Volume 18 Issue 1

The Lost Abbey San Marcos, California

King of Tyre

Many of the beer geeks in our readership visible behind the counter or the eclectic and food). A native San Diegan, Tomme will instantly recognize the names list of beers and style/flavor descriptions was proud to promote his hometown “Port Brewing” or “The Lost Abbey”, above the beer-order counter, you as an up-and-coming center for better or “Tomme Arthur”—a gifted brewer might think this place was a ‘Budweiser beer, with his own work right at the associated with both. All have come and Coronas & lime only’ place. forefront of that claim. While his to mean excellence in brewing Instead, you see everything professional brewing career had started along with envelope- from younger crowds to less than 18 months prior to joining Pizza pushing, boundary- families with kids in tow, all Port, he had already worked on a beer testing beers. chowing down on great with his former employer that brought oven-fresh pizzas and San Diego its 2nd gold medal ever from Walk into the original drinking pitchers and the Great American Beer Festival. In Pizza Port location pints of some truly his ongoing efforts to promote San in Solana Beach, CA, world-class beers. Diego as a great beer city, Tomme about 25 miles north All served with that worked to create many unique beers, of downtown San distinctly Californian and his ongoing experiments included Diego, expecting laidback demeanor. revolutionary techniques of oak-aging to take in what beers, incorporating fruits, herbs and the wellspring of So how did it come to spices along with numerous wild yeasts San Diego’s craft- pass that a basically and micro-organisms. Each of these brewing scene ‘looks beach-front pizza experiments further emboldened him like’, and you might shop started making (Continued on reverse page) be confused. You’ll some seriously high find rows of picnic- gravity, intense, SPECIFICATIONS style benches for world-class beers? mass seating, plus an informal, order- The founders and owners of Pizza Port, Style Barrel-Aged Blended Barleywine at-the-counter pizza place staffed by Gina and Vince Marsaglia, set up shop in primarily college-aged kids who seem Solana Beach 20+ years ago in 1987, and Alcohol By Volume 11.5% like they might be taking a short break Tomme Arthur started working there Serving Temperature from surfing to take your food and drink as head brewer ten years later (they’ve 52–60° F order. Looks can be deceiving, though. since opened up various additional Suggested Glassware Were it not for the brewing vessels locations—each with amazing beers Snifter or Tulip to try new processes as he and the de Tomme, SPF 8 Saison, etc.). We bourbon notes for additional structure, brewers of Pizza Port Solana Beach think that Michael would’ve loved this extending the core barleywine’s oomph. “sought to make the most interesting month’s exclusive from Tomme and Co.: beers possible.” During the eight-plus a barrel-aged blended barleywine called The Lost Abbey’s put together a vast, years that Tomme was head brewer in King of Tyre. decadent, generous blend for us. Solana Beach, the brewery won 13 Great The maltiness of the barleywine and American Beer Festival medals. In 2003 King of Tyre dark strong ale provides the highly and 2004, Pizza Port Solana Beach was complex, beautifully caramelized base named Small Brewpub of the Year. We’ve been loving Tomme’s work since of operations, with dark caramel, brown his earliest days at Pizza Port, and sugar, and sherry notes throughout. It’s So what then is “The Lost Abbey?” The this month we’re excited to offer an super smooth. Following the aromatics: concept started in Vince Marsaglia’s exclusive release from The Lost Abbey we found ripe currants, blackberry, mind when he was inspired by the to our Rare Beer Club members. Tomme even hints of strawberry filling out the various Abbey beers he had tried from and Co. have blended together King impact, bringing impressively developed Europe. When Tomme Arthur joined of Tyre for us (referencing the story of fruity esters. Caramel and fruits play the crew, he started brewing beers Satan getting booted out of Heaven), well off each other throughout. Softly that were Belgian- and Abbey-inspired and it’s delicious: about 70% of the underpinning carbonation offers creations. Of course, to be an Abbey blend is new barleywine, the remainder everything a gentle lift, giving some beer, though, you need an Abbey. And being dark strong ale that’s gotten aged space to all those elements in play. while one might argue Tomme Arthur in bourbon barrels for 15+ months. It The bourbon-barrel presence gives is the head of a beer cult comprised of results in a brilliantly structured blend secondary notes of charred wood, followers approaching quasi-religious of caramel, fruits, vanilla, and subtle vanilla, almonds, and burnt sugar that devotion, there’s no actual religious bourbon. King of Tyre will be available work seamlessly with the barleywine organization affiliated with these beers. exclusively through the Rare Beer Club and strong ale elements. With that Hence, these are a line of beers inspired and the brewery’s tasting room. deep caramelization and lush details by Abbey and Belgian traditions, but throughout, King of Tyre is a one-of-a- with no actual Abbey (leading us King of Tyre pours a very dark caramel- kind barleywine experience from our to... The Lost Abbey). Since many of brown color, capped by a modest friends over at The Lost Abbey. Tomme’s most revolutionary creations show of off-white foam that lingers fell into this loose theme, a number of along the perimeter. Golden around Aging & Pairing Notes: the beers brewed under the Pizza Port the edges, showing some nice viscosity or Port Brewing name have been moved overall—hinting at the overall impact Lost Abbey’s King of Tyre is definitely over to their new home in The Lost of this beer. This offers up incredibly up for some additional aging time, but Abbey lineup. For more information generous aroma notes even when cold, it’s drinking great right now. Perfect to about The Lost Abbey and the Pizza Port with an abundance of dark caramelized dig into on its own, we could also see restaurants, visit lostabbey.com and sugars, nougat, and ripe berry notes the core caramel and fruit focus here pizzaport.com. leading. Plenty of well-developed aging working great alongside braised pork, or characteristics, but this remains fresh any number of vanilla-angled desserts. Rare Beer Club’s founder Michael and lively and fruit-forward overall. Lots Jackson (arguably the world’s greatest of caramelized complexity, brown sugar, beer writer) was a big fan of Tomme’s and hints of cotton candy. The impact of beers, and the club featured a number those bourbon barrels gives this blend of those early Pizza Port releases (Cuvee some welcome char and lightly warming

