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Port/Lost Abbey


sunshine

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last week in chicago i had the Hop 15 from Port Brewing Company. anyone know if it's available in bottles anywhere around here?

I heard somewhere (dcbeer, maybe?) that the Brickskeller has (or is imminently getting) a keg of it, though, so if you don't mind having to sit in a bar and have a pint, you might want to call and verify when it's due to be on...
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Honestly I don't think that's actually all that out of line. I was just at Port/Lost Abbey in San Diego last week and they had 3 or 4 bottles that were $30 to go. (I have 6 bottles somewhere on a FedEx truck on their way to me right now *swoon*) The Lost Abbey stuff (and Black Ops as well) will regularly turn up on Ebay for much, much more than $30.

All of these beers are among the highest rated on Ratebeer or Beer Advocate. The equivalent of getting 99 or 100 points from Robert Parker. If the top end of the wine world can run to hundreds and hundreds (if not thousands) for a bottle, $30 for the pinnacle of the beer world seems pretty reasonable to me.

But then, I have always been a beer geek and have never understood why wine was valued so much higher (both in terms of flavor and culture)

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To commemorate the occasion of the emancipation of the beer thread, I would like to start a topic on what I consider to be perhaps the current preeminent craft brewery in the country - Lost Abbey just north of San Diego. I got to visit the Lost Abbey tasting room three times during the week between Christmas and New Years while visiting my parents for the holidays. I expected it to be good, but I was unprepared for HOW good.

On the first trip we were on a guided brewery tour. Lost Abbey was the third and lost stop and were given one hour at the end of the tour to try anything we wanted on tap. Not fair. Thinking this would be my only opportunity to sample some of this stuff, I somehow managed to get through 1-2 oz samplers of everything they were offering on tap that day. 18 different beers. The worst offered were still in the 95+ range on ratebeer.com - the best were really astonishing. Thinking I would not be able to return I purchased a case of 750 ml bottles of various amazing things to go for shipment back home and cellaring in my beer fridge.

While staying at a resort for a couple of days of parental-escape time, we noticed a few bottles of Lost Abbey on the menu at the restaurant and got a bottle of the Inferno Ale for "dessert." It was served out of their cooler at around 34-35 degrees or so and tasted gummy and indistinguished. We drank about half of the bottle and took the rest to our room. Once there I tried it again but this time the bottle had warmed to perhaps 45-50 and WOW it was a whole other beer. Brimming with flavor up from and a lingering, complex finish. I have never encountered such an improvement in taste due to correct serving temperature.

Luckily my wife was as entranced as I was and we arranged to return twice more in the next week. During these trips we ordered various bottles off of the "vintage list." (Bottles they have aged in house but will only sell for on-site consumption in an attempt to keep their stuff from showing up on ebay for $120+/bottle.) Having been recently converted to the joys of Belgian Sour lambic geuze beers, we got a 2008 Sinner's Blend, a 2007 Cuvee de Tomme (heavenly) and the piece de resistance, a 2007 bottle of the Isabelle Proximus - a joint brewing project between the brewmeisters from Lost Abbey, Russian River, Avery, Allagash, and Dogfish Head :angry: Holy cow. My socks were knocked off.

I ended up being inspired enough to buy another case of mixed 375 and 750 bottles to go and ending up bringing home a total of two cases of this magnificent beer. I intend to visit this place as often as possible on every trip to San Diego.

Cheers,

durwoodx

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