Category Archives: The Bruery

The Bruery So Happens It’s Tuesday

Brewery: The Bruery
Country: USA
ABV: 14.6%
Style: Stout – Imperial
Other Notes: Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels. A dark and delicious display of rich malt, toasty oak flavors and vanilla-like notes from extended aging in bourbon barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Our infamous Black Tuesday® stout is named in honor of the great stock market crash of 1929. So Happens It’s Tuesday™ is similarly dark and delicious, but in a more affable format, reminding us that there is always a bit of good to be found within the bad. Things happen, life goes on. This beer can be enjoyed in all of those moments and seasons.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.46
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml bottle, with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a thin tanned head that had decent retention but settled to a ring around the glass while leaving some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Chocolate, cocoa, vanilla, oak, bourbon, with notes of prunes and other dark fruits.
Taste: As you’d expect from the aroma, lightly sweet, chocolate, cocoa, bourbon, vanilla, oak, dark fruit, prunes.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, medium to full bodied, with low carbonation.
Overall: It’s well balanced and dangerously drinkable at 14.6% ABV. As temperatures drop again, this was an enjoyable sipper that provides a comfortable warming feeling.

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The Bruery Mélange No. 3

Brewery: The Bruery
Country: USA
ABV: 16.3%
Style: American Strong Ale
Other Notes: Ale aged in bourbon barrels. Black Tuesday®, our Anniversary ale and our wheatwine-style ale intertwine in this time-tested exploration in the art of the blend.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Our Mélange series is at the core of our experimentation with flavors that cannot be achieved outside of the art of the blend or by any one beer. This is one of our original mélanges at its very finest. Mélange No. 3 is a blend of three ales with the longest lineage in our bourbon barrel-aging program: Black Tuesday®, our Anniversary Series old ale and our wheatwine-style ale.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.28
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml bottle, 2017 edition, bottled on 1st February 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A cloudy brown colour with an orange tint and a one finger beige/khaki head that dissipates fairly quickly, while leaving some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Sweet, caramel, toffee, molasses, bourbon, dark fruit, raisins, prunes, chocolate, oak, vanilla, with light coconut notes.
Taste: As you’d expect from the aroma, sweet, bourbon, caramel, toffee, molasses, chocolate, dark fruit, raisins, prunes, oak, vanilla, and a splash of coconut and orange.
Mouthfeel: Full to medium bodied with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: An enjoyable sipper, with great aromas, but perhaps a touch too sweet for my palate.

The Bruery White Chocolate

Brewery: The Bruery
Country: USA
ABV: 13.8%
Style: Wheatwine
Other Notes: Ale aged in bourbon barrels with cacao nibs and vanilla beans. This bourbon barrel-aged wheatwine-style ale made a fanciful trip to the chocolatier, featuring cacao nibs from TCHO and fresh vanilla beans.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This is one luscious, rewarding summons to the senses – beginning with its golden appearance and finishing with warming, which chocolate-like flavors. This is accomplished by adding cacao nibs and fresh vanilla beans to our bourbon barrel-aged wheatwine-style ale, complementing the rich notes of coconut, honey, caramel and vanilla from extensive barrel-aging.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.25
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml bottle, 2017 edition, bottled on 19th January 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A cloudy orange brown colour with a half finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving some fine spotty lacing.
Aroma: Bourbon, chocolate, cacao, caramel, toffee, vanilla, raisin, with a hint of nuts and orange.
Taste: Moderately sweet, caramel, toffee, vanilla, honey, bourbon, chocolate, coconut, boozy, and a lightly bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: Boozy yet still smooth, with good aroma, flavours and complexity.

The Bruery Share This: Mint Chip

Brewery: The Bruery
Country: USA
ABV: 10.5%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Imperial Stout with mint and cacao nibs. We donate $1 for every bottle we produce in our Share This series. This release, inspired by mint chip flavors, supports the mission of Food Forward, which donates fresh produce to hunger relief agencies across Southern California.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Share This is a series of beers that spotlights unique ingredients and important causes. This imperial stout is inspired by mint chip flavors, recreated by adding spearmint leaves and cacao nibs to a rich base. It supports the efforts of Food Forward, who is chipping away at hunger relief across Southern California, reaching over 100,000 people a month with recovered fresh produce.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.46
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.1

Intro: A 750ml bottle, 2017 edition. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a one finger brown head that had good retention and left lots of spotty lacing.
Aroma: Light roast, chocolate, and strong mint, maybe too overpowering.
Taste: Spearmint, light roast, and only a hint of chocolate.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: So I like a good mint chocolate any day, but the mint really overpowers anything else in this beer and there’s just not enough chocolate and roast to support the mint. The body is also lacking and feels too thin. You have to really like liquid mint for this.

The Bruery Share This: O.C.

Brewery: The Bruery
Country: USA
ABV: 11%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Imperial Stout with orange zest, cacao nibs and vanilla beans. We donate $1 for each bottle we produce in our Share This series. This orange chocolate release supports the mission of Food Forward, which donates fresh produce to hunger relief agencies in Southern California, including Orange County.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Share This is a series of beers that spotlights unique ingredients and important causes. This rich imperial stout is inspired by orange and chocolate flavors. It’s a profile we’re quite fond of, given the abundance of orange trees in our own backyard. Food Forward takes it one step further – reaching over 100,000 people a month with recovered fresh produce.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.41
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 750ml bottle, 2017 edition. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a one finger brown head that had decent retention and left lots of spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, dark chocolate, cacao, coffee, with notes of vanilla and citrus zest.
Taste: Much like the aroma, roasted malts, dark chocolate, cacao, coffee, vanilla, and orange notes.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium to full bodied, with soft carbonation.
Overall: An excellent Imperial Stout with great roast and chocolate flavours. The orange citrus notes also complement the chocolate well. I do wonder whether due to the age of the bottle (three years), any of the adjuncts have toned down a bit, but the chocolate to citrus proportion is great right now.