Yeah, yeah, I know, the Lost Abbey Barrel Tasting Night was over a week ago and I still haven’t posted the photos.
Sorry. I was busy. I’m posting them now. Please stop calling and hanging up. (You know who you are.)
Anyway, the barrel party was once again a great evening. Beyond the 12 regular Port & Lost Abbeys on tap, Tomme dug into the barrel archive for a handful of aged rarities and sneak peaks of the future, and Chef Vince grilled, steamed, smoked and sautéed his way through the whole continent’s worth of cuisine.
Alas, I was keg wrangling and working most of the evening, so I didn’t get to taste more than one or two of the beers or entrées, so I can’t add much other than the Veritas 004, wedge salad and ribs were all excellent.
However, I do have my keg tapping list from the evening, so at least I can provide what was served and in what order. Here you go:
- Red Poppy 2008 – carbonated. A pre-release of the forthcoming Red Poppy 2009. Served as a finish to an hour of cheeses, breads, pulled pork and Vince’s awesome mac n’ cheese.
- Veritas 004 – non-carbonated. This is the freshly blended batch. Guests got to bottle and label their own (if they wanted to) to take home. Served with blue cheese wedge salad.
- Veritas 002 – carbonated. Served as a “mini-vertical” after the 004.
- Just Another Barrel – non-carbonated. One of Tomme’s many “mystery barrels” he likes to bring out and surprise people with every so often. (Funky Barrel is another good example.) Portions of this one will probably wind up blended into a future specialty release.
- Isabelle Proximus – carbonated. (Yes, that Isabelle Proximus.) Paired beautifully with Vince’s sautéed mussels.
- Phunky Duck – non-carbonated. Think of this one as the hot sister of the equally attractive Duck Duck Gooze. (Like Zooey and Emily Deschanel.) If you’re lucky, maybe one day you’ll get to try the other sister. (Beer, not Deschanel.)
- Cuvee de Tomme Special Blend 08 – Carbonated. I forgot to ask him the specifics of this one, but I believe it’s a small run barrel blend that’s different from the actual `08 bottle release (which was a blend of six specific Cuvee barrels).
- Brandy Angel’s Share 2007 – casked. From the batch of The Angel’s Share that began it all. On cask. Awesome.
- ♦♦ (name withheld) 2009 – non-carbonated. Nobody talks about this outside the walls of The Lost Abbey.
- Older Viscosity 2008 – non-carbonated. Paired with the Pumpkin Crème brûlée. Perfect way to close the evening.
Here’s the full slideshow from the evening. (click to jump to the photo gallery.)
Sidenote: You don’t actually have to wait for a blog post to see my photos as they’re usually posted as I take them. You can always find them in my Picasa web album here. I use an EyeFi Card in my camera, which is a combination of a standard SD Card and a little WiFi broadcaster that automatically uploads the photos to a computer or the interwebs via a WiFi network. Very cool stuff. I recommend it highly.
