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Libri Divini – December 2010

This Month’s Issue:

  • Expansion updates from the DOBO
  • Hello Peach State
  • Barrels for Sale
  • New Releases

From The Director’s Chair

The DOBO

Greetings from the DOBO’s new chair.

Santa was especially nice to those of us at Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey this year.

This past fall we took over the building suite next to us that formerly housed Aramark linen company. For us this was a monumental acquisition as it’s the first space we’ve acquired that’s actually contiguous to the brewhouse. (We have a barrel and distribution warehouse, but it’s across the parking lot from the brewery.) The expansion takes us to 25,000 square feet of total brewery space which gives us more room for new offices, a lab, and a brand bottling line & packaging area complete with shiny new bright tanks. (More beer!) Look for an open house celebration in January where we’ll open our doors to our Faithful and show off the new digs.

As this year comes to a close, I look back on 2010 as a year of great progress. We launched two new markets, added some great new new staff, and acquired a very nice piece of the missing puzzle for our growth plans in the coming years. Now I’m turning my attention to 2011 and thoughts of how we’re going to celebrate our 5th year of business. It promises to be a great year with new beers, more barrels and new staff as well.

Although I am sad to see this year of new great beers (Framboise de Amorosa, Angel’s Share Grand Cru and Deliverance) come to a close, I’m excited about a whole slew of new things that have been fermenting around here and will see the light of day in 2011.

It’s a great feeling indeed.

Best wishes this holiday season and beyond
Your DOBO

New expansion photo gallery
(It’s not much to look at now, but just you wait.)
[nggallery id=25]

Georgia on My Mind

Welcome to Georgia

Somebody cue the Ray Charles music because we’ve got Georgia on our minds. More specifically, we’ve got our beer in Georgia on our minds.

That’s right boys and girls, as of January 1, 2011 the Peach State will officially become the 8th state in which our beers are distributed! Thanks to our distribution partners at Savannah Distributing, Georgians from Chattahoochee to Okefenokee (and everywhere in between) will soon be among the lucky souls who can call themselves members of the Lost Abbey congregation.

Over the next few weeks there will be a number of events around GA to celebrate the arrival of Port Brewing & The Lost Abbey. If you’re in Georgia (or close enough to get there), make sure to check Facebook and your favorite craft beer sites for events close to you.

Oh, and if you do find our beers in a store, restaurant, or pub, please make sure to tell us about it so we can add the location to our map. You’ll find a handy form and the map here: http://www.lostabbey.com/find-our-beers/

Barrels for Sale

Yep, as of right now (Dec 31, 2010) we have 20 used Brandy barrels for sale. If you’re interested in buying one, they’re $25 cash, and you have to pick it up. If you’d like to get one, go here:

and complete the form (DO NOT call. No one can ever hear the phone).

After we receive your request our distribution manager, David, will either drop you a note or give you a call to arrange for pickup.

Naturally, these suckers go fast so hurry!

New Releases

January is a busy month for us. Here’s a list of our upcoming releases (note, release dates are estimates) :

General Distribution

Limited distribution / Brewery only

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

From the entire Port Brewing & Lost Abbey crew, a happy new year to you!

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Sinners and Saints Clubs – 2011

Best Wishes and Holiday Greetings from The Lost Abbey.

As many of you have recently contacted us about the Sinner’s and Saint’s club renewals, we felt it was time to make the announcement about our club status for 2011.

It is with sadness that we report, there will be no Patron Sinner’s and Saint’s clubs in 2011.

When we launched these programs in 2006, we were one of the first breweries in this country to do direct-to-consumer mail order shipments for beer.

It was an ambitious program that required us to develop a membership and order fulfillment system from scratch and commit a third of our workforce to the customer service side of the club. Many of you got to know the club managers, Ruby and David, quite well from your communications and pickups.

But this isn’t why we’re ending the clubs. (We’re 12 full timers and 4 part timers now — a veritable army compared to the old days.) The biggest reason for shuttering the clubs is the numerous changes at the state(s) level for shipments direct to consumers.

It’s been a tough few years for states economically and that’s caused direct-to-consumer-shipment regulations to turn into a constantly shifting landscape which had us adding and/or removing states from the do/don’t shipment mix as we worked to comply with all the various laws and rulings. Other regulatory burdens and reporting issues also compounded our troubles in keeping current with the demands each state places upon alcohol producers. As a result, we concluded that continuing to operate the Sinners and Saints clubs is at best a risky venture, and the smartest course of action is to suspend the clubs until a more favorable environment presents itself.

We apologize for the delay as we realize that many of you use the Sinner’s and Saints programs as Christmas Gifts (lucky those people who got a membership in their stocking). Sorry to be the bearer of such bad news. On the upside, David and Ruby still call Lost Abbey home and we’re actively pursuing angles that will allow the clubs to rise from the ashes in a new form in the near future. Keep an eye out for an announcement some time in early 2011.

We thank you for your support and look forward to delivering even more epic beers to you in the future.

Thanks,

Tomme & The Lost Abbey Family