Lost Abbey Isabelle Proximus

Formerly brewed at Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: Sour Ale
San Marcos, California USA

(bottle, big thanks to tytoanderso for sharing!) Pours a hazy light orange with a white head. The aroma constantly changes, and each sniff usually brought another new scent. The aromas I detected were freshly cut hay, funky cheese, salt, oak, and fruit muddled beneath these scents (notably apricot and pineapple). The flavor is equally great with tastes of lemon peel, vinegar, unripe peach skin, tart raspberry, and some mineral-like qualities. There are also more sweeter fruit flavors that help round out the really sharp, tart flavors. The finish is completely dry and oaky. This is one of the finest gueuzes I’ve ever drank, and if the pricetag wasn’t so high, I would regularly drink this.

Thanks to whomever sent me this. Pours a cloudy marigold, good head retention. The aroma is quite unique. Funky ass cheese, grapefruit and lemon rind, and a separate yeasty character. Flavor is very lactic, with more cheesy funkiness. I think this will develop with time. The finish is dry and bretty, I think this was oaked as well. Mouthfeel is smooth and creamy, medium high carbonation. This is one of the funkiest beers I have ever had.

750ml bottle. Thanks to miketd for sharing. Aroma: Tart, funky, and really dry on the nose. Grapefruit, light pineapple, and lemon. Grass and hay. Horsey and cheesy. Appearance: Light golden in color and murky. White head was small and foamy with fair retention. Not much lacing. Flavor: Tartness kicks in right from the start. Lemon, pineapple, and grass/earth. The funk comes in strong with notes of horse, wet blanket, and sharp cheese. Finishes very dry with a mineral-like aftertaste. Palate: Medium bodied. Moderate carbonation. Overall: A solid sour that could go up against many of the best Belgian sours and hold its own.

bottle thanks to bu11zeye. murky yellow pour with a layer of white head. mellow sour/tartness and fruits on the nose. oak, sourness, tartness, sour apples and cherries on the nose. very smooth on the palate and very smooth on the way down with a dry finish.

~RBSG ’08~

Big tasting at Lost Abbey. Pours a light copper hue, with a well carbonated head and filmy lacing. Real dry tart funk in the nose, citrus, and some barnyard sweat. Really hard to distinguish actual notes, it’s just great. Very sour tasting, sharp bitterness and salty at times. Dry finish. Very easy to quaff; just great. Dry, very tasty, extremely quick bite that lasts a while. Sticks to your mouth for hours.

Alright, so I was going to be done reviewing, but this is just too amazing to not review. My first bottle was thanks to BDR, and I was going to forego the rating, but after sharing another bottle with a buddy in distribution, I have to rate it. The bottle pours a nice deep glowing golden, and a nice medium sized white head. The nose screams wild ale with a nice balance of grapefruit, lemon, tropical fruit, a New zealand Sauvignon-like grassiness, earthy barnyardy funkiness. The palate is just what I was expecting, and explodes out of the gate with some very ripe tart acidity, not unlike a NZ Sauv Blanc again, with a good dose of tropical fruit sweetness, oaky butteryness, and a vanilla and nutty character rounding out the acidity. The finish is not brutally sour, but nice and tart with a very sharp edge that lingers with more of the tropical fruit. This is one outstanding beer, and definately lives up to the hype.

Pours an attractive bright hazy yellow with thin white head. The nose is tart grapefruit and funk, as is the flavor. Dry tannic finish.

Bottle sampled at Lost Abbey for RBSG 08. Poured into a wine glass. Gold with a radiant orange hue. Very little head/lacing. Gueuze-like aroma: lemon and vinegar. Flavor is similar, sharp tart citrus and lactic and acetic acids, with a tempering oak finish that’s brimming with brett funk. Sour but not too heavy.