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The Spencer Brewery Spencer, Massachusetts

Trappist Imperial Stout

For many of us lovers of craft beer, which dates to the 6th century and to launch their own Trappist brewery— our first foray into the world of emphasizes prayer and work. As such, America’s first! Following Trappist tradition, Belgium’s amazing ales came after for over six decades the Trappist they named their brewery after the abbey’s stumbling across one of the famous brothers of St. Joseph’s Abbey home of Spencer, Massachusetts. In addition Belgian Trappist monastery beers in Spencer, Massachusetts have to traditional abbey-style beers, the monks produced by Chimay, Westmalle, produced jams & jellies for sale to produce styles not typically associated with Orval, Rochefort, Achel, or, less the public to support the monastery as Trappist breweries, including an IPA (with likely due to its typical absence well as their charitable assistance to German and American hops), a German-style on these shores, Westvleteren. the disadvantaged. In recent years, Pilsner, a Vienna-style lager, and, one of our However, not all of the Trappist one of the monks took an interest featured beers this month, their exquisite breweries are actually located in brewing and trained at a local Trappist Imperial Stout. For more info on in Belgium, and several new brewery. Inspired by him, more the Spencer Brewery and their collection Trappist breweries have monks began to share his interest of beers, head over to spencerbrewery. opened around the world in in brewing—a tradition among com. To learn more about the various recent years. There are now monastic communities dating projects the monks in Spencer are working fourteen certified Trappist back to the Middle Ages. For on, visit spencerabbey.org. And for more breweries, all of which two years they gathered on the Trappist beers and monasteries in are located in Europe, info and took multiple trips general, check out the International Trappist with the exception of to visit existing Trappist Association at trappist.be. this month’s featured breweries. Starting brewery—Spencer with Westmalle and Trappist Imperial Stout Brewery, which finishing at Sint Sixtus opened in 2013. (Westvleteren), the We’ve been enjoying everything we’ve brothers toured around crossed thus far from Spencer Brewery— So what is a “Trappist” Belgium learning all (Continued on reverse page) anyway? “Trappist” that they could from is the common term their fellow monks— SPECIFICATIONS for the monasteries of the producers of some the Cistercian Order of of the greatest beers in Style the Strict Observance, the world. Anglo-Russo Imperial Stout which encompasses Alcohol By Volume dozens of monasteries Upon completion 8.7% from around the of their educational Serving Temperature world. The monks travels, the monks 52–58° F live according to the of St. Joseph’s voted Suggested Glassware Rule of St. Benedict, overwhelmingly Goblet, Snifter, Tulip, or Pinot Glass but Trappist Imperial Stout blew us away. cola and chocolate; dark roastiness; plenty but tempered carbonation brings out the Described as (approximately) an “Anglo- of spice. The impact of the darker malts aromatics without making this feel at all fizzy Russo imperial stout,” it offers the drinkability becomes more apparent up close, with or sharp. The texture’s just right. and hugely complex malt range of the finest those bitter chocolate and cocoa qualities Belgian strong ales, and adds in the delicious pushing this deeper into imperial-stout And that’s just the malt focus. The Belgian- roast and bitter-chocolate qualities of some territory. There’s a subtle touch of mint and style yeast characteristics add extra nuance of the tastiest American and Russian-style herbaceous hop character—and this stays that take this imperial stout up another few imperial stouts. There’s a surprisingly firm plush, mouthwatering. notches: warming spices and pepper, some hop bitterness here, amplified by the dark notes of smooth almond and vanilla, even