Lost Abbey Cable Car

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

Tasted at Cleveland tasting on 8-23-08. Thanks!! Batch 2 was poured with a golden color and thin white head. Has a slight funk aroma, some citrus, and some spice. Has a medium body. Taste is tart, some fruits, and has a sweet sour finish on the back end. Overall I was expecting more from this beer. Considering the hype around it I found it did not live up to the hype. Its a solid brew, just not worth the ratings it gets here. And I wasn’t the only one with those sentiments.

Sampled @ Lost Abbey, RBSG. Moderately dark straw/golden color, thin white head. Lightly sour citric acid aroma, moderate funk, grapeskins. Dark fruit presence, but less so than the Sinners 08, gets more acetic on the back end. Has a nice vinous character to it, very well balanced.

I tried the batch 01 at the rbsg as well as the 2nd batch.....mild funk...very balanced....sad to say I was not as impressed with this beer as everyone else was....but still a balanced complex sour

Batch 1 at Toranado RBSG 2008. Thanks to who ever purchased that bottle and passed me a glass, very kind. Pours gold with a light cloudy haze and a small white head. Very lively spice to it, dry and crisp with tropical fruits, pineapple and apricot seem to stand out. Very nice funkiness to it leading to a sour and tart finish. Batch 2 at RBSG at the brewery. Pours gold, medium haziness, with a small white head. soru and acidic, tart apple shows through. Citrus and some funkiness going on in the finish. A bit flat since it was just bottled, but this will turn out beautifully.

Sampled during the RBSG 2008 Lost Abbey Tasting. This sour ale pours a hazy yellow gold color from the bottle. Small to medium sized white foamy head. The aroma is fruity, tart, bretty, funky and sweet. Medium bodied sour ale. The malts are fruity and sweet. The hops are spicy and citrusy. This beer is a nice blend between tart, sweet, funk and citrus. The brett still needs some time to mature in this version, but it is nice now. Touch of wood in the finish. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and crisp. Aftertaste is slightly bitter and citrusy.

Bottle at RBSG at Brewery, second batch Pours a slightly hazy golden with a white head. Nice perfumy, flowery aroma. This is how I like my sours, nicely balanced between the sourness, sweetness, and citrus. Not overly spicy and easy to drink.

I had a small sample of the first batch at San Diego Toronado, and I found that to be a tad sweeter- which I liked better.

To celebrate my rating number 11,000 I enter this much sought after top-50 beer, which I have been so lucky to sample at two occasions and in two version.

GABF 2007 - first release. A murky golden beer with a thin white head. The aroma is sweet with strong acidic notes of brettanomyces as well as notes of wood and citrus. The flavor is acidic with notes of wood and brettanomyces, leading to a dry tart woody finish.[8/2/8/4/17=3.9]

RBSG at Lost Abbey [8/3/8/3/17=3.9] I didn’t find the second edition as tart as I remembered the first, but it doesn’t show in the rating.

Draft at Toronado 21st Anniv. Pale yellow, kinda cloudy, with some white head that dissipated quickly. Aroma is lemony tartness, mild brett. Flavor is tart and citrusy, not much funk, but a little bit. Some sweet pale malt also, active mouthfeel and dry finish.