Lost Abbey Red Poppy Ale

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

Bottle 2009 vintage. Sour cherries and apples. Slight funk and sourness are well balanced with the background caramel sweetness. Finished dry.

On tap an Lost Abbey. Pours a nice hazy red, with a white/reddish head. Lots of sour cherries, sweet malt, bread, tart apples, and sour funkiness. Notes of oak and citrus. I even get some buttery taste. Complex and very drinkable. Mmm good. Not as good as the double cherry release by a long shot though.
Earlier Rating: 1/24/2009 Total Score: 4.7
This rating is for double cherry red poppy. I loved this sour, one of my favorites! I have not tried the regular red poppy, but this beer was amazing. Deep cherry red color with a beautiful tan head. Tart cherry pie, oak, earthy sour, Belgian yeast and hints of spice and funk. Extremely drinkable, I could drink lots of this. It makes my mouth water. I’m glad I was able to try this!

375ml bottle. Light red/orangish pour, no head whatsoever. Sour cherry aroma. Flavor is more tart than sour, very easy to drink and very tasty.

On tap at the brewery for the release of this. Hazy brown with the smallest of head. Smell is sweet. Taste is complex. Bitterness mixed with sour. Should have had this one before the sour Phunky Duck. I think my taste buds were still reeling from that sour, and I couldn’t really appreciate the nuances of this. Still, really really good.

Bottle from Fordest. Pours dirty brown with small tan head. Aroma of malt, oak and cherries. Sour cherries are more expressive in the flavors with the oak and some maltiness which I feel gives an unusual sweetness to this style and may play on the sourness which is not as high as expected. It’s a good beer but something is missing to make it stand out. Thanks Sean!

Thanks to HogTownHarry for sharing this gem with Blankboy and I (and a cheeky thanks to Irishboy for trading it with Harry!) Appearance: Murky/brown orange ’morange’ kind of like fresh pressed apple juice. Aroma: Triggered my saliva glands, sour apple, cherries and fresh citrus. Flavour: Beautiful, oak, champagne, wonderful malt, complex flavours coursing through it. Sour. Delicious.

Bottle thanks to Goldtwins. Pours rusty brown with small head. Sour cherry and must on the nose. Really sour at first, then cherry with wood. A lot of acid in this one, but still the cherry stays tough.

Wow. wow. wow. I really, really like this beer. I like Red Poppy, but I love double Red Poppy. Is it because of recipe tweaks between 2008 and 2009? Is it that the additional cherry juice lends additional sweetness? A wonderful acetic tartness, which reminds me of balsamic vinegar. Lots of cherry notes. Insanely drinkable. With unlimited funds and time, I would have drank as much as I could, but only had one glass. One wonderful glass.
Earlier Rating: 8/26/2007 Total Score: 4.5
Tasted at Lost Abbey 1st Annual Barrel Tasting on 8/25/07. Used to be named Le Woody Brune at Solano Beach Pizza Port. 4 barrels/100 cases were made, but won’t be released until Spring? Made in old 1997 red wine barrels with subdued oak characteristics. 4oz sample from barrel was flat and at room temperature: need to re-rate when bottles are released in Spring. I expect it to be better and more sour then. Made with Dawn Patrol Dark as a base, and I think I heard it was blended with a barrel aged Amigo Lager. Deep red color approaching black. No head, which I would expect to reduce aroma, but still had a wonderful sour cherry aroma I could smell all day. Made with Brettanomyces yeast, which is a super attenuator, so I expected the beer to be dry, but there is still a nice hint of sweetness. Mild pleasant sourness, that I think even sour haters would like. Normally beers are better with cheese, but I like this beer by itself, because cheese over powers the wonderful flavors. Extremely pleasant to drink.