Pizza Port Cuvee de Tomme

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

750ml bomber, shared with two friends. Pours dark magenta with almost no head. Aroma is a complex blend of sour cherry, oak, cider vinegar, and fruit peel. Palate is buttery, “oily,” and lightly carbonated, with a mouth-coating finish. Primary flavor was bitter-sour, not sure which was more prominent. Entry features tangy cherry, vinegar, lemon, and oak. Mid-palate adds more bitter citrus peel in the mix, perhaps even some brett. Whatever the components, the heft of this brew is certainly complex. Cuvee finishes with acidity alongside smoke, dark cherry, and bitterness . . . a blend I found a bit on the sharp side. Nonetheless, this is a wonderfully special offering, worthy of a deluxe occasion with fellow craft beer lovers.

375ml. 2009 Bottle. Simply amazing beer. Pours a deep purple with an average amount of foam. Virulent nose with notes of tart cherries, aged wood and balsamic vinegar. Flavor shows profiles of dark cherries, oak, granny smith apples and vintage red wine. Makes you pucker on the tongue, but not so much in the jowls like normal sours. Palate is moderately thin, but well carbonated. Finishes with a sharp, lively and acidic kick that lingers for a moment. Pretty much unbelievably good beer. Very few can match up with what might be Tomme’s finest. Share with those in the know.

1. Sample from a Bottle at Logan’s Pre GABF Party, Denver 10/10/2007 (2004 Oak Aged Vintage) Fruity woody and whisky aromas. Dark coloured fruity and strong in alcohol with a pleasant whisky finish. 2. From the Bottle at the Falling Rock Tap House, Denver 26/09/2009 (2009 Vintage) Big sour aroma. Amber coloured very fruity and sour with a crisp and dry malt finish.

Bottles poured at NHC pro brewer night. Poured ruby brown. Nose is a tart cherry with notes of sweet fruit and fig. Flavor is out of this world! Big sour cherry, sweet sugary malts, figs, mild wood, some alcohol sweetness. Amazing.

375ml bottle. Beautiful beer. Foamy thick head that’s not collapsing any time soon. Dark reddish-brown body that doesn’t let much light through. Fantastic sour aroma. Not overly powerful, but clearly there. While the sourness may be clearly there in the aroma, it is nicely muted by the Oak aging. Additionally, the oak is not overpowering, just rounding out the sharp edges of the sour cherries. Tomme Arthur suggests aging his beers, but this one is pretty yummy right now!!

bottle from hophead22- Thanks TIM. pours a murky swampwater brown with a small head. tart, but not in a mouthpuckering way. notes of sour cherries, wood, sour grapes, oak, some vinegar and earth. pretty good and interesting for sure. Alcohol is very well hidden. could go for a little more.

This one is interesting...Not normally a HUGE fan of Belgian style beers, but this one might make me start trying new things... Pours a dark brown with reddish tints. Short brown head with a wonderfully fruity aroma. It’s very sour, but only on the tip of the tongue and not on the sides of your cheeks. Taste is pretty amazing. Has a very cherry-licious flavor. A great beer!

Bottle Pours out a brown with red hights topped with a small tan head. Aroma was nice lots of cherries, oak, and sour apple. Tast lots going on here. You have the cherries, green apple, sour grapes, the wood, and some chocolate sweetness. WOW. A tast treat thanks to Toby.