My brother came to California this past Friday, and I was pretty geeked up about it.  For that reason, I contacted Sage from the Lost Abbey to see what sort of semi-sunken treasures were available for our visit.  I wrote him about two weeks prior to our visit and two days before our visit.  Of course he remembered speaking to me via email.  He simply told me to ask for him at the bar.

Once we arrived, I asked for Sage and he pointed me to Terri, his wife and the tasting room manger.  She quickly told me to come with her across the parking lot to another building where good things are kept.  After she located some beers she herself had stashed, she revealed that she had a bottle of Isabel Proximus and 2004 Veritas.  Not too shabby at all. She told us that she needed to chill them for a bit in order to get the brews ready and asked if we would like a beer in the meantime. After drinking our Mongo IPAs, the beer was ready and it was a terrific afternoon.

What’s the moral of the story? Is it to make you feel I had something you didn’t or to brag about myself on a beer network that is about the comparative exploits of one beer geek (or snob) vs. another?  No in fact, it is quite the opposite.  It is to point out that what makes beer culture a great one is that great beer can be enjoyed because of the accessible beer people.  I should mention that Tomme came over and talked for a minute, Sage chatted for a moment, and Terri was the most helpful of all. They were all obviously very busy with their responsibilities of running the tasting room, working with the various tour groups, and kegging the beer we all love so much.  Yet they took the time to be engaging and far more accommodating than they had to be.

I simply cannot commend the staff of the Lost Abbey to with any more enthusiasm.  If you live within a couple hours of San Marcos, you really should visit them and show your support.  You might not get a bottle of a rare beer when you go, but you will certainly get more than you’ve come to expect from other brewers.