roastiness, and yet the careful ferment and We’ve relaxed our frequency of imperial- hints like cinnamon and nutmeg, if we’re spicy Belgian-style yeast character puts it on stout selections as of late, partly because really digging in. The complete package a whole different level than most imperial there’s been a certain sameness to the makes for one of the most appealing imperial stouts we’ve sampled lately. Hugely unique examples we’ve been tasting lately. Intense stouts we’ve had in a long while, and, if this stuff. bitter chocolate and roast can become overly is a sign of what lies ahead for the Trappist taxing in abundance; we’ve been holding out breweries, we can’t wait. Spencer’s Trappist Imperial Stout is a for a particularly fresh take in this space. seasonal beer with pretty light distribution; Leave it to the monks… Spencer’s Trappist Pairing & Aging Notes: only about 390 cases (12x 750mL bottles) Imperial Stout brings a ton of nuance to were sold in 2020. the fore, combining a wide-ranging malt Trappist Imperial Stout is potent, spectrum and ideal fermentation character unpasteurized and unfiltered, so don’t be One might think this was a Belgian beer from to create one of the most effortlessly afraid to give it a year or two in the cellar that first pour, as it offers a brilliant dark- drinkable imperial stouts we can recall. This to see how things develop. That said, it’s cola color and perfectly built, medium-tan one disappeared from our glasses during drinking great fresh. With a combo of caramel foam. The head formation’s stellar, and we our sample tastings, and the diversity and dark malts (including coffee), we’d be still don’t often see that degree of sturdy present in the malts kept us savoring every inclined to try this with skirt or flank steak, foam stateside. It lasts through most of sip: dense roast and dark chocolate, for grilled with a slightly spicy rub. Alternatively: the experience, and leaves well-structured sure, but also loads of rich caramelization, buttery, vanilla-driven desserts. lacing in its wake. The caramelization and toffee, chocolate cake, cotton candy, and peppery aromatics pour out of the glass coffee. As this warmed up, we kept finding even from a couple feet away: rich caramels, additional malt flavors tucked in, and a lively

Beyond the Bottle: Shifting Gears By Ken Weaver

If you’re reading this… congratulations on just existing at this is, we’ll be focusing on the good stuff. Screw you, kettle sours!! point. I’ve definitely been at higher points in my life. The one good I’m getting excited about beer again. To get us into the right thing I will say for my 2020 is that it was sufficiently awful that I headspace: next month starts with one of the best beer books actually reached out for help, and I’m finally chugging through stuff ever. that’s been keeping me down for years. Everybody I know has been tested this year, and has seen some of their lowest and darkest Despair sucks. What are you looking forward to this year? Working points in a long while. Holy shit, is it nice to be moving forward. through a dry January to get into a better overall gear? Planning a brewpub-hopping trip, for when the outside world isn’t a viral Last year’s columns veered more toward survival mode, but this hellscape? Got a spring seasonal you can’t wait for? Your favorite year we’ll be shifting into a more positive gear for this space. For brewery start shipping direct? Let us know what you’re excited each of these brief columns going forward in 2021, I’ll be digging about—@RareBeerClub on Twitter. into some of my absolute favorite things going on in beer: next- level publications, amazing beer artistry, top-tier glassware, the Ken Weaver is a freelance beer writer and illustrator based in best stuff happening in beer and comics, desert-island beer picks, Petaluma, California. He makes a webcomic about beer and survival the joy of homebrewing on someone else’s system… Whatever it at MassivePotions.com. | Insta, Twitter: @MassivePotions

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