An old response to low/zero carbonation in angels share - Lost Abbey

For those who have not had an opportunity to read this love letter to the Beer Advocate community. I present the Tomme response to low carbonation. (04-30-2009)

Greetings from San Marcos,

It has been two months since we first released the 2008 Brandy Barrel Angels Share in late February. Since that time, we have had numerous complaints about the quality of the beer. Almost every single one of these comments has been due to poorly carbonated bottles of this beer. Many have complained that we had no right in releasing a beer that was under-conditioned. I am going to address numerous points below.

Since we opened our doors in May of 2006, we have received all sorts of emails full of praise as well as complaints about the quality of our beers. These have ranged from diacytel, oxidation, flat to perfect and sublime. It's the highs and lows associated with the wide spectrum of beers that we are producing. In our first year, we produced 800 bbbls of beer and employed three people to do so. It meant that I spent as much time on the bottling line as I did in the brewery. In our second year, we took production to 1800 bbls of beer and did so without upgrading our equipment. This soon came to be a monumental problem as our original bottling line was not capable of handling such a large volume of beer.

Last year, we produced over 3100 bbls of beer using this same packaging line and without fail have taken it to places never imagined by the producer as well as my brewing staff. Late last year, we purchased a used rotary line to replace the one we currently are running. At this time, it is almost operational. We used it on Monday to do a test run of Old Viscosity. When it is operational in the next month, we anticipate many of our problems with bottle consistency will be eradicated. For too many of you, this won't be soon enough as we have reached a "Boycott The Lost Abbey" tipping point. We're sorry it has come to this and hope that someday, our beers will resonate with you enough that you will give us a second or 50th chance if that is the case.

When we opened our doors three years ago, we did so knowing that there would be incredible peaks and valleys associated with a venture such as this. It was patently obvious that breweries who take chances and risks as we have don't always succeed. The voracity of arguments that ensue on BA and Ratebeer about our beers confirms this. People are passionate about their beers. And, they feel very strongly that Lost Abbey beers are too hit and miss for them. The 2008 Angel's Share seems to be the poster child for this.

I have followed Beer Advocate and Ratebeer threads from the beginning as they give us insight as to what is happening in the marketplace all across this country. In many ways, we get a daily snapshot of how our beers are doing from the forums and reviews. And yes, I read them each and every day. It's the first thing I do when I arrive at work each day. I have been silent on this matter almost since the beginning as we have been working on a solution. It has been a damned if you do and damned if you don't scenario. Say too much or say too little?

Several weeks ago, we sent the bottles out to an independent laboratory to have them analyzed to see what was in the bottles. Each bottling (Brandy Angel's and Bourbon Angel's Share x both formats 375 and 750 ml) came back with incredibly viable yeast in the bottle. There also is more than enough yeast in the bottle to do carbonate the beer. So the question remains? What happened to the yeast?

It's hard to say. We're conducting more tests to see what happened. What we know is that the online community of beer consumers feels that The Angel's Share is no longer a beer worthy of their attention. At best the comments seem to indicate that $30 a bottle is highway robbery. Some of you feel this beer is all hype and not worth the attention it garners. Much of this started with the email strings last fall commenting that the 2007 Angel's Share had turned. It did. Why?

Most likely our issue grew out of us reusing the barrels for a second fill. Lesson learned. At this time, all batches of The Angel's Share (whether Bourbon or Brandy aged) are first fill only. We believe this is the only way to make this beer and our experience with the 2007 Brandy Angel's Share confirms this. Are we going to make right on these? I still have a stack of emails of complaints on my desk that says we're going to do just that.

The 2008 Bourbon Barrel version was over carbonated in the bottle and this was due to us priming the bottles with freshly fermenting Angel's Share. Timing our brewing schedule in this way is next to impossible so we doubt this method will be used in again. Fast forward to 2009 and the February release of our 2008 Brandy Barrel Aged Angel's Share. (originally scheduled for a November 2008 release). This bottling shows much lower CO2 production in the bottles. Is it flat? Depends on who you ask. At this time, we're stating for the record, the 750 ml bottles which we sold into distribution were deemed to be sufficiently carbonated. We stand behind them as packaged. "You're fucking high Tomme Arthur. How can you possibly believe this?"

Because we designed the beer to have a less CO2 content that's why. The Angel's Share is an English Style Barleywine. It is designed to have a lower level of CO2 than our other ales and lagers produced at Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey. It's always been this way.

The 2009 Bourbon Barrel Angel's Share has been bottled and shows low conditioning as well. Due to the Shit storm surrounding Angel's Share, it will be held back.

We will not be releasing bottles of this beer nor bottles of Cuvee de Tomme at our Anniversary Party on May 9th as the glass got here last week and we haven't had a chance to package the beer. Both Bourbon and Brandy Barrel Angel's Share along with Cuvee will be on tap at the party. Each of these draft versions will be force carbonated. This means they will have more gas in them then our bottled beers. This is by design. As they are not conditioning with live yeast in them (maturing in the bottle) they are sent to the taps in a ready to consume manner.

We expect to have a major release party in June for Bottled Bourbon Angel's, Cuvee and even Older Viscosity if all goes well between now and then. It's possible that no one will show up and spend their hard earned money on our beers when we they are released. We get that. It's one of the risks of running a business. But I believe we'll be fine. I have to. It's what I do each and everyday when I get out of bed. I head to work and know there's going to good and bad each day.

Before signing off, I will reiterate that we are not sitting back looking to screw an entire community of beer drinkers. Should you wish to discuss this matter with me personally my email is Brewboy1@aol.com

Thanks

Tomme Arthur
Director of Brewery Operations
Port Brewing Co. and The Lost Abbey
San Marcos, CA. 92069