Lost Abbey 10 Commandments

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

Sample @ BBF ’08, Boston. Pours a deep brown with a very slight head. Aroma is vinious with detectable malt and candy sugar as well. Taste is roasted malt with detectable yeast and dark fruit and a nice aftertaste that masks the high alcohol content. Very solid.

This is my forth brew from the Patron Saints Club, 2008 bottling. Aroma is sweet with an almost wine like scent. Color is a deep dark solid brown with very low carbonation and no head. I’ve been very disappointed in the carbonation of all the brews I’ve had from Lost Abbey. Taste is rich and sweet. Starting with a full body it goes down flat and heavy. Finish is rich from beginning to end with sweet roasted malt and honey flavors then a pine like taste coming in at the end, must be the rosemary. After taste has a faint bitterness but its not enough to overcome the sweetness. I am very disappointed, its like drinking unfermented wort. This brew is a huge let down, it took them three extra months just to ship it and it still taste like its not done. I’m also disappointed in the other reviews here, unless the 2007’ bottling was much better then this it seems people are just overrating this brew.

Pours dark brown with a crimson hue with a lightly soapy tan head. There is a lot of smooth rich caramel malt, dates, figs, raisins, ice cream malt, candi sugar and sweet cream. Medium / thick smooth body with some light sharp carbonation. Starts with dark malt, dry raisins, anise and some harshness. The finish is a bit on the medicinal side and is a bit tinny. This is decent, but far from what I expected and I couldn’t detect a bit of the brett even though this had been aging over a year.

750mL bottle. Opaque blue-brown with a thin film of off white head. Dark alefruit, raisin, caramel, and sharp rosemary in the aroma. Light dusty chocolate, raisin bread flavors. Earthy spiciness manifests with a phenolic twinge. Faint bretty character in the finish, with an understated sweetness meeting lingering spice. Mouthfeel is a slightly heavy medium, lusterous.

Bottle from Bev4Less. Deep dark ruby in color. No head to speak of. Interesting aroma of dark fruitiness with some spices. Some alcohol is noticeable as well. A hint of sourness in the nose. Sweet and spicy, dark and roasty. Some fruitiness with a little hint of sourness. Rich roasted malts. Low carbonation.It’s almost like two beers in one. Very complex and good.

Lots of raisin, plumb, berry. Poured flat. No head. This is what happened to my bottle of last year’s Judgment Day and I was let down. Then this year’s Judgment Day was awesome. I have another bottle of this...so I will wait for a full review until it. For now, dark and fruity, but lacking overall taste I expected.

Bottle. Poured a hazy brown/mahogany color with a huge brown head. Aroma of cherries, and dark fruit. Flavor was sweet malt, dark fruit and yeast. Full bodied with mild carbonation.

750 bottle donated to San Diego Quaff meeting featuring a Tomme A. Belgian slide show and "Brett" presentation. Poured a cloudy dark brown/burgundy color ale with a nice big light brown foamy head and great retention. Aroma had notes of raisins, black cherry, and figs. Flavor was a balanced mix between sweet malt and dry raisins with a subtle yeasty finish. Body is full with nice carbonation. This was a very nice treat and was nicely explained by Tomme, cheers!