We had friends over this weekend, beer loving/brewing friends, so I broke out the higher-alcohol Lost Abbey beers to share, starting with 10 Commandments. This is a 9% alcohol Belgian strong ale, notably one of the ones brewed with raisins. Actually, more than just raisins; their press release says

a Belgian-style dark farmhouse brewed with raisins, fresh rosemary and honey. As an added twist, a secondary wild yeast was also added to the brew during bottling.

That’s impressive; I don’t believe I’ve ever seen rosemary as an ingredient in beer before. My notes on this and the next two are sparse; ultimately I had to pay more attention to our guests. :)

Appearance: Brown at first look, but a deep plum and clear when held to the light.

Smell: Sourish, definite raisin and dark fruit.

Taste: Dark, sourish with that dark fruit, and malty, masks the alcohol completely. Oh, spoke too soon… it’s warming up and definitely has a brandy character.

Mouthfeel: Thinner than I would expect from the high alcohol and extras. But that warming character of the alcohol comes through.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores 88 out of 100, with 100% approval. On RateBeer, it scores 3.85 out of 5 and lands in their 96th percentile.