Veritas 009 - The Lost Abbey

Phyl21ca

Quebec (Canada)

2.86/5  rDev -25.7%
look: 2.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75

Bottle: Poured a deep black color ale with a small almost non-existent head with zero retention. The beer is indeed flat which I find hard to know if it is by design or just another bottling issue with the brewery. Aroma of bourbon with some vanilla notes is offset by tart and kriek notes which make for a weird mix at the end of the day. Taste is a very weird mix between bourbon/vanilla notes with light roasted malt offset by tart, oak and sour cherries notes. Body is about average with zero carbonation and no apparent alcohol. I can’t say I really enjoyed this one.

Serving type: bottle

02-25-2013 19:05:11 | More by Phyl21ca

Arbitrator

California

1/5  rDev -74%
look: 1 | smell: 1 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1

Veritas is Lost Abbey's line of experimental beers, where Tomme "Tomme" Arthur seeks to push the boundaries of traditional brewing techniques and develop something new. His notable accomplishments included 003 (it showed me that a strong ale with bacteria could do pretty well), 004 (peach!), 006 (raspberry puree in stomach acid!), 008 (tea!). His latest innovation is 009, wherein Tomme has brewed a beer with absolutely no redeeming qualities.

Thanks to Sideswipe for the bottle. Opened and shared at my birthday tasting.

A: Pours an opaque, maroon body.

S: Funky vinegar, prunes, cinnamon. I was very disconcerted. Had someone pranked me with a fake bottle?

T: I simply could not figure out what this beer was trying to do. It had the pruney, soy saucey qualities that I detest in Dark Lord, soured with a mild vinegar burn, earth, and some band-aid. Tannins, vanilla, bourbon. WHAT IS GOING ON

O: I believe the beer was $35, so it's not affordable. It was a brewery-only release, so it wasn't accessible. It was so bad that a group of 25 beer geeks left over 50% of it on the table, so it wasn't good. Congratulations, Tomme: you've successfully trolled the beer community. There is literally no reason to drink this; it defines the bottom of the pile, do not pass Go, do not collect $200, go directly to Jail.

Serving type: bottle

01-28-2013 07:02:09 | More by Arbitrator

ptykozoon

California

4.21/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

A tiny pop announces a very black liquid, a bit of brown shows up in the light. No head or lacing. One of the darkest beers I've seen actually, intriguing.

The scents are powerful and tremendously good. Dark chocolate, caramel, maple syrup, a light fruit element, a dash of licorice and vanilla. Smells like a heavy stout.

Taste is bewildering considering the smell yet immensely welcomed. I did not know or honestly think a funky attribute to this beer would work. This is such a rare style, one of the most uniquely flavored beers I've ever had. The taste put simply is sour grape and chocolate put together. As the reviews show - not everyone's cup of tea, you really have to be a sour aficionado.

The mouthfeel is heavy and light at the same time - very hard to describe. Lightly carbonated - about the perfect amount for a beer like this I reckon.

Very good, not a session beer for me but a perfect beer for someone with a sour itch in the late hours of the night.

Serving type: bottle

01-28-2013 02:58:20 | More by ptykozoon

UCLABrewN84

California

3.53/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Thanks to Tieman for sharing this one at his tasting.

Pours an opaque dark brown with no head and no lacing on the drink down. Smell is sour and tart with some dark malt, dark fruit, and alcohol aromas. Taste is much the same with a really tart and acidic finish. This beer has a low level of carbonation with an almost flat mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer but it definitely smells better than it tastes.

Serving type: bottle

11-11-2012 09:00:13 | More by UCLABrewN84

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

2.5/5  rDev -35.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

A light purplish liquid, no head on it whatsoever. Aroma of wood, plum-raisin-fig type of dark fruit thing going on.

Tasted very flat, lacked sourness, some tartness, but really tasted like 10 commandments or something completely unsoured. Tastes like they took red wine and brandy and created a blend, very unbeerlike of you dude. Boozyness seemed to much to bear as well. No lactic sour notes. Toffee, cabernet and fig.

Really didn't find anything to say I enjoyed about this. No wait, the bottle, its a cool design! This was my least favorite bottle brought to Reno's Summer Sour Bottle Share 2011. Totally awesome that jordan brought it, but dang, just didn't work for me.

Serving type: bottle

08-24-2012 16:17:12 | More by Beerandraiderfan

cosmicevan

New York

2.53/5  rDev -34.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Consumed on 7/28 as a break from the BA DarkLords during the NYC Voltron tasting!!! thanks to blatantdream for providing this gem?
no bottle number written on the label.

a - dark purple with no head. no carbonation.

s - some funk. purpleness...grape...funk...sour...medicine...vinegar.

t - vingar. pungent. kind of intense but not necessarily in a good way.

m - vinegary.

o - not for me...glad i tried it, but super pungent. tart to the max. i suppose i can get how some people dig it, but this one really didn't do it for me. the bud that was opened after this was kind of a breath of fresh air.

Serving type: bottle

08-05-2012 03:47:28 | More by cosmicevan

brystmar

New York

2.58/5  rDev -33%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Thanks to blatantdream for sharing!

Pours black (wtf?!), zero head, zero lace. Strongly medicinal aroma and lactic, very uninviting. Taste equally disappoints: boozy and medicinal, dark fruits, booze, more medicine? Not very good, and a far cry from my only other Veritas experience (V010 = <3). Glad to tick this, but I can barely finish my small pour.

Serving type: bottle

07-28-2012 23:49:54 | More by brystmar

DefenCorps

Oregon

4.63/5  rDev +20.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Wasn't this beer closer to 10-12% ABV? In any case, thanks, CJ!

Black with dark brown highlights, this beer has no head whatsoever. The nose is excellent. If the Cable Car Kriek showed off red cherries, this is a wonderful showcase for black cherries. Flesh and skin tannins are present, along with dark chocolate, mildly soy-like. Earthy, leathery, tannic, there's some bourbon and vanilla to round out the nose. Compelling, complex and surprisingly well integrated IMO.

The palate opens with a blend of black cherry, cocoa, soy, vanilla, bourbon and cherry sourness. The combination of the sour cherry and bourbon is pretty excellent. Full in body, lightly carbonated (if that), this feels really nice on the palate (I appreciate the low carbonation, almost any would just not work with this beer IMO). The finish has a mild sourness with a blend of cherries, bourbon, oak and vanilla. Excellent stuff, I look forward to revisiting this in the future.

Serving type: bottle

07-02-2012 21:04:46 | More by DefenCorps

raveskdr

District of Columbia

4/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

One of the few bottles that was solely mine for the LA tasting. Poured into a mini snifter.

A - First bottle that had zero pop on it. Aggressive pour yielded almost no bubbles. Slightly less than jet black.

S - Roastiness and slight bourbon. After it warms up, the vanilla really comes out.

T - The sour is very sharp up front. The roast kicks in the middle, and the bourbon finishes.

M - The sour really makes it sharp. The mouth is a good lightness despite the roastiness.

O - Dark sours aren't my thing. This is better than most dark sours than I've had, but really not my thing.

Serving type: bottle

07-02-2012 00:16:06 | More by raveskdr

jethrodium

California

3.93/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750 ml bottle generously shared by colonelforbin. Thanks Mike. Pours a dark reddish brown with no head. There are a couple bubbles at the edge of the glass and no lacing. Aroma is red wine, brown sugar, cherry, some bourbon, and a bit of leather. The taste is sweet and tart with cherry, red wine, bourbon, and leather. The finish has tart lactic cherry and little bit of acetic acid. Medium-full body. Low carbonation. Pretty good. Not mind blowing, but certainly an interesting beer.

Serving type: bottle

06-23-2012 01:39:35 | More by jethrodium

craytonic

District of Columbia

3.78/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Consumed side-by-side with the other 10 veritas beer on 4/14/2012 at the DC Lambic & Sour Summit

Appearance: not very well carbonated, very deep mahogany, almost oily
Smell: Soy sauce, booze, chocolate, port, brandy, oak, dates. Very complex but the flavors do not work well together
Taste: Similarly complex, but not well integrated. Heavy on the booze, port, brandy and oak, with touches of soy sauce.
Mouthfeel: medium-full body, light carbonation
Overall: Interesting, but probably one of my least favorites of the Veritas series

Serving type: bottle

05-21-2012 19:41:35 | More by craytonic

Huhzubendah

District of Columbia

3.93/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Consumed with all ten Veritas beers on April 14, 2012. Shared by mdfb79. Thanks Dan.

