Port Brewing | Old Viscosity

Port Brewing's Old Viscosity, an "American Dark Strong Ale," that "blurs the boundaries of Porter, Stout, Old Ale, and Barleywines." This beer is brewed, and then there is a 20% addition of the same beer that has been aged in bourbon barrels.

For all intensive purposes, I consider this beer an Imperial Stout more than anything else… maybe a strong ale. But let's keep things simple, it's a stout!

Poured into a pint glass, Old Viscosity has a thick opaque black color with a huge four inches of caramel colored head. This stuff looks super thick, beads of beer are sliding through the foam on the sides of my glass. After the head recedes some, there is a lot of sticky lacing left.

The aroma is chock full of sweet boozy alcohol, dark fruit, and a nice whiff of bourbon. Dark chocolate, vanilla, leather, and hints of coffee also make their presence known.

The taste is boozy alcohol up front, sweet figs and plums, followed by a smoothing oak character (leather, cocoa, vanilla, charred wood). The finish has a noticeable hop bite with a roasted coffee flavor that lingers for quite a bit.

My god this is an insanely smooth beer. Sweet and boozy, full bodied and syrupy with a somewhat bitter finish. Port is really proving their worth as the new hot beer in town. They make great IPA's, as a San Diego brewer should, but Old Viscosity shows they aren't a one trick pony. My fridge is full of stouts right now, and this one blows them all away.

Personal 8.5/10
Style 9.5/10

The Lost Abbey | Devotion Ale

Ah... the famed Lost Abbey. To pick up with a bit more of the history lesson started in the review of "Port Wipeout IPA"....... The Lost Abbey is a brand of Port Brewing Company, and they are both brewed in the same brewery. As previously mentioned, that brewery, started in 2006, is in fact the old brewery of Stone Brewing Co. They (Stone) needed to expand and sold their brewery to Port. Though Port and The Lost Abbey share a brewery, the brands are geared at very different markets. Port Brewing is aimed at the American West Coast style of beers, generally very bold and hop forward. Or in the case of their darker beers, just well-made versions of American favorites. Lost Abbey on the other hand, focuses on complex Belgian style beers, many of which are barrel aged, and some are inoculated with a wild yeast strain called Brettanomyces. But, if you're a beer geek like we are, chances are you'll be interested in both brands! Anyway, lets pop the cork on this bottle.

Devotion Ale, the Belgian Pale/Golden Ale from The Lost Abbey. Poured into a Chimay chalice glass, this ale has a very hazy amber color with a big foamy white head. The head recedes pretty quickly with bits of sticky lacing left on the glass. The aroma is very soft and unobtrusive; hints of sweet doughy malt, yeast (very slightly funky), spice, citrusy hop (lemon, orange), and apple. Instead of one ingredient jumping out and punching you in the face, everything is working together in unison.

The taste starts very crisp and lively with notes of grassy noble hops, grannysmith apple, and lemon. Extreme effervescence upfront quickly turns creamy smooth, opening up sweeter bready malt flavors, spice, and oranges. Towards the finish, this ale gets drier and has a bit of a yeasty band-aid funk / tartness to it mixing with more lemon. This might sound a little off-putting to some, but it really makes it quite mouth-watering and refreshing!

The crisp, light, highly carbonated mouthfeel of this brew makes it pretty easy to drink, and there is no hint of alcohol present. At 6.25% ABV, this isn't necessarily a "strong beer," but for how drinkable it is, it can sneak up on you. Although it's quite different from most pale ales we carry in the store, Lost Abbey's Devotion is worth checking out. While not the bold piney west coast IPA type, this beer still showcases noble hop and yeast flavors in perfect harmony. If you liked Brooklyn Local 1, you will definitely like this one. Enjoy Devotion on its own or paired with light fare like cheese, crackers, breads  etc. Personal 8.5/10 for a belgian style pale ale 9/10.

Port Brewing | Wipeout IPA

Please pardon my bad photo, I didn't feel like stealing one from Google this time.

Port Brewing Wipeout IPA, first off it needs to be said how great it is that Port Brewing/The Lost Abbey are now available in New Jersey. It was only two months ago that I had my friend from California stashing bombers of the stuff into his luggage when he came to visit.

In case you're unfamiliar with the name, Port started as "Pizza Port" in the 90's as a couple of pizza brewpubs around San Diego that gained a lot of attention for their locally crafted hoppy beers. Their popularity grew so much that in 2006 they decided to open up a real brewery. One year later, Port Brewing was named 2007 Small Brewery of the Year & their brewer Tomme Arthur was named brewer of the year at the Great American Beer Festival. Then only 6 months after that, they won Champion Small Brewery & Brewer at the 2008 World Beer Cup. Lets hope the coming years will bring more rare and delicious beers from Port Brewing to the east coast!

Poured into a chalice glass, Wipeout IPA has a hazy golden amber color with a big fluffy cream colored head. A good amount of sticky lacing is left all over the glass, and there is still a generous amount of froth atop the beer after sitting for some time. The aroma is very hoppy, with lots of resinous pine and citrus fruit. There is a mild sweetness accompanying the bitter aroma, but it's more of sweet mango and pineapple than malt sweetness.

The flavor is of juicy tropical fruit; mango, pineapple, grapefruit, as well as resinous pine. There is a slight bitterness that does more of balancing the sweetness rather than get too astringent. Lingering hop bitterness finishes each sip. The hop flavor in this IPA is honestly... incredible.

With a medium body and mildish carbonation, it's hard not to drink this beer in 1 minute because of how delicious it is. Depending on your tolerance to bitter hoppy beers, you may disagree, but I find this to be refreshing and very drinkable. Not to mention, one of the best examples of a west coast IPA I've ever tried (it's hard to believe this isn't a DIPA). Here's to hoping we have some bottles left when I get back to work tomorrow! Personal 9.5/10 for an IPA 10/10.