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

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Poured dirt brown, similar to both one and two. Cherry and dark berry, slight coffee flavor with a bitter sour after taste

Bottle. Hazy dark brown/red liquid with small off-white head. Aroma of light vinegar, toffee, dark fruit, light lemons, port and wood. Taste is dry and medium sour with notes of toffee, light vinegar and lemons. Medium bodied with medium carbonation. Quite nice.

Shared at a ridiculous tasting last weekend. Consumed with all ten Veritas beers on April 14, 2012. The beer is mahogany hued with a small off white head. The aroma offers wine, oak, tannins, fruit, acidity, cherries. Very tasty beer. The flavor is bold, yet smooth, while still achieving balance - impressive. Cherries come through in the flavor, though not nearly in the same manner as a kriek. Light in body and enjoyable to drink. Overall, this was quite tasty, though not on par with 004-006. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 04-20-2012

Shared bottle at DLD 2012 tasted in concert with the 004. This might be my favorite Belgian Strong Ale. Super rich flavor with malt, dark fruit and woody earth notes. Any chance you fellas can mix this up again? Please?

Bottle at Muckfest III - Pours mahogany with a thin tan head. Nose is big cherry and oak notes, with a bit of chocolate, and lots of layered malt. A bit of tartness. Taste is full and tart, with black cherry, mellow oak, and sweet tarts on the finish. Red wine notes. Smooth medium-bodied, and well-carbonated. Really glad I got to try this one.

Bottle shared at MuckFest 3 - Friday evening addition. Pours a rich murky brownish pour, richly murky with some glow on the edges and top. Rusty water, muddy with frothy tannish head that dies to a film, laces small overall. Mellow lacing sticks around. Aromas are strong funky brett, red wine tannins, oaky wood essence, touch of vanilla, gentle tartness grows. Red wine, sour grapes, and lactic qualities. Some toffee, biscuits, and gentle toast. Very yogurty as it warms. Initial is medium bodied with more fruit, red and white grapes, some tangerine, and yogurt. Lemony tartness grows, richer firm funk, and some good red wine tannins, oak, and cobwebs. Touches of soft cheese, really inviting with no acetic qualities. Really nice with some assertive flavors, wild yeast presence doesn’t overrun the rich fruity complexity of the brew. Quality.

Alright, so yeah - this is courtesy of Tomme Arthur at a sour tasting I happened to be at. Nice. This is great, thanks Tomme! This beer poured with absolutely no head - with plenty of dark ruby notes - not very translucent, but just a slight touch of one. Aroma is a bit of age on it - some notes of oak, wine grape notes, sour cherry notes. Vinegar notes are not nearly as present as I’d expect from a beer that is almost a decade old. This was pretty darn enjoyable. Wow, thanks!

Pours somewhere between a ruby and light brown. Good head, good retention. Musty sour faded red wine grapes on the nose, slight oak. Taste shows soured old grapes, slight oak, little amount of sweetness and dryness balancing each other and neither really come through. Nicely carbonated and great on the palate. I know this is supposed to have fallen off, but for not having it before it is a very well done AWA.

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.

In short: A heavy, rich, fruity, complex, acidic and moderately sour dark ale. Excellent
How: Bottle 750ml. Consumed almost 2.5 years after first bottle rating. Bottle sent to me by sarro, thanks a lot Kyle
The look: Cloudy copper body topped by a medium beige head with medium retention
In long: The enticing nose has plenty of oak, all sorts of red tart fruits, caramel. Taste has oak, caramel, raisins and all kinds of fresh juicy refreshing fruits (berries, cherries, kiwis, more...), barnyard notes, mouth drying tannins, light notes of bourbon, light notes of vinegar. Sourness level is medium. The mouth drying tannins a relatively under control but the acetic acid level is unfortunately a bit too high, so the beer is definitely a sipper. Drinking a full bottle was a pleasure but it took me over one hour to do so (and I’m a thirsty man). What helps the beer is its size, the big heavy sweet malt backbone provides a good opposition to the acetic acid. Overall this beer was harmonious and complex. You know that feeling that normal people get when a close relative dies? Well, I just had that feeling when I finished drinking my only bottle of Veritas 003.