Lost Abbey Inferno Ale

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

Bottled. Disappointing pour when they go and compare this to Duvel, as the head only appears when you glug the thing out at a near vertical orientation. The last remnants of foam do stick around nearly permanently though. This beer is loaded with big, boozy, belgian malts, both in the flavor and the aroma, and is dominated by a brazen yeastiness and mild euro hop. At once easy and difficult to drink, there is a great, full body on this beer, with a short, clean, easy finish. Light florals come out with smaller sips while larger chugs just lead to a big, brutish body. This beer could be beer-bonged, though the bonger would regret it. Fittingly for a beer so confused, I both like it and hate it.

750 ml bottle, corked and caged, from South Bay Drugs. Hazy orange tinged golden color with an ephemeral white head. Smells like a tripel on brett with cardamom. And a bit of candi. Medium bodied with lightly fizzy carbonation. It is more bitter than sweet - like bergamot. Extremely pleasant. Lightly earthy. Definitely dry. Moderately spicey. Ends up like bitter light stone fruit. Not strongly bitter. A really quaffable ale. Great taste.

From a 750mL Bottle. Mostly transparent, honey gold colored pour with a firm finger of small bubbled white foam. Perfumey yeast esters in the nose, bringing out suggestions of rose petals, banana, and pear. Light herbal hop characters also noticeable, along with an underlying sweet orange citrusy note. A subtle, sugary pale malt sweetness also lies in the background. Medium bodied, moderately carbonated mouthfeel with a smooth, soft texture. Clean flavors of bready pilsner malt and honey up front on the palate, followed by some floral yeast esters and banana. Toward the finish, some herbal hop flavors start to come out, as well as a mild peppery yeast character that lingers behind on the palate. This particular bottle has a higher carbonation level than others I’ve opened, but still is less than I’d like it to be. The creaminess of the palate works well with the banana notes, but my personal preference would be to have it drier with a more carbonic bite to help accentuate the pepper. Still, a pretty solid beer overall with a wonderful yeast presence.

Pours deep slightly hazy gold with white head. The mild aroma is sweet sugary malts, grain like malts, a bit of hay, bitter sourness and more malt sweetness. The taste begins sweet with sugar malt sweetness, crisp grains and hops to go along with a growing tartness. The tartness becomes mildly sour fruit and grows to midway and carries right into the finish. Smooth brew that begins sweet and malty then has that palate refreshing tartness into the finish

(From 8-3-08 sampling, thanks to midaszero!) Murky peach in color, decent white head that laced, light carbonation. Aroma of grass, wheat, bananas, figs, and coriander. Hits the mouth with a high-light body, malt was intertwined with various spices, sweet and sour sensations towards the backend, finish has a champagne like quality to it. Heavily enjoyed this one!!!

Bhensonb shared this with me. This hazy orange beer poured with a miniscule head that disappeared right away. There is an herbal aroma that Bill and I thought was from cardomom, and it was also evident in the flavor. This is a tasty beer that benefits from a good blend of malt, hops and herbs.

Sampled side by side with Duvel. Pours a clear, rusty orange color with a large, foamy, off-white head. Soapy lacing marks the glass with random spots and flares. The aroma is sweet up front, pale malts dominating, with an omnipresent bready yeast that is very Belgianesque. There is a mild funk, along with notes of peppery spice. Flavors follow the same path. Sweet pale malts and doughy yeast show a dusty Belgian funk, while floral, peppery spices lend a crisp bite, evening things out. Medium-plus bodied with lively carbonation, it drinks surprisingly well for such a large brew, the semi-dry finish lending a somewhat refreshing quality. Overall, this is a very nice take on a Belgian classic, and, dare I say, an improvement.

Bottle shared by midaszero. Thanks man!
Pours a cloudy yellow color with a nice white head. Smell is sweet and malty with a definite belgian yeasty quality. Dusty, with a hint of tartness and very faint funk but is mostly sweet and a bit fizzy. Decent, and a nice take on Duvel as I understand it, but not one of my favorites as it is a bit sweet for my liking.