I didn't enjoy this as much the second time around. Soy sauce and booze flavors emerge too intensely for my liking. This beer is quite complex, but the various flavor characteristics lack cohesion.

***

Original review: November 5, 2011

Bottle shared by craytonic. Thanks Matt!

The beer appears still and flat, though I guess that's intentional in this case. The color is a deep, dark shade of mahogany.

The aroma is my favorite aspect of the beer. Port, bourbon, brandy, oak, wine, cherry chocolates. Smells expensive.

The flavor is cherries dipped in dark chocolate. Lots of booze. Brandy, bourbon - reminiscent of Angel's Share. Sweet port and/or red wine flavors and a tannic quality throughout. Wonderfully complex, with a potent dose of dark fruits and a present sourness / tartness as well.

The feel is medium bodied on the palate. This is a beer to be sipped and savored, enjoyed over the course of a few hours. Devoid of carbonation.

Overall, another interesting beer from The Lost Abbey. Not my favorite of the Veritas beers I've had so far, but I am definitely enjoying this. Intriguing and complex with a bold flavor. Recommended.

Serving type: bottle

04-22-2012 01:48:44 | More by Huhzubendah

oline73

Maryland

3.7/5  rDev -3.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4

I brought my bottle along to Imminent Liquidation. I made sure to save a generous pour so I could take notes.

Appearance: Pours an opaque dark brown with no head showing up at all. This looks like it will be an interesting one.

Smell: Sweet and syrupy with a very slight fruit tartness that it took me a while to find. Started out smelling like a stout/strong ale blend.

Taste: There is a sour component to this beer that I wasn't sure of until now. I'm picking up some cherry and chocolate notes. This beer is extremely sweet, but it seems to work.

Mouthfeel: Thick body with hardly any carbonation and a dry finish.

Overall: I really enjoyed this even with the faults. I could have used a little carbonation. The flavors all worked for me so I would call it a success.

Serving type: bottle

03-09-2012 00:56:01 | More by oline73

glazeman

Illinois

3.53/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A: Dark brown, absolutely no head after a vigorous pour.

S: On the nose, there's chocolate, dark fruit, and a smidgeon of bourbon. Definitely not as complex or robust as the taste though.

T: Lots of different things going on here. There's tobacco, prunes, and apple up front, then a nice, although somewhat subtle burbon in back. Heavy on the tannins, and tastes somewhat of a red wine with a tad of bourbon. There's some sour in there, but not much

M: No carbonation. Appropriately medium-bodied. Nice aftertaste of dark fruits and caramel.

O: The taste was interesting, but the flavors didn't really meld together that well. The lack of carbonation was disappointing.

Serving type: bottle

02-13-2012 13:49:02 | More by glazeman

spdyfire83

Ireland

3.43/5  rDev -10.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

136th Review
Bottle to snifter

From notes. I opened this bottle at bspringer's birthday celebration. An epic night for sure to celebrate his golden day of birth!

A: Mahogany. No head on vigorous pour.

S: Red grapes, marmalade, roasted malt, caramel, fig, oak, and a touch of cherry. Hint of leather too.

T: Rich and complex. Currants, plums, raisins, dark cherry - reminds me of port. Not too much else going on here. Hint of oak, but that's about it.

M: Full bodied with no carbonation.

O: I was really excited to try this beer, but it didn't live up to the hype for me. Quite complex, but just not doing it for me. Maybe it'll get better with age. We can only hope.

Serving type: bottle

01-28-2012 13:53:18 | More by spdyfire83

trxxpaxxs

New York

1.73/5  rDev -55.1%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2

Reviewed from notes from FFF XV Anniversary Party:

A: Poured out a a murky deep brown with redish hues. There no head at all. It looks flat.

S: This beer smells of soured muddled fruit, and soy. Oxidation is totally evident in this brew. It's really earthy. I don't think this beer has much time left in the bottle before it turns into a soy bomb.

T: The taste is soy mixed with with some black licorice and sour stone fruits (cherries, plums, and maybe apricots). I'm not feeling it.

M: Medium bodied? The flavors coat the palate and hold on for dear life. That's not a good thing when the beer is below average.

O: I was really excited to open this bottle (based on rarity and/or hype), but it fell completely short. This beer was kinda gross.

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2012 14:45:17 | More by trxxpaxxs

JohnGalt1

Idaho

3.3/5  rDev -14.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Absolutely no POP at all on the cork.. really? I am done giving Lost Abbey a pass on carbonation issues... fucking ridiculous.. yeasty hazed porter looking brew..

Nose is good cherry and grape fruitiness.... a bit acetic... with some dark chocolate

Flavor shows a good sweet/sour mix of dark chocolate and sweet vinegar soaked cherries... burning acetic mess down the gullet...

Pretty thick given the NO CARBONATION..

Not terrible, but pretty okay when cold... with warmth, this is a vinegar bomb.

2.5/3.5/3.5/3/3

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2012 06:55:07 | More by JohnGalt1

olympuszymurgus

Minnesota

4.8/5  rDev +24.7%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A beer without a style, but with style of its own.

Many thanks to jawzman for hosting the epic stout tasting that this appeared at.

Pours a deep purple, almost black, almost mahogany. Small bubbles come up around the edges, a faint hair of carbonation. Smells like charred oak, leather, sherry, rotting cherries, tobacco, and red wine. Taste follow suit, char and bourbon with tart cherries in the middle, with a long drawn out caramel sweetness in the back. It coats your mouth, your glass, I want it inside me in a decidedly sexual way.

Damn near perfect, it would compare well to most fine ports.

Anecdote- rinsing my cup after this has the color and appearance of grape drink. I've changed oil in old international Farm Alls that was thinner than this.

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2012 03:03:45 | More by olympuszymurgus

myspoonistoobig

Massachusetts

1.98/5  rDev -48.6%
look: 1.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 1 | overall: 1.5

Thanks to Jason for sharing this one, too, on an epic afternoon of drinking.

Cork and cage bottle, poured into a Hill Farmstead tasting glass.

Appearance: flat, black and slightly syrupy. Looks like old fryer oil. Cork came out with no resistance, but that came as little surprise.

Smell: smells like the overripe tart cherries that would fall off the tree in my backyard growing up. Not entirely unpleasant, but not great either.

Taste: weirdly tart, semi-sweet... is that licorice? soy sauce? just an all around mess of flavors.

Mouthfeel: couldn't wait for it to not be in my mouth anymore. The tartness, oily texture and flatness made it pretty unpleasant to drink.

Overall: seems like a pretty miserable, failed experiment. A for effort, but I will not be seeking this out again.

Serving type: bottle

01-13-2012 21:12:38 | More by myspoonistoobig

SpeedwayJim

New York

1.45/5  rDev -62.3%
look: 1.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 1

From the Light Whale BIF. Poured from a 750ml corked and caged bottle into a Cantillon tulip. Shared with schen9303.

Cork ejects with a slight pop but this one pours still. No mistake about it. Pitch black and opaque too. With semi-decent legs but no lace. A good looking beer this isn't. Legs save it from being a complete fail.

Nose is ash, sour soy sauce, spoiled plum, overripe plum, mellow booze, and rancid wood. Moderately aromatic but with a stench like this, I'd rather it be barely detectable. Not good.

Opens chocolate and sour prunes. Plum character and sour say sauce towards the middle with rancid chocolate and tart, rotting wood. End is puckering and muddled soy sauce. Finishes tart prunes and plum with a lingering, sour rot aftertaste. Really odd in a terrible way. Flavors are muddled, fruit character tastes spoiled, and there's a complete lack of any carbonation.

Medium bodied with no carbonation. Oily and filmy in the mouth and oily and warm going down. Finish is messy and slick with a long, lingering aftertaste. This beer is devoid of any life. Too thick, too heavy which is key for this style.

This beer is a complete fail and I'm curious as to what world of beer does this get a passing grade? The appearance is terrible, aroma is equally bad, the flavors are muddled, and its complete devoid of any carbonation. Veritas 008 was a bit of a failed experiment but its complete gold compared to this monstrosity. Do yourself a favor and skip this one. A complete drainpour as I could only choke down about 3 ounces of this one for the review.

