Pizza Port Cuvee de Tomme

Brewed by Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
San Marcos, California USA

Sample from bottle at Port tasting, and at GABF. Dark, hazy brown. A little nutty bourbon aroma. Sour cherry. So good. Taste lingers forever and makes you want more. Great, great beer that I wish I could get more of.

Bottle courtesy hapjydeuce to whom I’m deeply appreciative of for this gem, which did nothing but exceed my already high expectations. The pour was burgundy-purple to brown in color, thin initial head, barely stuck around, quit flat looking, near nil lacing, terrible if comparing to Belgian strongs, but to be expected if thinking about Flemish Sours, especially one of this strength. The aroma was wonderful cherries, wine, funky brett. The flavor was cherries, wine, sour cherries, slight barnyard, grapes, funky, some dark fruits, slight hints oak. What wonderful concoction to behold and consume, so worth the wait, hopefully a wait which won’t be as long before my next one. Mouthfeel was firm and full bodied, but thinned a little by the acidity. Thanks again, Justin!

November 2007. 375 ml bottle, vintage 2007. Thanks, Zac! Resembling an out of body experience. Chocolate brown and very muddy pour. Still, with a glint of glassy brandy shade around the edge. Bretty balsamic aroma with delicate sweet shades of toasted oak, smooth creme brulee and vanilla; sour cherries, peppery gueuze, mint and dark chocolate. Bottomless. Raspberry, funk. Flavor is truly, without equivocation or exaggeration, absolutely unique. Tartness right away slices through with a jagged precision, carving out a dry cherry skin and old orange rendering. Spicy sensations spark with brilliant restraint; white pepper, cinnamon. Apple, raisin, goat cheese; pure, intangible, transcendent complexity. Cherry plays with sweet wood, spruce tips and that dry rub of chocolate for a bewilderingly unique impression. Tangy, dark, and imposing. Warmth reveals a quieted sweetness in maple, honey and melon. Full and lively palate, wherein the heavy malt and the bite of brett hum in a tight and practiced harmony. Pulses with a blast of lemon juice, pure cocoa, and mint leaves, though this blossoms with the slow intensity of autumn, arriving with a calculated delay for an ideal effect. Fully unique and sophisticated, yet personable and accessible; a complete and stunning tour de force of imagination. 9/4/10/5/19 4.7

August 2008. Poured from a 375 ml bottle, vintage 2008, thanks to Ty. Clear mahogany pour; glassy and gorgeous. Chocolate and candied almond aroma, cut with sharpness of apple cider vinegar, the tart sweetness of golden raisins. A tight vanilla oakiness and a beautiful textured bitterness of vine fruit tannins. It’s emotive capacity is limitless. The flavor is somewhat more constrained by its youth, seemingly. Big cherry juice and licorice-like cola sweetness, balanced in earthy bitterness of herbs and semisweet chocolate. Some green, lightly alcoholic, and briefly hit with a toasty bourbon-toned sweetness of coconut and wood. Cherries and sugars open up in the nose a bit more with warmth. A confounding mineral character blending with the cherry tannin in the yeast pour. Gravelly and funky, and left a bit loose. It doesn’t wrap together as well as it might in a few more months. Sourness rushes forth. It’s still feathery and soft in flavor, but the brett is biting a little. Heavy and soothing complex palate; full, and careful in warmth; finish is lengthy, and showing some bourbon-like brown sugar, on cherries and somewhat plain wood. Still a fabulous idea of a beer, although this vintage is a bit young yet. 9/4/8/4/15 4.0

The beer poured a nice deep brown color with a slight tan head. This beer definitely has the look and aroma of a nice fruity Port. The taste was of a nice low carbonated, earthy brew with slight taste of oaking from the aging process. The 12% abv makes this a nice dessert drink to sip on and that is how I had it. The alcohol is apparent but not overpowering.

Aroma of vinegar, leather, cookies. Mouthfeel is tangy with notes of leather, sour cherries, oak, pie crust, and dough.

10/30/07 375 ml bottle. Most recent bottling. Thanks to drewbeerme for consoling my loss of darklord with this fine brew. Pours a dark ruby plum with no head. Aroma is very sour with wine, red grapes, tobacco, and a earthiness. Sour flavors of red fruit, candied, cherry, oaky, very tart with dark chocolate hints. Very tasty beer. 9/3/8/4/16 = 4.0

7/10/08: 08 vintage on the train from Flossmoor Station thanks again to andrew. Brown red with a beige head and chunks swirling around. Strong nice aroma. Sour cherries, oak, lactic acid, with a sweet dough and breadiness. That rich dough and bready malts in the flavor as well. With sour cherries, oak, lactic acid, grapes, and a lot of wine especially as it warms. The carbonation is lively and much more enjoyable than the last vintage. Especially with the carbonation, everything is balanced so well. Excellent beer. 9/4/8/4/17 = 4.2

Thanks to pantanap and drew beer me for bottles. Pour is ruby red with no head at all. Aroma is very tart...sour cherries and wine like. Flavor is sour cherries with some wood. A bit of sweetness is detected as well. Full bodied and chewy. Very enjoyable beer.

GABF ’07. Pours cloudy brown with a spare, rocky, light brown head, diminishing with spare lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (cookie, caramel, nutty), average hops (flowers, grass), average yeast (leather, earth) with notes of cola and vanilla. Full bodied, alcoholic texture, average carbonation, and a bitter finish. Average duration, moderate sweetness, light acidity and bitterness.