Lost Abbey Cable Car
You’ve made it to 547 Haight Street. This destination is more San Francisco than Rice A Roni, Chinatown, and Lombard Street combined. Welcome to Broadway for brewers everywhere. Everyone who is anyone has poured their kegs here. For the last 20 years, this place has launched careers, confirmed legacies, and since 1987 the only name you need to know is David Keene.
Take a seat. Tip Strong. Nod appreciatively and don’t ask stupid questions. Welcome to Big Daddy’s House known to most simply as "The T-Room." Here the bartenders are fluent in English, German, Flemish, French, Waloon and Czech. But they’re most known for their American Lip Service. Watch it. The lady with the jet black hair behind the bar eats idiots for lunch.
At 547 Haight Street, you won’t find any Cable Cars except for this one. But if you’re standing outside the Dutch Doors of the World Famous Toranado, you surely found the most interesting place in all San Francisco. Its’ about RESPECT. Dave you continue to have ours. Here’s to 20 more years of punishing livers everywhere.
Cheers
Gina, Jim, Tomme, Vince and the Brewers of Port Brewing
Take a seat. Tip Strong. Nod appreciatively and don’t ask stupid questions. Welcome to Big Daddy’s House known to most simply as "The T-Room." Here the bartenders are fluent in English, German, Flemish, French, Waloon and Czech. But they’re most known for their American Lip Service. Watch it. The lady with the jet black hair behind the bar eats idiots for lunch.
At 547 Haight Street, you won’t find any Cable Cars except for this one. But if you’re standing outside the Dutch Doors of the World Famous Toranado, you surely found the most interesting place in all San Francisco. Its’ about RESPECT. Dave you continue to have ours. Here’s to 20 more years of punishing livers everywhere.
Cheers
Gina, Jim, Tomme, Vince and the Brewers of Port Brewing
4.2
453 reviews
San Marcos, United States
Community reviews
2017 vintage at toronadp San Diego. $80 it does not ever go lower on price . Yes a perfectly clean golden sour.
On tap @ Toronado Seattle, 2017 version. Pours clear light golden with very thin watery white head. Aroma is fresh cut green apples, raw oak, ripe white grapes. Taste is super crisp, super light, oaky and vinous, earthy and rustic without being funky. Bracingly, deliciously tart without being palate destroying. Really stoked to finally try this. I’m sure older bottles would be amazing as well. It is outstanding, though clearly not worth the astronomical prices at Toronado(s) or on the secondary market. Never seen it at Lost Abbey but I believe it’s rarely available there, perhaps at a more reasonable price. I guess in a sense you’re paying for the rarity.
At Hopishop 2017. Thank you kind stranger, for lending me a few sips. Aroma has tart, citrus, horseblanket and funky hay. Taste of citrus, funky hay, horseblanket, tart, oak, white grape and a long finish. Very refined and flavorful, worthy of the praise it often gets.
Proevertje op BUMBa 2017. Goudgeel van kleur. Funky aroma. Beetje appel, citroen. Lekkere droge afdronk. Mooie sour.
Bottle at Toronado. Golden color, white head. Sour taste with citrus, tart, ripe fruits, sour apple, grass, a bit of spices and white berries. Sour finish with white berries, grass, sour apple, ripe fruits, grass and a bit of tart. Exquisite sour ale.
Bottle. Pours a slightly hazy golden color with a small white head. Has a fruity sour tart woody weak funky aroma. Fruity sour tart woody flavor. Has a fruity malty woody sour tart funky finish with weak hints of citrus.
Pours clear golden with minimal white head
Aromas tart of over ripe fruits, peach, citrusy fruits, light earth, garden leaves
Taste has tart notes of citrusy fruits, peach, apricot, over ripe fruits, hay,
Mouthfeel is tart, medium sweet with no bitterness and average carbonated
Pours clear golden with a low white head. Aromas of green grapes, garden branch, sour notes, green apples, green grapes, farmhouse. Taste is fruity and quite sour with oak notes and floral tones. Mouthfeel is light bodied with moderate carbonation and some light oiliness.
750 ml bottle at Toronado, San Francisco, v2016. Clear golden color with white head. Aroma is malty, hoppy and yeasty, funky, floral, perfume notes, citryusy fruity and stone fruits, grass, wood, some grain and caramel notes. Light sweet, acidic and light bitter taste like aroma. Almost medium oily body with soft carbonation.
Poured a murky medium amber with no head. Aroma of sour berries. Medium body, flavour is very sour with a dry, sweet end.
Yup. Had it twice, both on-tap @ Toronado SD. Mind’s been blown twice. Coincidence?
2016 vintage Pours a clear orange with a thin white lacing. The aroma is vinegar, cider/apples, lemon and oak. Rather tart and somewhat lactic with a thin yet fluffy mouthfeel.
