The Port Brewing/Lost Abbey tasting room may very well be one of the first venues to employ ambassadors from different species. As you step into the cool, cavernous warehouse you’ll notice the two resident cats faithfully executing their Bio-Dynamic Pest Control duties, while Nigel the French bulldog stoically nods his head from where he’s tethered to a stack of oak barrels. You’ve entered a Trappist style monastery of ale, where even the animals have a role to perform.
Mercurial as it is, the Port/ Lost Abbey Brewing Company is also devoid of pretence, which adds to its appeal. The tasting room stands in an unadorned corner of the warehouse, framed by stainless steel fermentors and oak barrels used for aging the Lost Abbey Belgian style ales.
The earliest manifestation of the brewery occurred in 1992, when Vince and Gina Marsaglia began crafting and selling brews on location at Solana Beach’s Pizza Port. The hoppy West Coast style beers soon became so popular that two other Pizza Ports sprang up in Carlsbad and San Clemente.
San Diego couldn’t get enough of the brews, and beer quaffers demanded Port beers that could be purchased in other venues besides the pizzeria. The brewmasters obliged and moved into their San Marcos location (incidentally, the original location of Stone Brewery.) Rather than stop there, the Port brewers conceived of their next progeny: Lost Abbey. These Belgian abbey style ales serve as a counterpoint to the West Coast style beers to be found in Pizza Port, and encompass a complex spectrum of tastes.
Consummate your love for craft brews by tasting everything Port and Lost Abbey have to offer, straight from the wellspring.
- M. Spencer Wolf
Brewery Information
- Hours:
- Friday 4:00-8:00 p.m., Saturday 12:00-5:00 p.m.
- Contact:
- Location: 155 Mata Way, Suite 104 San Marcos, California 92069
- Phone: 800-918-6816
- Website: www.portbrewing.com and www.lostabbey.com
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