Lost Abbey Lost and Found

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

on tap-pours a retaining off white head that laces and amber color. Aroma is funky wheat/medium malt, spices-pepper. Taste is funky wheat/medium malt, spices-pepper, yeasty, musty, sweetness. Not my style.

Objectively speaking: Pleasant albeit unremarkable brown Belgian.
I like: The bold maltiness of a scotch ale with strong caramel emphasis, but also toasty, spicy and highly fruity nuances. Alcohol sensation is never too much. Almost roasty malt notes manages to maintain the sweetness level under watch. Authentic mouthfeel if a bit thick.
I dislike: I find it hard to recommend changes on dubbels, I find it hard to find one I feel deserves a 4.

Bottle... Murky burnt orange ale with a small, creamy, off-white head. Earthy, fruity, tangy aroma – notes of wood, chocolate, dark fruits and lactic acid. Medium-bodied with a lightly creamy mouthfeel and dancing carbonation. The flavor of this one is all about the acidity. Tart and tangy with a chocolaty undertone. Mild sweetness. A Flanders dubbel? Crisp, tangy, lightly dry finish. Kudos to giarcsr for shipping this bottle to Florida!

Bottle sampled on 12/2/06: Pours a transparent deep copper with an airy, light tan head. Aroma of sweet dark biscuity Belgian malt with some toasty caramel and authentic yeasty character. Sweet, dark caramely malty flavor has nice complexity and a full bready body. Well-balanced, very authentic and enjoyable.

Fully opaque brown under short-lived brown-yellow head. Creamy rich nose, even whiffs of blue cheese. Burnt malts and roasted nuts (Pecan/Brasil/...) Som dark candy sugar. Don’t get raisins in the nose, but some alcohol & higher alcohols. Dry dark beer, woody, very malty with overtones of roasted & burnt malts. Quite some sweetness in the basis, but always under the heavy roasted notes. Some musky, animal-like flavour mixing in. Nutty as well, again. Very well bodied. Nice, and original... not a real drinking beer, however - bit too potent. I find it strange to find so few fruity elements in it, as it seems to have been the object. Thanks to brewboy, anyway!

Cloudy amber colour with a beige head. Caramel sweet aroma with fruity and yeasty notes. Malty, caramel sweet flavor with notes of fruit and alcohol.

Impressions from the YeHa! party (and later bottles):
-A veil of foam covers the hazy pale brown.
-Drying dark fruit and orange zest over slowly toasting bread; a complex yet never stirring aroma.
-Roastiness is well integrated to the berry/date infusion and chocolate sweetness.
-Yeast swirls around the flavor profile and influences it quite a bit, effectively merging with cocoa towards the end.
-Carbonation is perfectly authentic for a Belgian style.
-This is a complex and quite drinkable dubbel, but this first encounter proved to be somewhat underwhelming. Later on, in personal bottle encounters, I noticed any added yeast to the glass deterred greatly from the enjoyment of the beer’s complexity. Next bottles I open, I will make sure no yeast particle enters the beer.

Bottles.

Bottled. Beer no. 10 @ American Blind III. Amber coloured. Unclear. Dense brown head. Cocoa, alcohol, sweetness and fruits in the aroma. Flavour is light yeasty, sweet, full of cocoa and fruits. Medium bodied. Quite dry. Sweet and spicy end. Nice one.