Lost Abbey Veritas 003

Formerly brewed at Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
San Marcos, California USA

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   add pic

Bottle. 24.5 oz. Split with James the morning after Explosions in the Sky for my 900th and his 1800th rating concurrently. This massive beauty hisses to life with the pop of the cork, pours an electric, trubid, hazy, abrasively beautiful brown cherry amber with an initially massive, loosely bubbled cream head which fizzled to spotty tracing across the surface, and left substantial fizzy ring around the edge of the glass. Aroma of soft, moist, dank oak, with hints of cherries, strawberries, peaches, Cabernet grapes from the Amazing Grace, musty Rye bread, toasted honey, soft lemon zest, and tons of wild, Bretty notes. The beer tastes like nothing I have ever tasted before; full strawberry and cream notes burst forth before a wave of carbonated raspberry, oaky cranberry sweet tartness washes it back with a wave of tremendous sourness. This beer is full of complex, intricately interlaced flavors. This is, without a doubt, one of the best sour ales I have ever had the pleasure to try. Cheers to 900 more beers!

003 Pours a murky brown color. Fizzy head is poured. The smell is pretty damn amazing. So much going on but everything really comes together to make a world class Wild Ale. Aroma consists of Sour Cherries, Funk, Oak, Brown Sugar, and some Citrus. It’s not a most sour Wild Ale I’ve had but sourness and tartness stings the nostrils a bit. Overall though this a great aroma. The taste doesn’t disappoint at all and in the end I really couldn’t decide what I liked more. 004 or 003. Taste is on par with the aroma when it comes to the tartness. Not over the top but there and lovely. The experience rounds out with Vanilla, Brown Sugar, Sour Cherries, Leather, and the lovely taste of the barrel. So sad when this bottle was gone but I was enjoying every sip I took. I think it took a few hours for me to finish this bottle. Mouthfeel is very nice on this one. Full and thick. Goes down easy.

Rating #3400! Bottle shared by jtclockwork. Jan/Feb of 2011, I believe. Not quite clear shining ruby red color with a small off-white head. Funky aroma with a hint of cheese, sour, bourbon, and more. Big sour flavor with dark cherries, wood, more sour, bitter wood and bourbon, and general awesomeness. This stuff is amazing!

Bottle thanks to WeeHeavySD, thanks Jon. Color is that of a tobacco sunburst Gibson Les Paul. Smells spicy and oaky, maybe some over-ripe fruit. Tastes very complex, not very sour, I would say there is more Brett than lactic or acetic character. Vanilla and cherry come through. Mouthfeel is highly carbonated, tight bubbles. Drinkability is outstanding.

UPDATED: MAY 29, 2012 Bottle split with Pat after doing a flight of every mikkeller breakfast beer. Wow. Pours a murky brown body with thick hazy and thick fluffy brown head. Aroma is the most insane complexity of sour and tart I have ever had. Mouthfeel is slightly aggressive carbonation with insane flavors of tart cherries, wood, citrus, lemon. What an insane brew. Literally one of the greatest beers of my life.

sampled with phoenix crew. graciously provided by sparky27... the big winner of the evening!

pours into my tiny (sad) snifter an ugly murky brown color with a light tan head which will not go away! lots of slimy drippy lacing coats the glass the aroma is a complex mix of wood, fruit and funk with a floral quality to it as it warms. lots of cheesy, cherry, funky cuvee dominates over the malty sweetness and light woody bourbon tones. i want to sniff this stuff all night! three incredibly powerful beers combine but are still allowed to shine individually in the flavor as well... so much so that i cannot even begin to describe it. i am at a loss. it is smarter and more profound than me...

Pros: Very nice aroma, cherry from the Cuvee, deep caramel and malt from the angels, wood and wine. Lots of depth and complexity. Flavor has so much depth and complexity, a port like character, loads of flavor.

Cons: Carbonation is a little light.

Such a beauty!

Cloudy chestnut colour with a small off-white head. Intense and complex aroma of cherry, oak, caramel, balsamic vinegar and wood, with a faint hint of dust. Dry and tart fruity flavour with red currants, raspberry and cherry and just a hint of brown sugar sweetness. Approved!

Thanks to cquiroga for giving me this bottle so many years ago. Very dense and lasting, sizable head over a clear ruby-mahogany beer. Very lively carbonation visible in the glass. Rich, delicious aroma: funky, spritzy, sour, woodsy, with apple, peaches, warm cherry skins. Wow: I don’t remember a beer with this many distinct stages since the first time I had Celebrator. Initially its the spritzy carb and wild, juicy acidity with a hint of wood. It then settles on some wonderful fruit: cherry, cherry skins, some sour grapes, with little surges of acid under the sides of the tongue. There’s also a rootsiness to it, a kind of bitterish, beet-like note, or like rhubarb. Then, it dries out in the finish, the tongue tingling with a twiggy woodsiness. Finally, the grapes and rhubarb come back with a final resurgent push of apple-ish sour. The finish not only is multifaceted but loooong. Everything is so clean and defined and refined and delicious. Its been a long time since I’ve had a beer that’s convinced me of its dopeness on the first sip and continued to blow my mind into the second glass. Glad I saved this for a special occasion. Ridiculously dope. Thanks again, Chris.

Bottle shared from Tomme and with Christian. Very rarily do you get the pleasure of enjoying a brew like this and having the creator explain just how it came about. Cherry, sour and some chocolate and coffee. Sound like something from a confectioner? I am not going to sit here and try to explain the complexity. All you have to do is look at the commercial description and you will understand.