Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Biere de Gourde

The Lost Abbey debuts first draft of pumpkin-infused Belgian-style Brett beer

Place

Lost Abbey

155 Mata Way #104, San Marcos

It’s pumpkin beer season, which means breweries around the country will offer their spins on autumnal harvest-themed brews. Because pumpkin is such a popular and familiar ingredient, these beers are easy to love. They envelop the palate like a long-lost friend an imbiber hasn’t had contact with in nine months. Adding to both the appeal of and disdain of pumpkin beers is the fact most simply taste like pumpkin pie. Pumpkin itself isn’t all that flavorful and contributes very little to a finished beer, thus, it’s the spices a brewery uses—often cinnamon and nutmeg—that come through in the end. Add in some residual sweetness from caramely malts and all one needs is some Cool Whip to complete the liquid incarnation of their annual Thanksgiving meal closer. Some are way into the pumpkin pie thing, but a significant portion of the craft beer-drinking population crave more. And that’s just what provided by legendary North County brewing company, The Lost Abbey’s Avant Gourde Ale.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Nearly everything about this 7.25% ABV pumpkin beer (the legend of which was first foretold of last August) is different from its ubiquitous standard-issue cousins. For starters, it’s a Belgian-style brew; a biere de garde to be exact. The Lost Abbey references its year-round biere de garde, Avant Garde Ale, but this is more than that beer with some fall produce crammed in for kicks. Seventy-five pounds of pumpkin puree per 30-barrel batch was added plus additional pumpkin during primary fermentation. Post fermentation, specially trained yeast, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, crushed nutmeg, whole cloves, allspice, and dried orange peel, both sweet and bitter, were added. All of those, especially the more volatile cinnamon and cloves smack one in the face as they bring a fresh, garnet-hued pint of this beer in for a sip. As one would expect, the spices are similarly potent on the palate. But wait, there’s more.

Avant Gourde is made even more outlandish by pumpkin beer standards thanks to Brettanomyces (you remember this form of wild yeast, right?). Fresh from the bright tanks, the Brett brought on a subtle tartness that works with the orange peel and fruity Belgian yeast esters to provide a nice contrasting element to the otherwise semisweet beer. As time goes by, the Brett will continue to alter the beer in new and interesting ways. It would be a great beer to cellar, but this year, it’s a draft-only creation that is currently on tap at Port Brewing Company / The Lost Abbey’s San Marcos tasting room, and should make its way out to key keg accounts by next weekend. The company says it will likely bottle the beer next year and, in doing so, change the points at which certain spices are added during the brewing process to make the beer even better. Even as a first draft, it’s extremely tasty and, like an award-winning Jack O’ Lantern, truly a cut above.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The Digital Currency Wave Hits the Shores of San Diego

Place

Lost Abbey

155 Mata Way #104, San Marcos

It’s pumpkin beer season, which means breweries around the country will offer their spins on autumnal harvest-themed brews. Because pumpkin is such a popular and familiar ingredient, these beers are easy to love. They envelop the palate like a long-lost friend an imbiber hasn’t had contact with in nine months. Adding to both the appeal of and disdain of pumpkin beers is the fact most simply taste like pumpkin pie. Pumpkin itself isn’t all that flavorful and contributes very little to a finished beer, thus, it’s the spices a brewery uses—often cinnamon and nutmeg—that come through in the end. Add in some residual sweetness from caramely malts and all one needs is some Cool Whip to complete the liquid incarnation of their annual Thanksgiving meal closer. Some are way into the pumpkin pie thing, but a significant portion of the craft beer-drinking population crave more. And that’s just what provided by legendary North County brewing company, The Lost Abbey’s Avant Gourde Ale.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Nearly everything about this 7.25% ABV pumpkin beer (the legend of which was first foretold of last August) is different from its ubiquitous standard-issue cousins. For starters, it’s a Belgian-style brew; a biere de garde to be exact. The Lost Abbey references its year-round biere de garde, Avant Garde Ale, but this is more than that beer with some fall produce crammed in for kicks. Seventy-five pounds of pumpkin puree per 30-barrel batch was added plus additional pumpkin during primary fermentation. Post fermentation, specially trained yeast, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, crushed nutmeg, whole cloves, allspice, and dried orange peel, both sweet and bitter, were added. All of those, especially the more volatile cinnamon and cloves smack one in the face as they bring a fresh, garnet-hued pint of this beer in for a sip. As one would expect, the spices are similarly potent on the palate. But wait, there’s more.

Avant Gourde is made even more outlandish by pumpkin beer standards thanks to Brettanomyces (you remember this form of wild yeast, right?). Fresh from the bright tanks, the Brett brought on a subtle tartness that works with the orange peel and fruity Belgian yeast esters to provide a nice contrasting element to the otherwise semisweet beer. As time goes by, the Brett will continue to alter the beer in new and interesting ways. It would be a great beer to cellar, but this year, it’s a draft-only creation that is currently on tap at Port Brewing Company / The Lost Abbey’s San Marcos tasting room, and should make its way out to key keg accounts by next weekend. The company says it will likely bottle the beer next year and, in doing so, change the points at which certain spices are added during the brewing process to make the beer even better. Even as a first draft, it’s extremely tasty and, like an award-winning Jack O’ Lantern, truly a cut above.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Pet pig perches in pocket

Escondido doula gets a taste of celebrity
Next Article

Not enough Readers in Mission Beach

Mayor Todd Gloria's skin color
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.