Lost Abbey Judgment Day

Brewed by Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
San Marcos, California USA

Pours dark brown with a pronounced amber hue with puffy, airy khaki head. The head stayed prominent for quite a while. Perhaps the travel from CA to NY shook it up a bit. Aroma of prunes, caramel, malt, a bit of strawberry. Flavors of caramel, fig, malt, and raisin. I’m surprised that no flavors really stand out or are particularly intense. Moderately strong alcohol feel throughout, and the finish is alcohol, bitterness, and a touch of caramel. I was expecting a lot more. Surprisingly forgettable.

750ml caged and corked bottle, served in a snifter. The cork came out with a very weak thump. Hazy dark brown pour with some reddish highlights and almost no head or lacing. Close to still. The aroma consisted of burnt sugar, dried raisins, dark fruits, caramel, toasted nuts, and some faint chocolate. Slightly vinous and woody also. The flavor had molasses, chocolate, caramel, raisins, and some mild alcohol. Richer and much more roasty than the nose indicated. The mouthfeel was full-bodied and slick, but there was almost no carbonation. This was pretty distracting considering that this is a style that usually has some fairly aggressive carbonation. This beer definately has potential, but it looks like they are still having some bottling issues.

Bottle (750 corked and caged). Pours a dark brown with a fizzy sound and a fizzy head that dies quickly. Aromas are a wonderful collage of dark fruit, molasses, chocolate and so on. Flavor is very nice as well, but (dare I even mention it), there isn’t a lot of carbonation to speak of and it seems a bit thin at times. This is especially the case between the forefront of dark malt and fruit and the alcoholic warmth of the finish. Just for a second, it seems to hiccup or hesitate... like it needs one more bridge to get to the finish. Still, this is darn good stuff.

Brewed in the USA....... Pours brown in color with some amber highlights and a medium off white head. Aroma of figs, prunes, raisins, malts and some brown sugar. The taste was of dark fruits, bread, malts, dough and molasses. The mouthfeel was not thick like i expected, but a bit on the thin side. Very sweet and there was also some dry alcohol warmth in the finish. Overall, i thought it was well balanced and very refreshing.

750ml bottle shared by BeerGestapo. Thanks Mike. Pours very dark brown with a black appearance in the glass, a thin khaki head sits defiantly on top. Lots of stuff going on in the nose of this one, mostly pit fruits: fig, prune, raisin, toffee, and brown sugar. The taste was prune, red grape,brown sugar, dough, and fruit cake. Slightly sweet over most of the palate the alcohol manages to dry it up a bit by the finish. Some alcoholic warmth is noticeable but nearly as much as other beers of this size. Absolutely delicious.

Bottle thanks to kegbear!
Nut brown, bubbly beige head. Super sweet nose of raisin, molasses, cocoa and plum. Flavor is similar, incredibly sweet molasses and raisin with stronger chocolate. Sticky, short finish. This nears imperial stout except for the roast elements. If you like sweet, sugary beers, try this one. Otherwise, the simplicity and overwhelming sweetness make this only good, at best.

Aroma of raisins and malt. Flavor is big time malt - sweet and dark. Also strong flavors or raisins and prunes. The malt and raisins compliment each other well. Mouthfeel was syrupy. Good for sipping, but the syrupy sweetness was almost too much.

Pours a nice dark brown, almost purple color with a thin off-white head. Aroma was huge, dark fruits, molasses, a lot of spiciness, but the biggest note was raisins and an almost vinous quality. The raisin smell was almost overwhelming. Flavor was rich and thick, a lot of caramel, molasses, dark cherries, plums, very dark fruity and malty. The mouthfeel was almost chewy and coated your tongue almost like a good piece of chocolate. Very nice beer.