Judgment Day
The Lost Abbey

A murky clouded brown ale, a tan head that leaves little lacing, but good curtains.

The smell is sweet and fruity, raspberry marmalade, dry fruits and some yeast.

Sweet brown spicy bread, blackberries, soy sauce and anisette and some yeast.

Medium carbonation, small bubbles, oily and sticky texture, a slightly dry finish.

A complex and nice brew, sweet and potent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 vintage.

Pours a murky clear brown color, minimal head. Has a raisiny aroma. Flavor is sweet, syrupy, dark fruits, raisins, tart finish. Fairly light bodied considering the abv. Overall a light bodied quad, aged pretty nicely.

16oz mason jar from Craft Beer Quick Stop. Poured 5/7/20.

 

 

 

 

Bottle Date: 2017
Palate Contaminants: other beer

Dark brown, lots of fine head, maybe from a too-aggressive pour. It does stick around, too.

Smell is clover and prunes. A little cinnamon. There's also olive oil, even though I thought it wasn't aged for a particularly long time.

Rum and lightly charred barrel are the main tastes. It even has a little mineral element, which ties in okay with the rum and (once more) prunes. The dried fruit motif extends to raisins. There's a slight metallic taste, so maybe I did let it sit a little too long. Still within a reasonable range for consumption.

The aftertaste is mostly the good stuff. The alcohol is hidden pretty well. Pleasant medium weight. Carbonation is very well integrated, but it can be brought out with a hard swish around the mouth.

 

$ 9.53 (including tax)/corked and caged 750 mL bottle ($ 0.375/oz) from Shangy’s, Emmaus, PA. Reviewed 4/11/19.
“Bottled on 06/15/2019” on bottom of back label. Stored at 42 degrees and served at 54 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Cork emerges with a medium “POP” and no overflow.
Appearance – 4.
Body – Dark brown/black, some effervescence. When held to the light, areas of ruby translucence are present.
Head – Large (Maximum six cm, aggressive center pour), tan, high density with some surface rocks, average retention, diminishing to a five to ten mm ring and a heaped partial cap with three dimensional prominences remaining after head retraction.
Lacing – Good. Wide band of tiny to medium bubbles. Also, see above.
First pour – Dark brown, clear.
Aroma – 4 – Dark fruit, no yeast phenolics, no alcohol.
Flavor – 3.75 - Begins sweet but not cloying with a dark fruit background flavor and raisin highlights. Becomes bitterer as it further warms, and the raisins increase their presence. No alcohol (10.5% ABV), no dimethylsulfide, no diacetyl.
Palate – 3.5 – Medium, somewhat syrupy, soft carbonation.
Impression and interpretation – 3.5 – Slightly above average for a US take, average or below for a true Belgian Quad.

 

 

 

Not what I was expecting from Lost Abbey. The 10.5% alcohol is hidden but the taste has more elements of a stout than a quad - and not an imperial one at that. And if it's a quad WITH RAISINS - as stated on the label, then I'm expecting a chewy element of dried fruit, which I do not pick up. Instead of a compound sweetness, there is a skanky flavor that hits me as I swallow followed by an unpleasant finish. Maybe I am being a little harsh, and perhaps it is due to my (previous) devotion to this brewery -- and to the fact that this 3/4 liter bottle cost me $15, but there it is. Ironic as it is trite, this is my judgement !

 

 

 

 

Pours clear raisin color. 2/3 inch head of an off-tan color. Great retention and good lacing. Smells of alcohol, strong sweet malt, yeast, esters, slight citrus hops, and a hint of toffee. Fits the style of a Quadrupel. Mouth feel is smooth and clean, with an average carbonation level. There is a noticeable dryness. Tastes of alcohol, strong sweet malt, yeast, esters, slight citrus hops, and a hint of toffee. Overall, good appearance, aroma, feel, strong body, little too bitter, and slightly cloying.

 

The beer pours out a medium hazy dark brown color, with 1 finger of creamy malt ball center colored head--------- the aromas are of coffee, chocolate and dark fruit--------- the flavors are of chocolate covered cherries, figs, raisins, spice, molasses, Carmel, plum and wheat bread, the beer has a medium mouthfeel with a medium bitterness on the finish-------- overall this beer was very good - wow!!! What a big tasty beverage, for 10.2% abv this was super smooth and jam packed full of spice and dark fruits---

 

 

 

(edit for 2017 vintage...)
It's such a delish one for my collection, quad fan that I be. Uncorked one from storage so as to compare a swig from a "competitor" to a just-quaffed, and oh-so-revered F-W Stickee Monkee. Now while it may not be the deep, dense, complex, somewhat apprehensively-appealing shock-to-the-senses of the aforementioned, JD is a noble quad to be gestating amongst the cellared St. B 12's & La Trappe Q's.

The welcoming tan root-beer-floatish 2-3 finger head receding into delightful lacing like melting snow on the windowpane, effervescent bubbles that are revived with every whirl & twirl of the snifter well after the pour, dark-fruity (it's the raisins, ya know) and even boozy to the nose, tongue & throat, with a yum-yum dessert-like finish, but not overly sugary. Nothing overbearing or out-of-balance to my detection whatsoever.

and lucky me... managed to snap up a forlorn cask with an already-aged bottling date (and bore a neglected film of surface dust on top) at a frequented distributor, to miserly hoard for future savorings.

A Treasure.

Postlude 2/13/2019: just purchased a newer vintage, and astonishingly-unfortunately did find it a bit lacking from my remembrance. More hoppy and bitter than the previously-impressed melange of raisins, caramel and toffee - pulled a cellared 2017 for a blind taste test, which only validated the notion. guess it's it's all in the aging?...

 

 

 

Lots of carmel and raisen. Alcohol is well hidden. Never would have thought it was such a high ABV. Plum after taste. Smells like it tastes.

 

 

 

 

On tap at the libertine

Dark brown with a thin off white lacing

Nose: cocoa, oak, booze, plum

Taste: similar to the nose. Strong barrel character, dark fruit, finishes boozy.

Full-bodied, viscous.