgium. So to the scores on the doors Miss Ford. The black cherry dark choc aroma gets a 9. Appearance is good, but if I am being picky, I would want slightly more foam, so a 4 (the foam on the Orval I had before this would get a 5). Flavour? Well as I have said above the mix of sweet and tart doesn’t quite work for me. Interesting though, so I guess an 8. Palate has some acidity, some fullness, its no better than a 3. Overall, yes a good beer, but ultimately it’s just a bit muddled. New world intensity with Old world subtlety