The Lost Abbey's Lost & Found Abbey Ale

One of the members of my homebrewing club took a trip up to Pennsylvania a while back and brought a bunch of bottles of beer we could not find down here in Central Virginia. He was kind enough to offer several bottles of Lost Abbey and Russian River beer for sale to club members, at the cost he paid for them. I took him up on the offer and picked up a bottle of Lost Abbey Lost & Found Ale. I have previously had Lost Abbey's Devotion Ale, but that was the only one of their offerings I have sampled.

Here is what The Lost Abbey says about the beer (http://www.lostabbey.com/lost-abbey-beers/year-round-beers/lost-and-found-abbey-ale/):

"Lost and Found- Modeled after the great Trappist and Monastic beers that inspired the founding of our brewery. A richly deep garnet colored ale created from a blend of Domestic and imported malts. As part of our commitment to interesting brewing endeavors, Chef Vince created a special raisin puree for this beer. Malts, raisins and a fantastic yeast strain working in harmony produce a beer of amazing complexity and depth. Available in 750ml bottles and on draft at select inspired locations.

OG- 1.065 TG- 1.010 7.5% ABV [bottle shows 8.0%]

Malts- Two Row, Wheat, Medium and Dark English Crystal, Special B and Chocolate Malt.
Hops- German Magnum and German Tettnang
Yeast- Proprietary Belgian Ale Strain
Adjuncts- Dextrose and Chef Vince’s Raisin Puree."

The beer pours a cloudy deep garnet color, with a thick off white head. The head itself has very course bubbles in it, looking almost like a sponge. The head dissipated rather quickly and did not leave any lacing on the sides of the glass. However, after the bulk of head evaporated, there was a thin lair of tighter bubbles that lasted through out the tasting. The aroma is very complex, including dark brown sugar, bitter herbs, raisins, and some funk.

The taste begins with the flavor you get from brown sugar, if you imagined taking the sweetness out the equation. I get a definite raisin flavor next, which has some sweetness that lingers on the tongue. I also get a lot of carbonation in the taste at this point, much like tiny pin pricks on the tip of my tongue. The end of the flavor has more raisins, but finishes dry with a little alcohol warming. I was actually surprised at how well the beer hid the alcohol, as I would have expected to taste more at 8.0% ABV.

All in all, I liked the beer. I remember liking Devotion a more for its pillowy body and smooth drinkability. But I would recommend trying Lost & Found, if you can find it.