![\"Hoptown](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/Angels-Share-12_7-CMYK.jpg\" "\\"Angels")
<\/a>Tomme Arthur leads a double life. As the co-founder of and director of brewery operations for Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey, Arthur oversees two distinct craft beer lines. On the one hand, he pursues bold, boundary-pushing West Coast\u2013style beers under the Port Brewing label. This takes his tenure as head brewer at Pizza Port Solana Beach a step further with familiar beers such as the Wipeout IPA and Hop-15 and special releases such as the fresh-hop High Tide IPA and Midnight Sessions, a smoky black lager.<\/p>\nOn the other hand, he runs The Lost Abbey. The Lost Abbey is a delightfully creative concept, a traditional Belgian brewery without a Belgian home. Under the label, Arthur creates modern-day versions of classic abbey ales, marrying centuries-old techniques with his inventive twist. <\/p>\n
Arthur describes his approach as flavor-driven. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe do a lot of tasting and sampling,\u201d he explains, which often leads him to \u201ccome across malt and yeast flavors that we want to capture.\u201d <\/p>\n
These flavors become a launching point \u2013 each Lost Abbey beer has a central characteristic around which the rest of the recipe is then built. <\/p>\n
In the four years since Lost Abbey was formed, this approach has lead to such outstanding creations as Lost and Found, a beer brewed with caramelized raisin pur\u00e9e, and Gift of the Magi, a holiday beer brewed with frankincense and myrrh. But these are just a starting point. While many of The Lost Abbey beers are available in bottles year-round or seasonally, Arthur is most renowned for his special releases \u2013 small batch beers aged in oak barrels, fermented with wild yeasts or blended in small batches, some only available at the brewery itself. <\/p>\n
To dive into Lost Abbey beers is to travel on an exciting journey, where each bottle is a different adventure along the way. Even choosing a bottle is an experience, for each beer carries its own back-story. Next time you spot the abbey-like arch gracing a 750-ml bottle, take some time to inspect the artwork and read the story on the label. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou might not understand the IBUs, or the technical aspects of the beer, but the story is the important part,\u201d Arthur says. \u201cThe story is what you\u2019ll remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
Avant Garde<\/strong> Carnevale<\/strong> Angel\u2019s Share<\/strong> Where to find Lost Abbey beers<\/strong> A few for the craft beer calendar<\/strong> May 17-23: A handful of craft beer establishments are celebrating American Craft Beer Week with special offerings. On May 18, Small Bar will have nine \u201cclassic American IPAs\u201d and will offer half pours for $2.50. If the words \u201cUnion Jack,\u201d \u201cSculpin,\u201d \u201cIdiot,\u201d \u201cRanger\u201d and \u201c90 Minutes\u201d entice you, head on over. On May 18, Blind Lady Ale House will unveil Firestone Walker\u2019s Parabola, a much-anticipated barrel-aged Russian imperial stout (also served May 19 at Pizza Port Carlsbad). And Stone Brewing is devoting all 32 taps in its bistro to Southern California craft beers all week. More at americancraftbeerweek.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n May 22-23: If you\u2019re up for a short jaunt to Anaheim, May 22 is the Bruery\u2019s second anniversary. The two-year old brewery is celebrating with four three-hour sessions \u2013 each which will allow guests to sample 10 of some of the Bruery\u2019s standard as well as most unique beers. Tickets are $40 and available at brueryprovisions.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n June 4-5: Once again, it\u2019s time for the Real Ale Festival at Pizza Port Carlsbad. Real ale, or cask-conditioned ale, is served through a traditional hand pump without using carbonation. This festival features 45 cask-conditioned beers, and $25 gets you eight taster tickets and an imperial pint glass. Plan ahead, as this event often sells out. More at pizzaport.com<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Lauren Duffy SDUN Columnist Tomme Arthur leads a double life. As the co-founder of and director of brewery operations for Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey, Arthur oversees two distinct craft beer lines. On the one hand, he pursues bold, boundary-pushing West Coast\u2013style beers under the Port Brewing label. This takes his tenure as […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1312,"featured_media":243433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Hoptown Girl: A traditional Belgian brewery makes its home in San Diego\u2019s North County","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1312"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nAvant Garde is Lost Abbey\u2019s answer to a Biere de Garde, an ale meant for \u201ckeeping.\u201d Driven by the flavor of bread fresh from the oven, this is a beer that is smooth, chewy and comforting. The near-opaque tan hue comes from custom-toasted malt that was roasted in small batches in pizza ovens. Hops play a supporting role; prominent are flavors of honey, toast, and flowers. If you are looking for an introduction to Lost Abbey beers, Avant Garde is an excellent starting point \u2013 Arthur designed this beer to be a \u201cpathway to the artistry and impressionism\u201d that shape Lost Abbey\u2019s approach.<\/p>\n
\nThis annual spring release recently hit shelves, and is a quintessential example of the Lost Abbey style. This twist on the traditional saison incorporates West Coast hops; wild, unruly yeast and a mix of oats, wheat and barley. The first whiff is heady and distinctly yeasty \u2013 characteristic of the wild yeast strain used. The first sip brings crisp, light flavors of wheat and oats, which give way to mild, sweet, tangy fruit. The finish is moist and refreshing \u2013 this is a wonderfully balanced beer that is easy to drink yet full of complexity. <\/p>\n
\nThe Lost Abbey\/Port Brewing has a growing collection of more than 600 bourbon and brandy barrels that they use to age beer; a good portion of them are devoted to Angel\u2019s Share. This annual release is aged for a year in French oak, producing a strong, dark ale, nearly pitch black in color and full of dark coffee, chocolate and vanilla notes. It varies slightly from year to year \u2013 in 2009, it was aged in brandy barrels; the 2010 release was aged in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels. Both are still available at some stores, which makes for a wonderful vertical tasting opportunity. Open this 375 ml bottle after a rich dinner \u2013 enjoy it on its own or pair with a rich chocolate dessert. <\/p>\n
\nA wide selection of Lost Abbey bottles are distributed to the following bottle shops:
\nSuper Jr. Market, 1036 7th Ave., Downtown, bestdamnbeershop.com<\/a>
\nClem\u2019s Bottle House, 4100 Adams Ave., Kensington, clemsbhouse.com<\/a>
\nServ-All Liquor, 1279 University Ave., Hillcrest<\/p>\n
\nMay 16: The annual North Park Festival of the Arts will feature a Craft Beer Block as part of the daylong festivities. For $25 ($30 at the door), sample eight beers and enjoy five tastes of food from area restaurants. From noon to 6 p.m. on Ohio Street. More at Northparkmainstreet.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n