Lost Abbey Veritas 007

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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The beer is a slow gusher that is easy to keep on top of. A steady pour into my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip produces a three finger thick, largish bubbled, pale, off-white colored head. As the head slowly subsides it leaves some layered lacing patterns on the sides of my glass. The beer is a murky amber hue (with some chunks apparent) that shows a very chunky, pink / pale-amber color when held up to the light. The aroma smells of very tart berries and spicy / woody oak from afar. A closer inspection has me noticing notes of blackberries, perhaps a touch of tart cherry, a solid lactic sourness and some fruity acidity too, all of these up front. Towards the finish of the nose there is a solid oak structure that contributes aromas of dusty wood shavings, a touch of vanillin, some Bourbon-like oak spiciness, as well as a mellow oak character. Funky aromatics of musty clay, a hint of musky animal B.O., a hint of underlying overly ripe farmhouse cheese, moldy mushroom aromatics and even a hint of urea. After a particular intense round with the nose signature Brettanomyces notes really start to come out; full on butyric acid musk / goat character, phenolic soaked cotton-balls and sweat-dried cured leather notes add a complexity, though underlying and dank quality to this beer’s aroma.

A very prickly carbonation couples with a bracing sourness that is mostly huge-lactic, but also has a sharp, acetic edge to it; the combination of the carbonation and the sourness make my mouth pucker up quite well during my first sip. My seconds sip isn’t quite so mouth puckering, but the ample oak-influence also tends to accentuate this with an astringent, tannic, raw woodiness that isn’t too over-the-top. The oak definitely plays a secondary role to the acidity here, but it is easily the second most noticeable flavor. By contrast the grapes and base beer play a much, much more subdued role than either of these two flavors. After some time the sourness couples with other notes to bring out some flavors of raspberries, some Chardonnay like grape character (the oak seems to bring this out a bit). Spicy, peppery, woody oak notes add some bite to the finish that serves the hop role of a more traditional beer. With the generic 8%abv label that the Veritas beers get stuck with it is hard to know how strong this beer actually is, while it is a sipping beer, it drinks like a light enough strong-sour, sort of a big brother to a Lambic.

My second pour of this beer sees me noticing an almost Kool-Aid-like fruitiness that has overtones of tropical fruit and a big strawberry component; strangely this is only noticeable if I smell this non-directly, as a direct snort of the nose sees me mostly noticing oak and sourness. The flavor actually picks up more fruitiness too; actually if I lick my lips after taking a sip I can even taste the strawberry flavors directly; but there is definitely more of a bright, berry fruit character (with fruit-punch or perhaps even tropical fruit overtones to it) noticeable in my second pour. The sourness and oak seems to become more balanced as well (though this might be attributable to palate fatigue, but I don’t think this is entirely the case).

There is a definite sour edge to this beer that is more than Lactic acid in character, but I am not sure it is acetic acid; if it is acetic acid it is an extremely soft touch, one that works quite well here (though it might just be malic or other acid character from the grapes). I can’t believe how dirty this beer looks, even leaving the beer in the bottle for 30 seconds after pouring it was enough to stir up lots of floaties and chunks into my first pour; luckily this does not seem to have affected the flavor or aroma much. The up front berry character isn’t nearly as noticeable in the flavor as it is in the aroma, which is a bit of let down. In general the aroma is more complex and interesting than the flavor, but if you like sour beers this will definitely please you no matter what. It is definitely worth waiting to let this beer warm up significantly as a more expressive fruit character become noticeable, more importantly the balance and finesse of this beer improves impressively and it goes from being merely enjoyable to fantastic.

I got this from Snojerk321 in a trade a while back. Thanks, Torry. If I wait until the right time to crack this I may never be opening it. Pours a reddish-gold color, kind of orange, with a thin off-white head on top. The aroma is funky and fruity; cherries, lemon, oranges, along with wood and dust. This is crisp and quite tart. Plent of citric acidity and acetic funk here. Sour lemon, red grape, dusty notes, barnyard funk, and a lengthy bandaid note all are noted as well. There’s some silky sweetness to the body that’s quickly covered by the puckery fruity notes. Yet another very tasty sour from Lost Abbey. I wish these Veritas offerings were a little easier to come by. Would love to try others.

@HallingHansen tasting, thanks for sharing. Pours cloudy amber with a white head. Aroma is tart, acidic, leather, grapefruit and brett. Flavour is tart heavu acidic, leather, grapefruit, brett and barnyard.

Old rating. Draft at Monk’s for the Lost Abbey dinner with Tomme Arthur. Pours hazy shiny amber with a thin, off-white head. Aroma of lemonhead, honey, hops, barley, malts, raspberyy, cherry, oak, lemon skin, and slight hints of jasmine. Body is medium with an immensely sticky, rigid palate. Aftertast packs a sour wallop. Outstanding brew. One of the very best sour ales I’ve tasted thus far

From notes. Light grapefruit color, slightly hazy, with a small off white head. The aroma is full, tart, and complex. There is red grapes, white grapes, funky notes, lemon zest, citrus tartness and acetic tartness in the nose. The flavor just blows me away. The sour flavor starts strong and stays strong. Lemon zest, red wine, oak, sour cherries, white grape skin, with a Brett character throughout. An acetic tartness starts in the background and becomes more pronounced as the sip progresses. There are definite wine and oak characteristics from the barrel as well. The beer is obviously sour, with Bretty funk and a pungent acetic feel. The carbonation is right at the proper level, working with the beer to accentuate the flavors. It has a light body. This was simply incredible overall.

Thanks for bringing this longtime want Chad. Poured into a Duvel tulip. Half fingers worth of head. A murky grapefruit in color. Nose resembles Isabelle quite a bit, peach, rock fruit, white wine, mineral, and some vinegar. Wow, really nice flavor profile on this. Again, reminds me a lot of Isabelle but you can definitely see the influence of the cab franc grapes. Light mouthfeel, good acidity, lively carb, and a nice lingering finish. Of the Veritas ive had, this is right up there with 006. Tastes outstanding, really bright nose, exceptional stout.

At HallingHansen Grand Tasting, thanks for sharing. Pours an unclear and orange beer with a white head. The aroma is malt, fruit and acidity. The flavor follows the nose. The palate is acidic. Overall a good beer.

On tap at City Beer Store. Pours a pinkish amber with no head, just a couple of bubbles at the edge of the glass. The aroma has a lot of funky brett, with some lemon, raspberry, grape skin, some lactic, cherry, and a bit of oak. The taste is quite tart with lemon, raspberry, a lot of funky brett, and some grape skin. The finish is dry, oaky, and funky with a decent amount of astringency. Light body with low carbonation. It could have used more carbonation, but it was still quite a great beer.

Bottle shared by Anker, thanks buddy. Hazy amber body with a small white head. Aroma is sour, tart, dust, oak, fruity, barnyard. Flavor is tart, acid, barnyard, oak, dust, vinegar. Nice.

Cloudy orange with a small white head. Funky aroma with leather, hay, and old wood. Dry and tart, quite complex flavour with funk, lots of citrus acidiyty and a bit of malt.

Bottle @ Hallinghansens US Tasting, Odense. Pours cloudy dark golden with a fluffy white head. Brett, heavy funk and barnyard. Tart and fruity flavor. Lots of brett and grapefruit. Dry and really sour finish! Daiimmnn.