Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
You can count on The Bruery to use intriguing ingredient combinations and collaborators too.
Coming this year is Girl Grey, an 8.5 percent ABV Belgian-style ale brewed with lactose, almonds and earl grey tea.
The collaborator is Brooke Williamson, a past contestant on Top Chef and the executive chef and owner of California restaurants Hudson House, The Tripel, Playa Provisions and Da Kikokiko.
The Bruery has finally made it into double digits and in a few short years will be done with this damn song! This year the Lords are A Leaping.
Bruery Terreux is opening up their orchard (and their raspberry bushes) for a new sour spiced Wit. SSW is catchy right? This sounds like a nice mix of flavors. Could be an excellent Thanksgiving beer.
Right on time, The Bruery sent me a bottle of the latest Black Tuesday for Barrel-Aged Beer Day earlier this month.
I unfortunately could not crack it open that day but I scheduled it for a long, lazy Sunday. Here are my results…
2017 pours with some loud powerful bubbles. This is the same boozy bourbon load that I remember. But those bubbles add a bit of a cola note chocolate and coconut abound. And it packs heat going down. That espresso head disappears with a quickness. Not as viscous when coming out of chilled to more room temp. Jet black in color.
Yes, I did review a pumpkin beer in September but thankfully the too early onslaught did not materialize this year. Leaving me feeling more disposed to talk of them before Halloween.
~ e-visits to three breweries from Oakland in solidarity against Trump and Golden Road.
~ special featured reviews of pumpkin and seasonal beers.
~ Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ A Book & A Beer reads Safe by Ryan Gattis
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.
Here are two events to get your October started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) October 6th – Barrel-Aged Beer Day – The Bruery
2) October 7th – Oktoberfest at Enegren Brewing
I highlight this beer from frequent and promiscuous collaborators Bruery Terreux and Garage Project due to two ingredients spied on the label, chamomile and lemon balm. I have had a couple tea beers and I especially like chamomile so I will be on the look-out for this one.
Instead of draining the swamp, looks like the The Bruery is going to try to fill it. They will be opening an East Coast outlet (sans brewery) and call it The Bruery at Union Market.
It will be in an “urban village” which I assume is code for recently gentrified area.
This store will allow for online and offline beer pickup and purchases of beers from all three brands: Bruery, Bruery Terreux and Offshoot Beer Co. and there will potentially be up to 8 rotating taps for growler/crowler fills and the merch as well.
What caught my eye was at the end, that the Bruery @ Union Market would be a shared space with a retail partner. Food? Wine or Spirits?
Will this end up being a model for the Bruery in other locations?
This news item from The Bruery did appear on April Fool’s Day and unlike the other attempts at humor, (Some succeeded more than others) it seemed even more fake. I mean, what brewery has shied away from hops more than The Bruery. (shade thrown) We all sorta talk about canning IPAs or their hazy brethren that seems more business decision or credit card for equipment purchase.
But a few days past the Fools and no retraction or gotcha seemed forthcoming, so lets sort through the beers listed from OffShoot Beer Company.
Fashionably Late™ a juicy, hazy IPA
Hops: Citra, El Dorado, and Mandarina Bavaria
Malts: Two-Row and Pale Wheat malts, rolled oats
Yeast: S-04
ABV: 6.5%
Better Late Than Never™ a juicy, hazy Double IPA
Hops: Mosaic, Vic Secret, Citra
Malts: Golden Promise, Wheat Malt
Yeast: BSI-Barbarian
ABV: 8.5%
with another pair….
Out of Context™
IPA with a West Coast personality and Western World malt bill, featuring Vienna malt, a light haze, a slightly bitter personality and equal heaps of Simcoe, El Dorado and African Queen hops.
Perjury™
Double dry-hopped Double IPA, fabricated from a malt bill featuring two-row, pilsner malt and oats, and an intense, fruity hop character forged from heavy doses of Simcoe, Citra and a dash Huell Melon.
Delayed Gratification™
Juicy East Coast-style IPA, with impeccable timing and mouthfeel, thanks to a malt bill featuring two-row, wheat and oats, and a fruity yeast character complemented primarily by Citra, with El Dorado and Mandarina Bavaria hops.
Thanks to the generosity of The Bruery (shout out to Cambria), I got to sample the latest Share This offering: OC.
For the third iteration of this charitable series, Food Forward is the beneficiary to help with their aim of getting overabundant food off of neighborhood trees and to people who can use it.
OC has orange zest, TCHO cacao nibs and vanilla beans and it pours nearly black/dark brown. Of the three added flavors, the vanilla comes through the strongest, the cacao is strong too but there is much more of a lactose, smooth almost milkshake flavor to this beer. I wish that the orange zest was more present to add another layer to the vanilla and chocolate.
Recent Bruery beers have been tongue tingling sweet but OC steers clear of that trap without losing the strong flavors. This perfect as an Easter beer.
If you have never had Chocolate Rain from The Bruery. It probably wasn’t due to lack of effort. Unless you were a member of one of the Bruery Societies or knew someone that was, or knew someone that knew someone, well you probably didn’t see a bottle in the wild.
Now that is changing. It still won’t be easy, but it will be easier as The Bruery has released the details on the first ever public release of Chocolate Rain, which will happen on Friday, March 24, 2017.
Head to one of the two Bruery tasting rooms or online right HERE and at 10am they will start selling the bottles of the Rain with a (3) bottle limit per person. Make sure that if you buy online that you can only ship IN California.
Details may change so check out the Bruery Blog while you make your plans.