As it opens/warms there is definitely some grape and tree bark. This is a well made beer, but it lacks the complexity other beers within the genre
Sampled at GABF 2016 (from a 2015 bottle). Pale yellow pour with virtually no head. Aroma of white zinfandel, lemon zest, and oak. Taste is tart with notes of lemon, white grape, and apple cider but quickly fades due to the oaky undercurrent. A great sour.
(Provenant d’une bouteille au Toronado S.D): Plusieurs couches bactériennes mentholées, citriques dans un ensemble assez gras et stable. Vraiment pas trop d’acidité, corps entier et verdure complexe qui accompagne tout le long.
Tart lemon aroma. Chalky golden color with a white head. Taste is a bit much on the lemony tart side.
Notes: On tap at tell Denver Rare Beer Tasting for GABF week ’15
Bottle at Liquid Sunshine. Hazy yellow, small foam. lovely rich sour, particular age on this. Sweet, medium tart, acidity. Very tasty, a bit oxidized perhaps. Lemon.
Pours hazy dark orange with a thin line of white head. Aroma; Apricot, lime, peach, grapes, oak and orange. Taste; Apricot, lime, grapes, tart, oak and grapes...
May 28, 2016. Bottle, vintage 2012, thanks!
Light hazy dark orange with a small white head. Aroma is tart, fruity, lemon, apricot, grape skins, oak, hay, some light funky notes with some barnyard and leather notes.
Taste is tart, slight dry, fruity. Sour lemon juice finish with dry oak notes,, grape skins, apricot pulp, some leather and funk notes. Light bodied, average carbonation.
Very fruity for not being fruited.
Bottle courtesy of linusb. Pours hazy burnt golden with a fairly small frothy offwhite head that leaves plenty of spotty trace on the glass while dissiapting. Smell is fruity and funky with sourdough crackers, lemon juice, stone fruits, white grapes, moist wood, hay, dry soil, barnyard, leather, lemon zest and hints of rubber. Taste is sour, tiny malty, fruity and funky. Mouthfeel is dry, tart, slightly fruit skin astringent and light to medium bodied. Finish is sour with lemon juice, apricots and complex barrel and funk character. Love the balance between a simple bright citric and stone fruit forward US sour and almost gueuze-like funk. Yum!
A: Light clouded orange colour with a thin white lacing. N: Oak, orange, apricot, cherry T: Apricot, lemon, oak, orange O: Very nice tartness with loads if fruityness! Love it!!
Bottle at Liquid On tap at the source in Seattle-USA. Bottle. Yellow cloudy pale pour, little white foam. Nose: fruity, apricot, funk. Mouth: mild body of Brett, peppery finish a bit chili.
@ Toronado 16-3-4: härlig syrlighet med toner av grape och gräs. Elegant balanserad med en trevlig eftersmak. Underbar.
Bottle at Toronado, vintage 2014. Hazy golden with a small white head. Nice aroma of funk, citrus and hay. Similar taste. Elegant and nicely balanced. Really a great one, I am glad that i finally tried it. (the bottle cost 80 usd)
Bottle at Toronado. 2014. Nose is full of funky, barny, hay, light lemon. A hint of cheese. Moderately hazy yellow with a medium white head. Taste is a wonderful compliment of hay, zesty citrus, lightly sour, and funk. Just amazing. Everything I dreamed it would be. wow
Bottle - Funky stone fruit. Cloudy gold with a decent white head. Tons of tart stone fruit, light acidity and a bit of a dry finish. Nice and balanced.
Thanks Toby for this. Pours out a hazy straw with almost no head. Aroma is funky tart and horse blanket. Flavor is just like the aroma. Tart and delicious.
750ml bottle thanks to Toby. pours out a cloudy wheat color with a ring of head. Nose is great fruit tart some sweetness lots of funky sour notes. Taste is more of the sour tartness some fruit peach apricot great.
2014 bottle at Toronado in SF. Pours a hazy light orange deep golden color with an off white head. Big sour aroma and flavor that lingers long into the finish, but not much character otherwise. Great beer overall, but honestly a bit disappointed seeing as that it hits #1 on the top 50 sours. Glad I got to try it though.
I’ve fortunate to have tried the first version of Cable Car and many others. Continues to be one of the best american sours. Perfect level of tartness and level of carbonation. Taste is that very sour, bitter and tart sour ale. Hit it hits your palate with a major hit of that tartness but leaves you wanting more. Look forward to trying new versions if made going forward. Cheers!
Draught at Toronado, San Diego during SDBW 2015. Clear pale golden beer with almost no head. Sour grapefruit aroma, tart, citrus, funky woody, grapes, vinous notes, oak, hay notes. Sour grapefruit flavor, tart, raisins, woody, funky, grapes, oak, vinous, cheesy, lemon zest notes. Great balance in this one, glad to have tried it.