Libri Divini – March 2011
The Official Newsletter of The Lost Abbey / Port Brewing
Volume 3, Issue 1
In This Issue
- From the Director’s Chair
- Carenvale Masquerade Recap
- Beer Release: Framboise de Amorosa
- 5th Anniversay Party Date
- New Releases / Upcoming Events
- Add us to your PC or Smartphone Calendar
The Director’s Chair
Greetings from the DOBO.
By the time you read this, Mike and I will be somewhere in Europe. We are embarking on a long beer infused journey. I am very excited about the places and people we are off to see.
We’ll start the tour proper when we land in Aberdeen, Scotland. We’ll meet up with Jeff Bagby (Pizza Port), James and Martin from Brewdog, spending two nights dodging the Loch Ness Monster and warming our bellies with the finest Speyside and Highland Malts available. Should this leave us cold, we’ll Sink a few Bismarks attempting to warm our bellies.
We have a visit scheduled with their cask supplier. It is my hope to find types of barrels and wood expressions currently lacking in our barrel program enabling us a wider range of flavor possibilities. We’ve also scheduled a pint night in Aberdeen at the Brewdog pub. We shipped over some Mongo, Wipeout and others. I think the peeps will be quite pissed when we’re done with them.
Friday we hope a plane from Scotland over to Brussels. Mike and I will set out to taste a ton of Lambic and sour beers hoping to remind our taste buds that not all beer should be hoppy. Saturday will find us stalking the halls of Cantillon. I am excited to see what the new expansion looks like. We’ll throw back some beers with Jean at Moeder Lambic if all goes well.
Sunday is hope the train day. St. Niklaas here we come for Zythos (the 24 hour Belgian Beer Festival). This will be a great chance to see what’s new since I was there last. Monday could very well be the high point of the week (beer wise). Henrik(who handles our beer in Europe) has set up a plan enabling us to go blend a batch of Lambic with Armand from Drie Fonteinen that will sold in the European market. This will afford Mike and myself a real look into the blending process that we have never seen. It promises to be exceptional.
Tuesday morning has us jaunting off to Denmark (my first trip to Hamlet’s home). We’re going to be hosted by NOMA which in 2010 was named Best Restaurant in the world by Restaurant Magazine. Now, I’ve done a ton of AMAZING dinners but none of them come close to the prestige of this restaurant. I feel blessed we get to do this and honored to be represent American Craft Beer in such a special way. Look for pictures of this on my twitter side of things.
Thursday we fly back to the states. Mike will return home. I on the other hand will be detouring through Boston to spend some time with the Alstrom brothers attending the Extreme Beer Fest on March 12. It’s going to be a crazy trip. One that promises to be filled with some serious beer and fuzzy mornings.
It’s the longest trip away from home and the brewery in a long time. So I hope things are okay in my absence. I suppose that’s why I hired all these new people in the last 2 years?
Carnevale Masquerade 2001 Recap
This year’s Carnevale Masquerade celebrating the annual release of Carnevale Ale was bigger and better than ever. Despite rain, hail and near-freezing weather almost 300 folks showed up in their finest masquerade accoutrement to celebrate with live music, great food and (naturally) fantastic Lost Abbey & Port beers.
And speaking of the food, in the spirit of the real Venetian tradition that inspired our Carnevale, Chefs Vince and Jason took it up a notch this year by smoking two whole pigs stuffed with whole chickens stuffed with sausage, potatoes and onion. Accompanied by the crab salad, slaws, vegetables and fresh bread pudding, we can say without hesitation that all the evening’s guests were in “hog heaven”.
If you’re interested, we’ve posted a photo album from the evening’s fun. You’ll find it on our website here:
And if you’re looking for our GABF award-winning Carnevale ale, draft kegs are heading into our distribution network right now, and bottles should be available within the next few weeks.
Beer Release: Framboise de Amorosa
March 19, 2011
Framboise de Amorosa, our lusty, barrel-aged raspberry sour makes her second appearance in the Lost Abbey tasting room on Saturday, March 19.
For those who aren’t familiar with Amorosa, she begins as Lost and Found poured into red wine barrels and tarted up three times over a period of 12 months. The result is a fruity, round, luscious beer that is sweet and a touch sour perfectly softened by smooth oak characteristics — a real delight from first sip to last.
As with last year, the 2011 Framboise de Amorosa is a very limited release so bottles will only be available for purchase in the Lost Abbey tasting room. (Draft versions of the beer will reach limited distribution.) Bottles are 375ml size and $15 each with a six bottle maximum per person.
We do expect Amorosa to sell out quickly, so if you would bottles, you should probably arrive at the tasting room earlier rather than later. All the details on the release are on the website here:
5th Anniversary Party
Mark your calendars! Our 5th Anniversary celebration has been set for May 14, 2011!
Once again we’ll be breaking the party into two four-hour sessions (11am-3pm and 4pm-8pm) and providing food, music and, of course, great Port / Lost Abbey beers. We will also celebrate the day with two beer releases — Our spring seasonal IPA, Port Brewing Anniversary Ale, and a new (still secret) Lost Abbey Anniversary release.
The 5th anniversary being the traditional “wood” anniversary you can also expect DOBO Tomme Arthur to delve into his barrel archives and pull out some truly amazing stuff to tap.
Tickets will be $15 per session. Guests will receive a commemorative tasting glass, food and 8 beer tasting tickets. Additional tasting tickets will be $1 each. Look for tickets to go on sale on the Lost Abbey website in early April.
New Beer Releases
Here’s what’s new and upcoming in new beer releases:
- Feb 12 – Red Poppy Flanders Style Red Ale
- Feb 19 – Mongo Double IPA (bottles!)
- Feb 26 – Carnevale Lenten Saison
- Mar 19 – Framboise De Amorosa 2011 (Brewery Only)
- Apr 2 – Hot Rocks Stein Lager
Add us to your calendar
Speaking of calendars — if you use Outlook, iCal, or Google calendar, or you’ve got an Android, iPhone, iPad or Blackberry, you can add the Lost Abbey events calendar to your own and get updates on all our releases, appearances and events automatically. The process only takes a minute and you’ll be connected to everything that’s up at Port / Lost Abbey!