 IrishBoy (2057), Bakersfield, California, USA
May 7, 2008
Sinner’s Club bottle; Nose of cherries, very light tartness, a molasses note, oakiness, and a very slight butteriness; rusty color with a very slight beige head; flavor is cherries, brown sugar, molasses, and very light tartness.
trokini (818), San Diego, California, USA
Jul 14, 2008 Pours cloudy brown with a nearly tan head. Cherrybomb aroma, with nice oak and bourbon. Taste is heavily cherries, but nice brown sugar, nuts, sour yeast, and alcohol round it out so it is not overwhelming. Good bourbon and cognac flavors come through as it warms. I know it says this is a Strong Ale, but it drinks like a liquer.
paytoplay (27), , California, USA
Jul 13, 2008 08 375ml at O’Briens in SD. Drinking pretty darn good right out of the bottle. Murky brown color. Nose is slightly sweet, burbon with a super thin head. Tons of aroma when you swirl this around. Great balance, somewhat sour, but then the finish shows the burbon barrels, oak, carmel, burbon alc, very nice. Easy to see the sour aspect and the barrel aged aspect side by side in the same beer. Really nice. Glad to have more to age this for several years before revisiting.
GAManiac (217), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Jul 12, 2008 Bottle courtesy of wj94.
Pours a deep mahogany with a short lived off-white head that dissipated to a ring leaving no lacing. Honestly, not the most impressive looking of beers.
This beer is massively aromatic and smells wonderful. There is great balance of the oak and the sour cherries with a hint of alcohol burn as well, mainly bourbon. All this on to of a sugary sweetness with some vanilla and candied sugar as well.
Taste is complex but very reminiscent of a sour belgian dark with the slightly acidic tartness of the cherries hitting up front with a bit of barnyard funk coming through as well. The oak comes through in the finish and lingers in the aftertaste. There are hints of the vanilla and sugar in the taste but less evident than the aroma would suggest.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a nice prickly carbonation which leads to a nice crisp finish.
This is an extremely unique offering and I enjoyed it thoroughly though I would definitely term this one as a sipper. Big thanks to David for this gem.
alexanderj (1196), Roanoke, Virginia, USA
Jul 8, 2008 Bottle courtesy of KieferUGA; I’ll return the favor in California. Color was dark auburn, with a little bit of light brown head. Aroma was nice with a pronounced, yet restrained sour cherry aroma; good hints of alcohol and woody/oak hints. Flavor was really good, definitely the best "sourish" flavor I have had; I am normally not a huge fan. Tasted of slightly sour cherries, with some sugar, brown ale-esque elements and something I can only define as cola. Very tasty.
Old_Mr_Crow (979), Seattle, Washington, USA
Jul 7, 2008 2008 version, 375 ml bottle
I’ve got to admit I’m a little bit disappointed by this one, perhaps a first for Lost Abbey. Pours a gorgeous red-brown, like deep-stained wood, without much head. Nice aroma, lots of dry sour cherry and wood, just a hint of bourbon. But the brett comes on so hard in the flavor; it seems to overbalance everything that could be so good, the cherries and bourbon and subtle hints of dark fruit sugars. I guess maybe I’m trying to say that I’d rather have this one as a Belgian strong instead of a sour, given how much is going on within. The acidity is a bit too sharp on the tongue, the brett washes over a bit too much of the other complexities. The finish improves, as the depth of the beer is revealed -- but it’s already a bit too late and a bretty arrugula bitterness punishes the tongue as it searches for the warmth of the bourbon, the sugars from the raisins, the skins from the cherries.
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