Lost Abbey Saints Devotion 08

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

In short: A very very wild and well hopped brew. Kick-ass.
How: Bottle 750ml. Tasting session with Montreal crew. Mega-thanks to beerbuzzmontreal for this gem.
The look: Cloudy orange-yellow body topped by a very small white head
In long: Superb nose of barnyard. In mouth the beer feels very wild and very alive. Somehow not so “bretty” but definitely very wild, like a very wild barnyard Saison. Flavours of cookies, fruits (but not specific fruits), a bit juicy, sweetness reminiscent of a freshly baked pie crust. Rather hoppy with plenty of floral hops. Light juicy bitterness. Wonderful beer. The only way I’ll ever find a better Devotion is to go out with a very very ugly girl who knows I’m her last hope.

A lightly hazy yellow with massive white head. A dry aroma with hops, yeast and brett funk. Fantastic funky body thats crisp dry and refreshing.

This poured a hazy golden orange in color with a thick head of medium-sized white bubbles that faded away. The nose was very Belgian with scents of yeast, candi sugar, citrus and spice. In the mouth it was medium-bodied with nice midpalate concentration that is balanced by a zippy tartness running through. This was a real enjoyment due to the balance and wealth of flavor.

Appearance: Pours a hazy, pale yellow body with a frothy, delicate, snow white head. Smell: Let’s see what we have here. Lightly malty, pleasantly floral aroma with fruity notes of pear juice and melon and encapsulated by a restrained, funky Brett component. Taste: Slight pale malts and a meager sweetness. Floral, fruity aspects with a distant hint of spiced sourdough. Sip of still mineral water. All the while, lightly funky Brett tastes weave in and out of the flavor, imparting cotton, dust-covered cobwebs, and old leather bound books. Belated pithy, herbal hops and bitterness. Finishes bone dry and rather crisp. Mouthfeel: Medium-thin body. Moderate carbonation. Drinkability: A tasty upgrade to the standard Devotion. The somewhat more subtle Brett addition allows for some fine penetrating complexities without losing sight of the original beer or suffering from lack of drinkability.

My Bottom Line:
Bountiful floral hops expand atop biscuity cereals and coniferous brettanomyces impressions before earthy hops establish courteous bitterness and dryness compels one to get another big gulp of this very handsome Wild Ale.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam covers the cloudy beige-orange.
-Carbonation is frothy but soft, and the mouthfeel is healthily authentic.
-This might have a stronger finish than the regular Devotion?
-The earthy hoppiness and the brett work amazingly well together.


Bottle.

Sampled on 2/21/2009. This Belgian Ale pours a medium orange gold color from a 750ml-corked bottle. Medium sized white foamy head, with nice retention. The aroma is fruity and sweet with a touch of must and funk. A medium bodied Belgian Ale. The malts are fruity and sweet, with some orange peel. There is a touch of funk, must and leather. The hops are floral and earthy. A fairly big hop bite, especially for a Belgian Ale. . Nice balance. Good carbonation. It probably could use some more bottle aging, its just now starting to dry out. Nice crisp dry finish with a soft delicate palate. The mouthfeel is full and round. The finish is crisp and nicely dry. The aftertaste is slightly sweet with some dryness.

Served at ~58°F / 14.4°C into my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip. The beer starts out with a four-finger thick, dense, tan-tinged, off-white colored head. The head leaves lots of lacing sticking to the sides of my glass and it also forms some rocky & mesa like structures as it slowly recedes. The beer is a pale-red tinged, honey color that shows a brilliantly clear orange-gold color when held up to the light. The aroma is nice and hoppy with notes of hay, lemon grass, a touch of pine needles and a nice herbal note. Underneath this the Brettanomyces is noticeable; it is still pretty subtle, but contributes aromas of rubber, a touch of muskiness, and a soft barnyard note. There is also some sweet, grassy grain character and some cracker like malt that I noticed as I was trying to figure out the Brett aromatics.

The beer has a dry, grassy and herbal character to it up front. The middles sees a peppery carbonation and the Brettanomyces kicks in with some tongue coating phenolics that remind me of rubber and musk. A light malt sweetness in the finish helps accentuate (or maybe it is the other way around) some fruit notes reminiscent of pear and apple. This beer is quite light bodied, which is very nice, though there is a certain palate fullness to this beer that seems to be wrapped up somehow in the Brett phenolics. This has an almost velvety texture to it that is quite nice in a beer that is this dry, light and effervescent as this is. The hop character provides a nice bitter hop bite as well as a touch of lemon zest citrus character that morphs into a Meyer lemon note and then even tart orange (this moves more towards orange as the beer warms, though it never loses the lemon zest entirely); there is also a nice herbal component that mixes with the Brettanomyces phenolics. There is a hint of cracker like malt flavor to the finish as well as a grassy grain note that gets wrapped up in the hop character.

I definitely like this a bit more than the standard Devotion, the Brett adds that little something extra to this nicely hoppy Belgian’esque ale. The sharp Brett notes actually compliment the hop character. I really wished I hadn’t missed out on picking up a couple extras of this beer, one is simply not enough.

750 ml corked and caged bottle poured a clear tarnished gold with a lasting creamy eggshell head. Aromas ofpear, citrus, barnyard, leather and straw. Palate was light to medium bodied and smooth with dry lightly tart finish. Flavors of straw, barnyard, light fruittinerss and hints of leather and spice with a smooth dry lightly tart lingering bitter finish.