LSD (Lompoc Strong Draft) - New Old Lompoc Brewery

LiquidAmber

Washington

3.75/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured into a Dogfish Head pint glass. Pours a dark chestnut brown with a one finger light tan head with great retention and lacing. Aroma of toasted malt, nuts and a hint of dark dried fruit. Flavor is toasted malt, hint of chocolate and smoke and dark dried fruit, ending a bit abruptly to a long lasting charred malt and hop bitterness. Medium bodied. Leans towards being a hoppy brown ale. The flavors are pleasant, but something is missing in the finish, most likely a bit more malt support for the lightly smokey toastiness. Interesting and different, but needs some more intensity.

Serving type: bottle

03-16-2013 04:11:51 | More by LiquidAmber

Murrhey

Montana

3.51/5  rDev -7.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Poured from a bomber into a pint glass in high elevation Libby, Mont. Reviewed live.

A- Two finger mocha head, fluffy lacing and large bubbles. Decent retention. Dark brown, Coca-Cola color.

S- Chocolate and roast malts. Cocoa nibs, deep rich chocolate notes. Vanilla notes as well.

T- Boozy, weird hoppiness and sweet malts. Bitter, piney hops. Very strange beer.

M- Thick, sharp and rolls on the back of the tongue.

O- Odd beer, the taste is peculiar. It is like a nut brown and an IPA mixed together.

Serving type: bottle

01-25-2013 06:30:59 | More by Murrhey

UCLABrewN84

California

3.98/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thanks to VoodooImpStout for sharing this one at my tasting.

Pours a clear reddish-brown with a foamy khaki head that settles to a film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of smoked campfire, and herbal hops. Taste is much the same with a mild amount of smoke and hop bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer with some interesting aromas and flavors.

Serving type: bottle

01-01-2013 02:35:31 | More by UCLABrewN84

smakawhat

Maryland

3.98/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured from the bottle into a Dogfish Head signature glass.

A real nice tan and somewhat creamy head is formed, very tiny bubbles. A real nice dark walnut brown body, it really looks like a porter. Head manages some decent retention, and some sticky lacing in rings that cascade all the way down while drinking. Beer looks better the more you drink it.

Nose is real nice. Light toast mix of malts and caramel sugar toffee light sweetness. A little bit of spicy character, it seems like a porter is coming but this seems a little different and unique. Interesting, like this caramel and chocolate angle.

Palate comes with a bit of a light feel, slightly wet. Real nice earth hop angle slightly herbal finish with tea like notes. Chocolate and roast fills the mid palate, with a good balance of malt and hop. Light bodied and a hint of rich cocoa powder too.

Overall, what an interesting beer, quite enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

11-08-2012 04:00:42 | More by smakawhat

beertunes

Washington

3.5/5  rDev -8.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

More proof the terrorists have won, yet another beer in the 22oz format. Poured into 10oz goblet. Poured a very dark mahogany color, almost black, with some red around the edges, and less than 1/4 inch of just off-white head that had low retention and some light lacing.

The aroma featured some good malts (maybe a bit of Rye?), some soft roasted notes, no real hops to speak of, a bit of alcohol and perhaps a bit bit of yeasty funk. The flavors were mostly the same mix of components, although the roast came through a bit stronger, a very good tasting brew.

The body was good, full, smooth, and even. The finish was a bit bitter and the roast lingered for a while. Drinkability was very good, although the 6.9%abv was a bit sneaky, it felt like a stronger beer. Overall, a good, if somewhat odd, brew. A must try if you see it.

Serving type: bottle

10-12-2012 21:38:48 | More by beertunes

kevinmkirk

Oregon

4.1/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

FYI - The brewery is open, it's their pub on 23rd in Portland that is closed, but will open again summer 2013.

Now, for the beer at hand...let's pour!

Dark, cola-mahogany pour with a good two fingers of creamy head, excellent retention and lacing. The nose is bourbon, wood, malts, and smoke. Flavors follow the nose - this is definitely a bourbon barrel aged brew - smokey wood, booze, rich malts (six, according to their website), dark fruits, sweet toffee. Heavy, almost slick mouthfeel with appropriate carb. A tasty sipper, a wee heavy to session with.

Serving type: bottle

06-07-2012 01:03:09 | More by kevinmkirk

vkv822

Oregon

2.45/5  rDev -35.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

22oz bottle : tulip snifter
from notes

Clear amber read with light tan head.

Faded hops blend into caramel malt tones. A bit one dimensional.

A bit on the thin side, with slightly lower carbonation.

Fairly average, nothing memorable. A bit flat in the body, and muted/faded in the nose and palate.

Serving type: bottle

06-03-2012 00:51:24 | More by vkv822

flagmantho

Washington

3.53/5  rDev -7.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from 22oz bomber into a pint glass.

