Pizza Port Cuvee de Tomme

Brewed by Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: Sour Red/Brown
San Marcos, California USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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2008 375ml bottle pours a dark black/brown with zero carbonation. Cherry oak aromas. Tart Cherry vanilla and red wine taste.

750ml bottle from South Bay Drugs and Liquor: I have been in search of this beer since hearing of it about four years ago. Never had any luck finding a bottle when asking employees at Pizza Port, but it has finally been made available for us humble seekers of beer. Upon pour, there is no foaming or any sign of an attempt for the formation of a head to develop which lead to the thought that this was not a good sign. Once poured, I noticed an instant olfaction of dark juicy fruits such as berries and cherries, but until I stuck my nose into the glass, it wasn’t till then did I begin to pay attention to the raisin and wild use of yeast further. The flavor is initially a tart and sour taste that also stretches across the taste buds to allow for a moment of sweetness that will only be a glance of the fruits potential. Obvious mentions of fruit are dark black cherries freshly picked yet unripe and sour. Also, gives me a memory of eating a basket of washed raspberries that have recently been rinsed and they are juicy themselves but with the added beads of water to the flesh of the fruit just makes it that much more juicer and refreshing. Somehow the raisin gets drowned out and takes deep thought to recognize in the faint background of the aftertaste. The yeast has an interesting personality of its own because of the wild funky almost farmhouse like style of yeast present. I now understand why someone could believe this is Belgian strong ale, but in my opinion this falls under a fruit lambic style. Very enjoyable and smooth in its palate that comes across so gently carbonated all for which makes for an easily guzzled liquid.

2012 bottle. Dark brown-orange, flavor and oily. Nose of vinegar, cherry, chocolate. Flavors of chocolate, cherry, yogurt, nice sour cherries. Smooth and completely (too) flat. Nice but did not live up to its reputation by any stretch. Alcohol well hidden, though it really misses the carbonation.

375 Bottle - 2012 vintage. Pours totally cloudy brown with a vanishingly small head that disappears rapidly leaving no lacing. Aroma is tart cherry, wood, caramel, dried fruits. Flavor is bracingly tart with light sweetness. Cherry and wood are the dominant characteristics. Dries out by the middle, leaving TART, woody notes and a groundswell of heat from the ABV. Medium body, creamy mouthfeel, but flat as a board. Interesting beer, but there is certainly nothing subtle about it. And why the fuck can’t Lost Abbey keep carbonation in their beers???

Tap at NoddingHead for beer week. Aroma of plums, cherry cola, sour oak, and slight vegetable (celery). Telltale signed of spoilage. Pours hazy purple and completely flat. Taste is upsettingly sweet with brandy, plums, spoiled oak, and black cherry soda. Way too intense a taste to be that off in flavor. I may have gotten a bad batch but I think this is overrated.

Bottle. Pours brown with a thin head. Funky woody and sweet malts, cherry fruits, hints of bourbon, and a light hit of acidity. Balanced and drinkable. Really damn good.

On tap. Pours brown with absolutely no head. Still carbonated though. Complex aroma. Cherries, oak, vinegar, and even a little bit nuttiness. Served a little too cold. Flavor is tart cherry, oak, and a little alcohol. Never been my style but this tolerable if not somewhat enjoyable.

2009 Vintage thanks to spacecoyote ! Pours a deep ruby brown color with a finger of khaki foam. The nose is very complex... sour cherry, cola, cranberry, welches grape juice, wet funky wood, vinous cabernet notes. The palate follows the nose with great complexity and deep dark vinous notes. Nice chocolate malt backbone, great acidity, cranberry, cherry, bourbon.... really nice. Great lingering finish... YUM !

(Critique chaotique du extreme beer fest 2013): Assez agressif sur le palais, foncé en bouche avec des notes de fruits, cuir, brett. Échantillon trop bref pour apprécier sa complexité.

Bottle 37.5cl 2009 vintage thanks Allen. A red amber beer with low head. Nose is on sour cherries, vinegar and vinous. Aroma is on wood, cherry, acid, sour and vinegar like, lactic, alcohol well hidden. Bit disappointed not as impressive as expected.