Serving type: bottle

12-27-2011 02:58:48 | More by SpeedwayJim

thagr81us

South Carolina

3.35/5  rDev -13%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Big thanks goes out to funkydelic for sharing this one with me! Served from bottle into a Mikkeller taster flute. Poured a massively dark brown with a minimal khaki colored head. Maintained minimal lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, sour, fruit, and subtle wood. The flavor was of sweet malt, sour, tart cherry, wood, and subtle port. It had a medium feel on the palate with high carbonation. Overall this brew was decent. When I saw this one was being released I was quite excited to get to try it. I got to sample it while at a Foothills release thanks to thunderroad12, but not enough to review it. I wasn't overly impressed with it then. And the same was true this time around. It was decent, but it seemed like a lot of the flavors clashed together on this one, but were not invasive or untasty on the palate. It just made it a little harder to drink. Worth trying to say that you have, but there are better Veritas brews out there.

Serving type: bottle

12-19-2011 02:26:15 | More by thagr81us

aasher

Indiana

1.68/5  rDev -56.4%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 1.5

This one pours a dirty mop water brown with a slight beige lacing. It smells of sweet and sour port. Damn its sweet with sour notes. The flavor too is ever so slight wine barrel aging with a weird and awkward type sour. No complexity at all. It's really off putting. This barrel aging was awful. It really isn't even drinkable, and I love sours. This beer is weak and severely overrated. This was the second time I was fortunate enough to try this limited, $30 bottle. It was awful both times. Homer much?

Serving type: bottle

11-12-2011 18:59:59 | More by aasher

DarthKostrizer

California

2.35/5  rDev -39%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Thanks to Ehammond1 for sharing this one and I finally got around to review it from my notes

Look: Pours an almost black color with no head at all and not much else going on

Smell: Some dark fruits plums soaked in alcohol comes to mind mixed in with a slight acidity and vinegar character

Taste: Very similar to the nose this one is very acidic and vinegary and very off putting. This was my least favorite beer of the night

Mouthfeel: Full body and zero carbonation almost like drinking flat pepsi

Overall: This was my least favorite beer of the night. The people I drank it with seemed to think there was something wrong but the only thing I could find wrong with it was bad taste.

Serving type: bottle

11-12-2011 08:27:45 | More by DarthKostrizer

mdfb79

New York

3.83/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

From 11/05/11 notes. Big thanks to craytonic for sharing this one; thanks Matt! Poured into my Cigar City snifter.

a - Pours a deep dark reddish-brown color with a dark purple tint, about two bubbles of head and almost no carbonation evident. Looks flat, as expected.

s - Smells of bourbon, oak, chocolate malts, vanilla, dark fruity malts, alcohol, red wine, light cherries. Bourbon and oak are very strong, as are dark fruits. Nice and I enjoy the nose, but not really sour at all.

t - Tastes of bourbon, oak, sweet dark fruity malts, red wine, and sour cherries. Light chocolate and roasted malts, but not as much as the nose. Some sourness and tart cherries here in the taste, but not what I traditionally think of in a sour as it is both sweet and sour at the same time, and still hevay on the bourbon. A little odd, but nice.

m - Medium body and no carbonation whatsoever. Docking it a little bit as I think it would have been better with some low carbonation. Still a smooth mouthfeel and it isn't bad, but I think some would have helped.

o - Overall a very interesting beer. The taste is both sweet and sour which is cool/interesting, thoough I'm not sure how much of this I would want to drink. I've now had five of the nine Veritas series beers and this one ranks 4/5; not saying this is bad, but shows the quality of the others. In any event, this is not nearly as sour, or enjoyable in my opinion, as 006, 004, or 007. My order goes:

1. 006
2. 004
3. 007
4. 009
5. 008

Serving type: bottle

11-08-2011 18:49:54 | More by mdfb79

Kaydogg

Pennsylvania

4.33/5  rDev +12.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: Pours a dark brown, almost black with no head. looks like no carbonation

Aroma: Vanilla, chocolate, port wine, cherry fruit

Taste: wine notes, tart berry, chocolate, wood, wow really different.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied, little carbonation.

Overall: I guess I'm in the camp that loved this beer. I thought it was amazingly complex, sour with some chocolate. I was skeptical about everyone saying the lack of carbonation didn't hurt this beer and I kinda have to agree. It works rather well. A little more carb. would of put it over the top..extremely tasty.

Serving type: bottle

10-28-2011 17:50:55 | More by Kaydogg