Appearance: rich dark brown with a ruby tinge; body is clear of haze. Head is two thick fingers of frothy tan foam. Good looking!

Smell: roasted malt quality atypical of an American strong ale. Roast barley, a light hint of hops and some alcohol are the characteristics of the nose; quite like a strong porter.

Taste: big malty flavor with a roasty character and some fruitiness. There's also quite an astringency and tartness to round out the bitter/tart flavor at the end. Again, this is like a high ABV porter. It is somewhat messy, however.

Mouthfeel: medium to medium-light body with a decent level of carbonation. It doesn't really reach creamy or silky, but it's not too bad.

Overall: this is an OK beer. I like it well enough, but it seems a bit like a messy execution of a strong porter. Alright, but not great.

Serving type: bottle

12-22-2011 00:30:34 | More by flagmantho

LilBeerDoctor

New York

2.55/5  rDev -33.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Reviewed on 1/23/2010. Bottle thanks to kenb. Pours brown with a small light tan head. Aroma of roasted malt, crackery malt, stale malt, and a touch of grassy hops. Flavor is harsh with brash bitter hops, odd-tasting caramel malt, and burnt malt. Ugh, just not tasty at all.

Serving type: bottle

12-23-2010 17:42:59 | More by LilBeerDoctor

RedBiddy

Oregon

4.43/5  rDev +16.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A 22 oz. bottle poured into a pilsner glass. Nice thick foam head about two fingers thick that trails a nice persistent lacing. Smell is somewhat fruity...similar to a Belgian Ale. The taste, however, evokes memories of my favorite porter and doppelbock. A swirl and swish in my mouth is pleasant and stimulates all the taste buds. Smooth and refreshing...complex and surprising with each sip.

Serving type: bottle

08-14-2010 02:39:07 | More by RedBiddy

JohnGalt1

Idaho

3.53/5  rDev -7.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

buckeyeboy brought this enigma to the party on Saturday... between you and Eric, I got more than normally interested ;-) Thanks Jeremy.

Nice brown brew with great clear red highlites... good head and retention....

Good caramel and lite cocoa in the nose.. whaffs of something that I identify as smoke.... background citrus hops.

Reminds me of Grand Teton Bitch Creek with some smoked malt.. caramel.... chocolate malt and hoppy bitterness and traces of citrus hops ... the smokiness tends to permeate this one.... seems a tad to bitter without enough malts to pull it through.. body seemed a tad thin and the carbonation was maybe too high... ehhh... okay.... I would probably buy it if I had it readily available, but I couldn't move past the fact that it seemed sorta thin throughout.

Thanks Jeremy... I really wanted to try this.. but I just had a hard time really appreciating the bottle.

4/4/3.5/3.5/3

Serving type: bottle

05-04-2010 08:17:16 | More by JohnGalt1

aeroguy

Washington

2.45/5  rDev -35.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

22oz Bottle serving in a tulip glass. Reasonable tan head and nice dark color had my expectations up. Flavor was light. I was expecting more of a full flavor based on the alcohol content but it just never seemed to develop into anything memorable. I doubt I'll be drinking any more of this

Serving type: bottle

03-11-2010 03:10:13 | More by aeroguy

Bung

North Carolina

4.1/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

22 oz. into tulip.
Brown/burgundy pour, with a speckled white head with light spotty lacing.
Aroma has smoked malt, yellow raisin and some faint piney hops.
Taste is pretty straight forward and similar to the aroma. Balanced toasted malt, toffee, nut and raisin. Good hop herbal hop presence throughout. Finishes just a faint smoke and bitter hops.
Light/mid body and pleasant carbonation. Very easy drinking.
Very interesting, a great example of style that is pretty open to interpretation.

Serving type: bottle

01-16-2010 04:36:58 | More by Bung

morebeergood

Massachusetts

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

Picked up a bomber over the summer in Portland, OR. Finally got around to opening it this past weekend. Served in stemmed glasses. Dark brown color. Large off-white head. Slight roasted coffee smell. Taste was amazingly good. Love that smoky malt flavor. Tasted more like a smoked porter than an ale. Rich hearty mouthfeel. Nearly 7% abv not noticeable at all. We tried this on tap at a beerfest in Seattle, and at their brewpub in Portland. The bottled version we just drank did not disappoint. A great beer.

Serving type: bottle

11-30-2009 19:12:35 | More by morebeergood

Ryan011235

Ohio

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

Poured into a pint glass on 10/21/09

Thanks to PDXHops for this hell-of-an interesting brew

A - Coca-Cola brown with hints of burnt crimson. Frisky carbonation billows into two fingers of riddled, tan colored foam. Retention is about 50% after a few minutes & shrinking. Lacing is ok at the onset & does improve toward the end.

