The Bruery

Last friday we closed out an epic chow day with a run to the OC to check out The Bruery. Garmin GPS and Google GPS both had trouble finding the place and gave odd ball directions hither and yon even when we were just a block away. So best to have a sense of where the place is, that is, in an industrial park. I'm not much of a beer drinker myself. But on this night, my friends in NorCal were...+READ Last friday we closed out an epic chow day with a run to the OC to check out The Bruery. Garmin GPS and Google GPS both had trouble finding the place and gave odd ball directions hither and yon even when we were just a block away. So best to have a sense of where the place is, that is, in an industrial park. I'm not much of a beer drinker myself. But on this night, my friends in NorCal were envious of my opportunity to check it out and I nerded out, fb'ing some quick notes for each tasting match-up from the bar that I can share. Between the two of us, our tasting flight covered just about everything on the board. All are seasonal offerings.

1) Between Burlygourd and Black Orchard, burly pumpkiness and chocolate gets the vote.

2) Four Calling Birds vs. Smoking Wood. Love the bright balance and spice cake aromas of 4CB. Smoking Wood is too heavy and woody with splintery sharp edges at cold temperature.

3) Hottenroth vs Birra Basta. Maybe the wrong season for Hottenroth, a tart Berliner weisse. Much more taken with BB, carmelly & buttery aromas, creamy bubbles, fruity pop, depth and fresh finish. Tonight we both vote for BB, a bier de garde.

4) Gremlin vs Rub a Dub. Gremlin does NOT have the individual character of rest of flight, eh. Rub a Dub is a abbey style dubbel, dark and swarthy. I'm filling up and running out of words.

5) The Carmens: cranberry vs raspberry. Amazingly different not just in flavor but also the structure and mouthfeel of the underlying dark sour beer. Cranberry is full of funk and volatility, all those faults that we'd spit out in a wine. But in this beer it beats the raspberry glass. Almost seems like green underripe raspberries. Balsamic vinegar of beers.

6) Then we closed out with Saison Rue, farmhouse ale. Richer and more mouth filling than typical and weighing in at 8.5 ABV.

Favorite overall was Birra Basta. But by the time we were done and decided to buy a growler, the keg was dry. No more this year.

We liked the place and the beers a lot. I'll note that the beers are all served at the same temperature, whereas I would have liked the stouts not so cold.-COLLAPSE / REPLY (27 Replies) (by Melanie Wong, created January 7, 2012)