There are only a handful of brewers whose very names ring as icons. Tomme Arthur, co-founder of Lost Abbey, is one of those. An astonishing number of people I’ve interviewed over the last six years have credited Arthur for their own success, for pushing the envelope of San Diego brewing, and for making excellent beers year after year.
For me, this legend has been a bit elusive. From pandemic interruptions, to missed appointments, to stars that wouldn’t quite align, I have missed my chance to interview him time and time again. I saw the opening of the new venue as a chance to finally get that seat at the bar with him.
Despite the heat and a pressing schedule, Arthur was just as gracious a host and a wealth of San Diego beer knowledge as I had imagined he’d be. At the new Lost Abbey location at 1347 Keystone Way in Vista, and over a lineup of new and vintage Lost Abbey beers, we got to talking.
ILB: You’re not comfortable with the term icon, are you?
Arthur: You use the word icon, I use the word old.
ILB: Well, you’ve been at this a while, that’s true. How long has your journey in beer been?
Arthur: If we should be lucky enough to celebrate next year, it will be our 20th year in business and my 30th year in the industry.
ILB: The way you said that, ‘If we are lucky enough,’ says a lot about the beer industry right now.
Arthur: It’s not a foregone conclusion. Tomorrow is not given. We have a lot of work to do, but that’s what’s so exciting about this new space. This Keystone location gives us a real path to some cool stuff, and I’m pretty excited about that.
ILB: I see the Lost Abbey aesthetic is starting to come together here.
Arthur: We are working on it. It doesn’t scream Lost Abbey just yet, but we’re sprinkling in some of our stuff as you can see.
ILB: I’ve been waiting a long time to hear the Lost Abbey origin story from you.
Arthur: It’s a two-part story. My partner, Vince (Marsaglia, co-founder of Pizza Port), came up with the name. It was Lost Abbey because there were no real monks, no church, and no real abbey associated with it. That name sort of struck me. I grew up Catholic, and I just really fell in love with the idea of having a Belgian-inspired brewery and using the stories of the Bible to create a narrative.
ILB: The Belgian style, for those that find their way to it, is something special, isn’t it?
Arthur: I distinctly remember the first ones (Belgian ales) that I tried. Every single one of them was different. It was just, Wow! These are the most interesting beers on the shelf. I fell in love with them every time I had one.
ILB: What does this new venue allow?
Arthur: At our old San Marcos location, we could host cool parties and events. This gets us back to that kind of vibe. But it’s nicer and much more hospitable. We have some things to move around, and we will color the walls the way we want. We’re going to lean heavily into this space to align with our heritage.
ILB: Besides the look, what will that mean for beers?
Arthur: That’s going to involve a lot of cellar beers and special things coming out to make this a destination mecca.
ILB: What are the beers here you’ve poured for me?
Arthur: Noble Tendencies, our Czech-style pilsner; then Unseen Things, a rye IPA; then Carnival, which is our current seasonal, a dry-hop Brett saison. And we have our Duck Duck Goose 2025.
(Duck Duck Goose 2025 is a blend of one-, two- and three-year-old beers. An homage to the Gose style. It is amazing.)
ILB: So Belgians are the specialty, but there’s everything here at Lost Abbey.
Arthur: Yes, absolutely. Noble Tendencies, the Czech pils, was a beer for which our former head brewer, Steve Burchill, wrote the recipe. It became a shift beer, a brewer’s beer. Originally, it was never designed to go to market. But we had it on tap, and as more people started drinking and liking it, we went to market with it. Now, it’s our flagship lager.
Two more visits to Lost Abbey to closely inspect the rest of the beer lineup left me even more impressed with what Arthur and his team are brewing. I highly recommend Taco Tuesdays for great food and $6 pints.
Jeff Spanier is the co-host of I Like Beer the Podcast. Follow Spanier’s adventures on Instagram @ilikebeerthepodcast.