S - Primarily malty sweetness in the nose: caramel, toffee & hints of brown sugar. This smells like a veritable malt bomb.

T - Caramel & toasted malts upfront. Dry biscuits & bread in the middle. There's a modest hop twine on the finish with a bit of lingering bitterness. Seem like there is some faint spice in there too, though I'm unsure what it would be.

M - Reasonably robust in heft. Not nearly as much carbonation as I expected after the initial pour; on the contrary, it's rather smooth & creamy. On an odd note, the first swig seemed almost thin & watered down. Subsequently it seemed to become fuller of body as it warmed.

D - A very peculiar beer that seems in constant flux, like it's a seamless gamut of changing styles. At times akin to a porter or stout; at times like an extremely malty pale ale. While I was skeptical at first, this beer redefined the phrase, "It grew on me."

Serving type: bottle

11-09-2009 01:14:01 | More by Ryan011235

Reidrover

Oregon

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

22 oz bomber from Roth's in Keizer Darkish brown ale with a nice tan head..leaves good lace. Very strong and pleasing malt aromas, backed up with a little hop spice. Very maltyu taste toop.soft toffee malt dominated some hopping in the end..barely. Good on the palte thick and consistent. Overall a good Engish Strong Ale

Serving type: bottle

10-08-2009 04:57:35 | More by Reidrover

LCBREW

Washington

4.33/5  rDev +13.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

A friend brought back a bottle from Portland after attending the 'mini-beer fest'

A-deep amber, almost mahogany. One finger of lace that persisted till the end. Looked clear but the kitchen was dark when i drank it so i couldn't tell for sure.

S-Not a whole lot of aroma. I did get a little caramel (like c120) and a bit of roast.

T-Strong caramel up front, almost burnt caramel, but smooth. Lots of roast fades into a subtle but noticeable hop bitterness. As i drank the roast faded and the hop bitterness increased.

M-Nice medium mouth feel. very drinkable.

O-Very drinkable. If i had this in my local market i would be buying it regularly. Went down smooth.

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2009 01:22:05 | More by LCBREW

velosuds

Oregon

3.58/5  rDev -6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 22oz bomber into a clear pint glass. No freshness date. Purchased at Whole Foods in Bend, OR for $3.99.

A-Pours a very dark amber, almost dark pecan or chestnut. Two finger, tannish-white head with average retention and modest lacing. Almost looks like a porter or stout. Odd.

S-Not much aroma, in my opinion, and what is there is mostly malts.

T-Very pleasant malt presence, but not much hop bitterness noted. Most ambers I enjoy have more hop profile.

M-Very smooth and well balanced, but a tad watery.

D-A good, but not great amber ale. Smooth and easy drinking. 6.9% ABV is nicely masked.

I've had better amber ales, and I couldn't help hankering after a SkullSplitter. Not sure if this is a good thing. Closest thing I had in my fridge was an Arrogant Bastard Ale, which made for a nice conclusion to my beer drinking this evening.

Serving type: bottle

08-09-2009 02:03:30 | More by velosuds

koopa

New Jersey

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

Bottle purchased from Liquid Solutions.

Appearance: Nearly black with red/brown corners and a cafe latte 1 finger foam head with a bit of retention and some lacing.

Smell: Nice roast malt character, a touch of toffee, and perhaps a dark fruit note such a fig.

Taste: Exactly like the nose.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with enough carbonation.

Drinkability: fairly sessionable.

I though LSD was pretty decent, didn't like C-Note Imperial Pale Ale though. I'll still be trying more of their offerings.

Serving type: bottle

07-22-2009 22:20:49 | More by koopa

Magpie14

Michigan

3.65/5  rDev -4.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A: the foamed cap sat atop for a moments notice and fizzled away leaving brown sugar colored remnants splattered with detail amongst the walls of the glass. The body houses deep burnt reds and light brown mahogany colors, it even pulls at black cherry colors and has a nice overall look

S: some roasted grains 'n' malt smells and something reminiscent like a dry nut rye bread. It has a very sweet sort of caramel sugared cherry fruit edge to it, as well as a soft tartness. Light smokiness in the nose as well, as far as I can tell. Strange and I like it...

