Port Brewing Older Viscosity

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

The lack of carbonation really hurts this beer. Pours completely and utterly flat. No carbonation AT ALL. I think I am now done with Lost Abbery till they get this shit fixed. The only thing I’ll get from them till I find out otherwise is sour ales. Nose is a little smoke, wood and leather with a bit of cherry pit. Pretty nice nose. Looks a dead black with no head. Flavor is very muted, some light smoke and leather and some bourbon but nothing seems to really hang together, I know from experience that carbonation really helps bring some of this stuff together. The body is super heavy without any carbonation to help it along. Viscous and coating. Really disappointing.

375 mL corked and caged into snifter. Thank you Flat Abbey for the fourth and final barrel aged release for 2009. Pours completely flat-no bubbles- no nothing. Looks a lot like soy sauce and indeed has an aroma of soy sauce. Aroma also has lots of spicy alcohol, some muted- well aged bourbon, some charred wood, peat, tannins. Flavor is a bit weak considering its hype: some bittersweet chocolate, vanilla, roast, abit of burning as it goes down from the 12%. Watery body. Slightly oily palate. Very quick aftertaste of dark chocolate and cocoa. It is extremely unremarkable.

[Bottle] Pours black and absolutely dead ass fuckin’ flat. Aroma is really quite nice and full despite no bubbles to help volatilize it, huge sweet bourbon barrel nose, vanilla, and coconut, hints of bittersweet chocolate, and booze. Flavor is strong and rich, but again, without any carbonation, it just dangles flaccid and uninteresting on the tongue. There is lots of booze and bourbon, barrel tannin, dry chocolate, and a real chalkiness. If this was carbonated it would be fantastic, but as it sits in my glass, it’s just another mediocre offering from Tomme Arthur. This whole ’Abbey’ thing really gives me the vibe of him being like one of those scary evangelical preachers that promises to deliver you to whatever respective mecca they’re selling you, but it just all ends up being one big scam. Well luckily my investment to this point has been fairly limited.

Draft at bottleworks. Pours inky black wirh just a small ring of head. Aroma starts with chocolate and deep, well balanced alcohol. Taste is touchingly bitter in the cocoa/coffee mold without being overpowering. Feels like an alcoholic dessert sauce.

2008 vintage Dark liquid with reddish highlights around the top when held to light. Nice mocha colored head and lace. Smells of booze and dark fruits, dark dark malt: Chocolate and roasted variety. Really incredible taste, Bourbon, chocolate, vanilla, cream, hint of roasted malt. Bourbon level is high but not burninating. Mouth is thick and low in carbonation. Warming feeling doesn’t start until the end of the drink. Just an amazing, amazing brew.

Bottle. I’m rating two years side by side but they managed to be very similar so it counts like one. Pours pretty much black with huge chocolate head. Aroma is kind of lighter than you’d expect but has bourbon present along with some chocolate and toffee. Flavor is potent with bourbon, oak, vanilla and rich roasty malts. Smooth beyond belief. Not overpowering in the least and the alcohol is hard to find, this one really does not fall under the category of challenging huge beers but instead along the lines of well crafted and well balanced drinkable barrel aged goodness. Among the BB releases I find the 08 to be the most subtle at this time. Good lord I wish I had bigger bottles of this stuff.

On tap at Brouwers. Cool thing is this sucker was tapped when Liquid Sunshine VIII met there. This was an awesome surprise. Dark black with nice chocolate head. Head sticks around for some time; nice looking beer. Nice pungent wood/whiskey aroma. Not a stout? As with Old Viscosity, I don’t understand this, but oh well. Slight sweet chocolate aroma as well. Nice complex aroma. Very strong whiskey/alcohol at first, then a nice chocolate/wood taste after that. Very nice complex flavor. Very bold. Whiskey is strong, but I like that type of thing. Very rich and smooth palate. So glad to have tried this one. Overall, complex and strong. Get ready to try that whiskey. Great brew.

Draft at Brouwer’s Cafe, after someone else at the table (I forget who) talked them into tapping this, thanks to them. Poured black, with a thin dark-tan head. Really bourbony, almost too much. Toffee, mocha/chocolate, nuts, gorgeous molasses character. Starts very expressive, and moves right on into dominating from there. A huge beer, just over-dominated by the bourbon.