Lost Abbey Gift of the Magi

Brewed by Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: Bière de Garde
San Marcos, California USA

2008 750 ml bottle from the Saints Club Nose is yeasty caramel with a very light funky note along with raisiny pruney fruitiness. Cloudy copper with very little head only a small ring of bubbles. Flavor is a little more brettywith some horseblanket and caramel. Finish nicely tart.

Tap at City Beer, SF. Hazy amber color, short head. Aroma is quite spicy, malty, hint of raisin, some caramel malt. Same goes for taste, alcohol is present, with loads of spices on a caramel malty background. Quite nice stuff.

2008 bottle. Pours a deep reddish amber with a nice tan head. After that this beer did not do much fo me. I thought the aroma came of like spruce and that transfered to the flavor. I did not care for it. Sort of heavy as well. Plenty of carbonation and a sweetish finish. Not a fan.

Amber color, with a fluffy beige head, toasted, caramelized malt, fruity, yeasty, mild funky nose of horseblanket, barnyard, leathery, with some dried raisins, dates, figs fruitiness, some candied apricot, peach, floral hop notes in the aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate with a sweet toasty, caramel malt, fruity, faint funkiness character of light mustiness, with some dried date, raisin accents, with a nice flowery hop leafy, grassy, candied peach, apricot notes, within some brown candi sugar, clove, coriander spiciness, leading towards a warming, fruity, malty, minty, dry hoppy finish.

Bottle from Marcus! C&C. Slightly hazy copper amber color with a froth beige/tan head. Mysterious aromas, underlying which is fruit. Hop or ? But fruit. Not dark fruit. Rich light stone fruit. Medium body with mild, creamy carbonation. There is a funky note, astringency, wood, pale fruit, maybe tobacco. Floral/fruit hop. And the funk, though not strong, never quits. This is a truly intriguing ale.

Gift has a nice balance of hops and flavor. The hops are present but not overpowering. The pour and appearance are very nice with a thin translucent head.

Thanks to trevor211 for a glass. Coppery pour with a yellowish head .. after the label described the spices/herbs they included, all i could think of was it looked like a witch’s brew. nose of a dry tripel.. plus fruit/herb mustiness. cidery, dry malty flavor with overtones of fall herb and winter spice. very earthy, with some bittering and lots of yeast. Gummy dark fruits: fig, raisin and prune. Some sort of beautiful mix of a belgian winter ale into an american style .. or the other way around. very nice and intriguing, a new sort of winter beer as far as i’m concerned.

Pours a nice amber/copper with really thin white head. Really low carbonation when I popped the cork. NOt a lot of aroma, but some sweetness comes through. Flavor is sweet and quite a bit of alcohol, but smooth. Nice balance and slightly sweet alcohol finish. NOt much bret yet. But I think this is a fresh bottle.