T: upon my first sip, the sweet malt base reminds me of a malted milk ball a sort of sugary dextrose character, you know the airy crunchy center. Also evident is the faint spiced rye toast character with some buttery caramel for a topping. The open fire smoked feel lends more of a charred taste that fits within the malts and sweetness rather well. On another note, hardly any hops massage the tongue. After a few lengthy sips, I could detect a floating herbal hop character moving about and wandering aimlessly
The flavors are rather a unique experience, but nothing that made me "trip," so to speak. Sweet malt flavors start to be the dominant force

M: the body is not full and lays more in the medium class of beers. Some girth can be accounted for but the carbonation jabs at the body being heavier...and smoother for that matter. I find it drinks like a light porter for some reason, things are moving well

D: I might not mind an additional shot of hops in the mix? Well anyway, in any event, I found this beer interesting. I am not sure that I have ever described some flavors like this before in a beer. Still, nothing remains earth shattering about this beer. However, it did give me an opportunity to sharpen my taste buds in a nice manner

Serving type: bottle

07-01-2009 05:20:10 | More by Magpie14

Wasatch

Utah

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

22oz. Bomber

Pours a dark brown color, nice carbonation, very nice creamy/fizzy tan head, with some nice small islands and sticky lacing left behind. The nose is big and malty, with some chocolate/caramel. The taste is sweet, slightly bitter/roasty, nice touch of chocolate/caramel. Medium body. Drinkable, this is my second from this brewery, and both are very nice brews, hopefully I can get others from them.

Serving type: bottle

06-21-2009 18:07:12 | More by Wasatch

Docer

Washington

3.68/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bomber poured into a pint glass..

- Dark beer! Clear but almost can't see throught it... rather rich and dark brown.. minimal brown head.. light lacing..

- Roasted Porter like malts...caramel... sweet.. bitter hop.. like a porter.

- Smooth silky sweet malts.. sugar, caramel.. tangy hop.. zingy and slightly bitter..

- Slightly chewy, sour, tangy aftertaste... slight dryness..

- Easy to drink, not too strong... but overall boring and even made my review short...

Serving type: bottle

06-05-2009 02:01:51 | More by Docer

BuckeyeNation

Iowa

3.63/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

"LSD melts your mind, not in your hand."

--drug abuse prevention poster

Roasted pecan brown that becomes fiery garnet when backlit. Two full fingers of caramel nougat colored foam look pretty good atop the beer. A gently rolling rockiness adds visual interest, as does a surprising amount of lace in thick, BB-shot sheets. Looks like a brown ale.

Smells like one too. The nose isn't bold enough, which leads to a lack of complexity. A beer that is touted to have 'a touch of smoked malt and a generous hop profile' should be more aromatic and more impressive than this. There may be a small puff of smoke to go along with the brown maltiness; it's hard to say.

Lompoc Special Draft is difficult to pin down with respect to style... so American strong ale works as well as any other. To my palate, it tastes like 70% brown ale, 20% rauchbier and 10% IPA. Some will celebrate the fact that the brewers colored outside the lines and some will decry the lack of focus. I'm leaning toward the latter camp.

Like the aroma, the taste is less than explosive. Maybe warming will amplify things a little. If there was as much good hop flavor as bitterness, this would be a more delicious beer. Specifics include steely caramel, unsweetened chocolate, rye toast, bitter nut skins, black tea leaves and wood smoke. Unfortunately, it doesn't come together well enough for the next highest flavor score to be a consideration.

Since this isn't the biggest, baddest beast on the American strong ale block, the lack of fullness isn't necessarily a negative. Having said that, a little more substance would have been terrific. Carbonation is fine and dandy (leaning toward less rather than more).

Lompoc Special Draft isn't mind-alteringly good beer, but it is somewhat interesting. That isn't enough, however, to earn it a repeat purchase. I won't be having flashbacks of either a positive or a negative nature where LSD is concerned. In fact, once the twenty-second ounce has disappeared, it's unlikely to enter my consciousness again. One sip makes you larger... and one sip makes you small.

Serving type: bottle

06-04-2009 14:23:37 | More by BuckeyeNation

ChainGangGuy

Georgia

3.63/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Appearance: Pours a clearish, dark brown body with a thin, bubbly, white head.

Smell: Dark malty scents of cocoa and toffee accompanied by a rather sharp note of smoked, charred grains.

Taste: Chocolate and toasted toffee precede a blast of chary grains full of roasty and smokey qualities. Earthy hops with a medium bitterness. Touch of dried herbs. Additional hints of char and cocoa on the dry finish that last well into the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium-high carbonation.

Drinkability: Worth a try. Lompoc's LSD is fairly well-balanced and drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

03-30-2009 00:24:12 | More by ChainGangGuy

jdense

Oregon

3.73/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

22 oz. bomber from Whole Foods Tigard into my UCLA pint glass.

Beige head with quickly dissipating head over opaque brown body. Chocolate malt and leather taste predominates with a bit of smoke in the nose. A bit heavy for a session beer, but, nice balance between malt and hops, A bit more balance than Arrogant Bastard. Worth a taste, but my preference runs towards Lompoc's C-Note offering.

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2009 03:37:43 | More by jdense