APTOS, CA – On a recent rainy night, Aptos St BBQ closed out the

year with its finest craft beer event to date, a Port Brewing/Lost

Abbey Tap Takeover. The event featured sixteen unique Port

Brewing/Lost Abbey beers many of which are rare barrel aged and

sour beers. The list was so impressive it even caught the attention of

the visionary Port/Lost Abbey co-founder and brewmaster, Tomme

Arthur who flew from San Diego to attend the event. “You’d never

even find a selection like this in our own tasting room,” marveled

Arthur.

The draft list included many Lost Abbey classics including Cuvée de

Tomme, Red Poppy and Framboise De Amarosa, but the true

standouts were the one-off brews most notably Spontaneous Cheer

(a sour ale made with white peaches) and Track #8 (a bourbon barrel

aged ale with cinnamon and dried chili).

Sipping on Merry Taj and Mongo, Tomme Arthur stayed late into the

night discussing the origins of his brews, signing bottles and talking

hops with local attendees including Sante Adairius co-founder and

brewmaster Tim Clifford. Other notable industry guests included Mia

& Dave Bossie from 99 Bottles and the management team of Beer

Thirty. Some guests brought and shared their most treasured Lost

Abbey bottles including Veritas 007, which Tomme pointed out might be worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $1000.

Over the course of the evening Arthur offered a glimpse into the future. Beginning in February, Port/Lost Abbey will launch a third brand, The Hop Concept Brewing. The first beers to be released will be the Hop Freshener Series. Each beer will explore different hop

combinations and act as a kind of hop tutorial. “And that’s what we’re aiming to do with our Hop Freshener Series. Consumers will be told directly through the name of the beer what they can expect. And by

committing to small one-time batches, we expect the freshest beer will always be in their glass”, explained Arthur. The series will include Dank and Sticky IPA (February), Citrus and Piney IPA (May), Lemon

and Grassy IPA (August), and Tropical and Juicy (November).