Pizza Port Cuvee de Tomme

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

375 mL bottle sampled at Lost Abbey for RBSG 08. Poured into a wine glass. Shimmering amber color with no head or lacing. Aroma is dominated by barrel influences with a big scotch note, musty wood, and vanilla. Flavor starts out with caramel and scotch, then tart overripe cherries shine through mid-palate. The sourness and the booziness make this a bit uneven, but a prime candidate for aging. Medium bodied with a semi-dry finish.

[Bottle, big thanks go yet again to tytoanderso for sharing] Pours very murky brownish-red with a small beige head. The aroma is absolutely outstanding. Quite sweet with raisin, some oak (but no bourbon), some yeast, cherry, brown sugar and subtle cinnamon (there could have been other spices as well mixed in). Wow, I could have sat and smelled this beer all night. Taste is moderately sour with a lot of cherry and some tannins--overall a bit of a letdown compared to the aroma. Decent mouthfeel with a fairly dry finish of good length. Overall very good with the aroma being one of the best that I have ever encountered.

(bottle thanks tytoanderso!) Pours reddish brown with an off-white head. This beer has a wonderful aroma that contains an amazing blend of oak, sour cherry, vanilla, and brown sugar. Upon warming, the beer begins to really smell like an aged barleywine. The taste was a little bit of a let-down when compared to the aroma, as it was very simple. The flavor was initially dominated by cherry that yielded a strong tart aspect. Towards the end of consumption I could detect some oak, brown sugar, and a slight toasted taste along with some saltiness. The mouthfeel was thick, and the finish was tart and salty. A really good beer, and the aroma definitely stood out.

375 Sinners bottle. A good dose of malt and plenty of cherries on the nose. Sour cherries, subtle oak tannin. The brett presence is there but fairly subdued. Some faint alcohol notes, but far from distracting. Cinnamon spiced brown sugar. Candied dark fruits. Yeast pour yields a bit more creamy funk and an interesting note of lactic sourness. I could smell this beer all day and be happy. Pours a fairly thick dark brown with some light reddish highlights around the edges. Flavor is fairly malt forward initially with plenty of spice and funk toward the finish. Brown sugar. Loaded with oak tannin. The cherries, barrel, malt and yeast all play quite nicely together in this one. Rich and full body. Perfect carbonation with a lengthy, tart, tannic finish.

Pours murky brown with off white head. Aroma of sour cherries. Taste is sugar, cherries, and oak. Smooth finish. Medium mouthfeel. Not overpowering sourness. Does not taste as if it is 11%. Minimal hotness. Not a huge fan of sours yet, but this was very good.

Pours cloudy brown with a nearly tan head. Cherrybomb aroma, with nice oak and bourbon. Taste is heavily cherries, but nice brown sugar, nuts, sour yeast, and alcohol round it out so it is not overwhelming. Good bourbon and cognac flavors come through as it warms. I know it says this is a Strong Ale, but it drinks like a liquer.

08 375ml at O’Briens in SD. Drinking pretty darn good right out of the bottle. Murky brown color. Nose is slightly sweet, burbon with a super thin head. Tons of aroma when you swirl this around. Great balance, somewhat sour, but then the finish shows the burbon barrels, oak, carmel, burbon alc, very nice. Easy to see the sour aspect and the barrel aged aspect side by side in the same beer. Really nice. Glad to have more to age this for several years before revisiting.

Bottle courtesy of wj94. Pours a deep mahogany with a short lived off-white head that dissipated to a ring leaving no lacing. Honestly, not the most impressive looking of beers. This beer is massively aromatic and smells wonderful. There is great balance of the oak and the sour cherries with a hint of alcohol burn as well, mainly bourbon. All this on to of a sugary sweetness with some vanilla and candied sugar as well. Taste is complex but very reminiscent of a sour belgian dark with the slightly acidic tartness of the cherries hitting up front with a bit of barnyard funk coming through as well. The oak comes through in the finish and lingers in the aftertaste. There are hints of the vanilla and sugar in the taste but less evident than the aroma would suggest. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a nice prickly carbonation which leads to a nice crisp finish. This is an extremely unique offering and I enjoyed it thoroughly though I would definitely term this one as a sipper. Big thanks to David for this gem.