About three years ago (I think) good old Jeff Evans came for a visit, and he brought beer. Local beer, to be precise, but from his locale to mine. One of the beers he brought was Lost Hog Belgian Style Dark Ale from the Lost Rhino brewery. This is a special beer indeed, aged in wine barrels and in the case of my bottle, aged in port wine bottles.

I set my bottle aside, then it got into my garage beer fridge, and now for Christmas of 2017 I decided the time had come to drink it. It could have easily gone longer, I think, but as it was it was truly drinking wonderfully at three plus years of age. Here’s what Lost Rhino says about the series:

Back in 1992, as the craft beer revolution was gaining momentum in and near our nation's captial, an enthusiastic group of homebrewers in Northern Virginia founded The Wort Hogs Homebrewing Club. From the begining, homebrewers have had the support of craftbrewing professionals and together the pros and amateurs have grown their numbers immensely. To celebrate and acknowledge that wonderful pro-am cooperation, Lost Rhino and The Wort Hogs have collaborated to brew The Wort Hogs 20th Anniversary Ale. Raise a glass of Dark Strong and toast our 20 great years together and 20 more to come. Want to homebrew? Go to www.WortHogs.com

Lost Hog is no longer in production, at least not right now, and more’s the pity for that. I am glad I got to try a bottle as this was a truly spectacular beer. It has an alcohol content of 9% by volume with 25 IBUs.

Lost Hog Belgian Style Dark Ale Aged in Port Wine Barrels pours to a dark ruby reddish-brown color with a medium head formation and a lush nose of raisins, brown sugar and port wine. I say medium head formation, but this beer was a gusher when I popped it. Foam and liquid erupted from the bottle, and foam kept coming forth. I would sip it off, and it would just produce more until I finally decanted. Taking a sip (finally) from my glass, the beer has wonderfully rich notes of dark fruity raisin, brown bread soaked in port wine, fruit cake, brown sugar, and then more rich warming port in the finish.

Magnificent! This I a beer I would definitely buy more of, if they still made it, and if I was in Virginia to buy it. If they bring it back, I might just drive there to get some.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft