Lost Abbey Red Barn Ale

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

The beer pours a hazy orange with hints of copper, the 750ml bottle is corked and caged with the head is portly and off white in color, the texture creamy, as it fades to nothingness, the lace provides a concealing sheet upon the glass. Nose is rich in spices, hints of peach, nice malt backing, crisp and fresh to the nose. Start is sweet and malty; the top is moderate in feel. Finish has a nice moderate acidity, hops are present and the fruity sweetness combines with the dry aftertaste, a great series of beers this "Lost Abbey”.

Port Brewing makes fantastic saisons, and this one is no exception, and may be considered world class, because I say so. Bottle from Capone’s. Pours turbid gold with a big, 3-finger, fluffy white head and lace that doesn’t stop. The aroma is huge Bretty funk, spicy black peppery and floral notes, and hopcitrus. The taste is funky and bready malty, with florals, hopcitrus, and spicy black pepper flavor. Complex palate, all the taste and flavor notes come together extremely well in this one, and make it a true beer for the ages. I’m just glad I bought 2 extra bottles of this.

750-ml bottle Napacabs.com - Aroma: lemon, orange, peppery, spicy (yeast or additives); Appearance: pale orange, opaque, white head (no retention), little to no laces; Flavor: sour, orange, lemon, peppery, spicy (yeast or additives), sweet, salty (malt), bitter (hop); Mouthfeel: light to medium bodied, high carbonation, dry finish, some tart; Overall: nice balance of fruity, malt, spicy, hopped, and sour flavored beer with beautiful color and carbonation but disappointed with laces.

Cloudy golden with a small white head. Hyper complex aroma, mostly with spices that stay just on the right side of perfume-like. It’s a good sign that I noted cinnamon, cardemum and clove and none of the spices actually used. That’s elegant use of the spices. The spices are backed by bready malt, banana and other tropical fruits, and grassy hops. Sweetish spicy flavour with a good hop flavour and bitterness to match Outstanding complexity!

Pours bright gold into a tulip. Bright white micro head conglomerates on the surface. Spicy aroma. Crisp with caramel, honey and a lasting Belgian hop finish.

750, corked and caged. Pours cloudy coppery orange with a towering, thick, egg-white-peaked platinum blonde head that you could probably use to insulate your house. Nice bold funky nose with sweet candied oranges, sharp orange pith, and a nice peppery grapefruit hop underneath it all. Truly a beauitfully considered bouquet--grabs your attention and intrigues you before you even walk in and set down the glass.
Tingly, sharply fizzy attack with a nice medium body and candied earth popping out all over the place. God, this is really a brilliant beer. Quenching and refreshing but plenty of layers of complexity to the earth, oranges, toast, and light funk that swirl across the mid-palate. The finish is clean, almost neutral. Lovely stuff you can sip or session. I am truly overjoyed that this stuff is now available in my town, despite the fact that I worked a trade for this over the summer. Speaking of which...this beer stood up to a couple days on the road in June or July very well. Gotta get a fresh one now too. Lovely. Just lovely.

Pours a mostly clear, effervescent, orangey color with a full, creamy, rocky, white head which is mostly lasting and leaves a small amount of lace. Nose is great with ginger hitting out of the bottle; other notes of musty basement yeast, lemons, light white pepper (I know the description says black pepper but it seems lighter than that), rosemary, faint notes of what seems to be mandarin oranges, and some other spices, which I assume are the grains of paradise. Flavor only gets better; malts are soft and merely undertones while the hops and tartness lead the way with so many complexities scattered around in small doses. Spicy right from the start with hops and (black) pepper, yeast is still musty basment, lemons are still there, orange peel is now more apparent (although I still think it tastes like mandarin orange peel), ginger is dominant, some wet earthiness is apparent, a cardamom is noted but that may be grains of paradise, faint notes of clove and rosemary. The moderate bitterness is fully supported by the malts, yeast, tartness, and other complementary flavors. Palate is perfect; seemingly near lively but as it progresses it feels more soft to lively, a nearly full body, and the texture is creamy and drying with the spiciness. Finishes mostly bitter and fairly long with the spicy, almost minty or grassy hops, black pepper remaining, clove, rosemary, and dry ginger notes. My biggest problem with the beer is the overwheling ginger notes. Other than that, this may be the perfect Saison, and not even from Belgium. Everything is so complementary; the hops, the malts, the tartness, the spice additions, and the yeast. The palate was nothing less than exceptional. I am still trying to comprehend what I just drank, and even from a CA brewer. LA/PP is amazing.

Thanks Davinci! Pours a glowing orange/yellow with lots of bubbles and a silky white head that craters. Very strong sweet coriander orange peppery aroma, a tiny bit hot. Medium/full mouthful that sizzles a bit, creamy yet light, great body. Funky flavor, ends bitter and spicy. Sweet orange and coriander. Tons of coriander actually. Lots of ginger in the finish. Cool.