Lost Abbey Isabelle Proximus

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

750ml. Meaty, cheesy and funky as all get out. Olive brine. Wet dog. Beef bullion. Loads of horse and barnyard. Some rotting fruit undertones. Actually a decent pale malt base underneath all the funk. Scrambled eggs? Old bananas. The fruitiness becomes more pungent as the beer warms. Earthy and dirty with moderate sweetness. How the hell this is a sour and not a gueuze is beyond me. Flavor is bretty, funky, horsey, pissy and sour as hell. Slightly lactic. Minerally and gravelly a la Sauvignon Blanc. Tart apple skins. Shit this is good stuff!

Yeast pour yields a bit more delicate funk on the nose. A little bit more bready and doughy malt as well. Changes the flavor profile on the tongue as well. More tart apple skin. Lemon zest. Dirt. Salty and briny. Pineapple. Rather full bodied for the style with excellent carbonation. The finish is dry, dirty, earthy, horsey and lasts forever. A masterpiece.

750 bottle. Pours bright yellow with a small disapaiting head. Nose is farmhouse, cat-pissy, bright, teary, alive. Taste starts out very carbonated and fluffy and the beer turns to a mouth bomb. Weird, liquid turning into gas inside my mouth. It’s like swallowing a very bitter alka-seltzer but the taste lingers long on afterward. This is a very unique beer-tough to rate but easy to drink quickly. I’m looking for the Avery here and can’t find it-but the other brewers definitely have touched this.I liked the 08 Sinners a bit more.

Wondrous aroma bursting with peaches, apples, nectarines, passion fruit, grapes, and the obligatory brett. Alot of sweetness coming through in the nose. As with many geuzes (I know this is classified as a sour ale but it really comes across as a lambic), there’s an immediate burst of tartness and acidity in the flavor that isn’t completely refined. There are nuances of fruit, and an undertone of mushroom throughout. Very good but probably better in small doses. I drank a whole 750ml bottle by myself, and the acidity just kind of weighed on me. Really good, probably overrated, still better than alot of well-regarded contemporary lambics. Just lacking a refined character and smoothness to be really awesome.

Morgan of the Great Orlando Beer Festival shared this one! THANKS! Tart apples, crab apple skins with hints of sweet malts, awesome aroma. Pours blonde with a thick white head. Extremely horsey, funky, tart, some citrus notes with a great sourness. Awesome beer! This has very authentic flavors, dry, with sour cherries and sour apples with a spicy dry horsey finish that coats your tongue. Amazing work!

Update.....OK, so I’ve had this 3 times now. Once very fresh, once at about 4-5 months in, and once at 11 months in. All I can say is that this beauty just keeps getting better and better. My latest sample was absolutely outstanding. Why I didn’t buy as much of this as I could last year is beyond me. Note to self: If Vinnie has his hands in it, buy it. Buy as much as you can!

Courtesy Morgan of Great Orlando Beer Festival. Pours a thick looking, cloudy, glowing golden yellow-orange. A small, foamy white head leaves soapy spots and flares of lacing on the glass. The aroma shows notes of apricot, sour lemon, grapefruit, and tangerine along with copious amounts of oak and toasty vanilla. There’s a definite chiffon characteristic that takes a good deal of the edge off of the tartness. Flavors follow suit, with acidic citrus hitting up front, only to be calmed down significantly by oaky vanilla and a soft creaminess. The yeast profile is very wild feeling. Excellent balance and drinkability. The body is fuller than expected, smooth, and moderately carbonated. They hit the nail on the head in terms of palate, and most everything else. Phenomenal, world class offering.

Nice tart funky yeasty doughy apply malts. Floral hops lay about the background. Very pale light yellow color. Cloudy with yeast. Bright pleasing tartness with a clean acidity on the sides of the tongue. Dry. Lingering acid punch. Nice!

Thanks to TheCheeseman for this great beer. orange yellow pour with small white head. Sour apple dry pear aroma. Sour fruit, pear , apple taste. Very drinkable sour, really tasty.

I knew this would be making its way to Philly and I am more than just excited to try this bad boy. This one is a bottle from Monk’s – Really nice golden color with a moderately sized white head. Aroma is big and sour with a gentle woodiness that blankets a lemon/orange/citrus sourness. Also getting some light raspberries and pre-ripe/tart blueberries. Inviting, but not overwhelming. Flavor is pure heaven – citrusy sourness melting into gentle lambic with woody undertones, a hearty and tasty tartness, and smooth sweetness that is so well blended – its just about perfect. Mouthfeel its incredible – the perfect balance of sticky and smooth – almost indescribable. This is a fantastic beer that is a great example of how awesome American beer can be. Tomme and the gang really outdid themselves with this one!