SF Beer Week: Lost Abbey & Pizza Port at Toronado

February 7, 2010

Lost Abbey & Port Brewing Night

 Toronado, 547 Haight, San Francisco, California

Sunday Feb 7, 2010  6PM+

Admission: no charge

Anytime I am forced to watch football- especially the Superbowl, I at least have to have some decent beer to get me through (Yeah New Orleans! Always got to route for the underdog). And anytime Toronado has some awesome event, especially during SF Beer Week, it is always a mad zoo. Last time I went to Russian River night during SF Beer Week 2009 and it literally took me 2 hours to get a beer. This time however, with the perfect timing of the Superbowl, it wasn't the case. It was busy but not swamped, which made it way more easy to get some great beer from The Lost Abbey and Pizza Port.

We made it in time to try: Cable Car 09, Duck Duck Gooze, Veritas 007, Red Poppy and Mongo- in that order.

Cable Car 09 by Lost Abbey is an American Wild Ale aged in oak barrels and 7%. It poured a hazy straw yellow. It smelled very sour, some Chardonnay notes, citrus, oak, wood and some funk. It tasted like citrus, lemon, a hint of pineapple, oak, wood and extremely sour from start to finish with some good bitterness in there as well. It was the tartest of the evening. 

Duck Duck Gooze by Lost Abbey is an American Wild Ale, 7%  and hard to get a hold of since they brew it in very small quantities. It's a blend of their young and old barrel aged beers. It poured a hazy straw yellow with a hint of white head and lacing. It smelled of tart citrus, sour green apples, oak, and some leather notes. It tasted sharp and tart at first with some lemon peel and wood. Then it finished a bit sour and dry but very well balanced.

Veritas 007 by Lost Abbey. It is an American Wild Ale, 8% and it is barrel aged on Cabernet Franc grapes. It poured a beautiful pinkish red color with a dollop of white foam. It smelled of fresh sour cherries, funk, overripe peaches and Cabernet. It tasted sour with a hint of peaches, sour cherries, tart grapes, oak, cabernet but not too overly puckery. There's a rumor that the base is Isabelle Proximus then aged with Cabernet Franc  grapes. It was overall really great- my favorite of the evening.

Red Poppy Ale by Lost Abbey is a Flanders Oud Bruin style beer and 5.5%. It is a brown ale brewed with sour cherries and aged in oak barrels for over 6 months. It poured a beautiful copper red with a pinky full of a white head. It smelled of citrus, sour cherries and a hint of barnyard funkiness- kind of a one note nose. It tasted like dried sour cherries,  Brett, and vinegar. The sour cherriness was pretty well balanced. 

Mongo by Port Brewing is an Imperial IPA and 8.5%. It poured a clear sunset orange color with an off white head. It smelled of citrus, grapefruit rind, lemon peel, hops, and a hint of peach. It tasted of juicy hops, some toasted malts, grapefruit, citrus peel and a touch of honey. It was quite balanced between the bitterness of the hops and the sweet malts. Great drinkability.