Case of the Mondays

Beer #674  Sour in the Rye / The Bruery, Placentia, CA
Previously from this brewery:  Others, which are here.

Mondays are always long, but today was longer than usual.  In my youth, I could miss sleep, pull all-nighters, run myself into the ground and then with just a tiny bit of rest get back in the saddle and keep going at full speed. Not any more, as I spent most of the day Sunday trying in vain to catch up on sleep, and spent most of today with a headache and a desperate desire to go to bed shortly after lunch.  An early bedtime tonight, and I'm back on track tomorrow.  I hope.  I think.

With what little brain power left for the day, you get today's review.  Actually, this is a beer I had a while ago, but had hiding in my email: Sour in the Rye, from The Bruery.  It pours with an amber color and a thin, persistent white head.  There's a tart aroma of citrus with a good bit of vinegar, and drinking back a sip gives you flavors of earthy oak, grapes, cherry, and vinegar, with ample tartness throughout.  I freely admit I don't quickly pick up the rye used in brewing this beer, but that doesn't mean  it's not there or didn't help make this beer delicious.  In fact, this beer finds a home in my Top 25 (which actually has way more than 25 beers at this point; it's more of a symbolic thing).

Sour Patch, Kid

An increasing number of American breweries have been producing sour beers, and if The Bruery isn't the best around, there sure as hell aren't too many better.  Maybe Cascade Brewing Barrel House, maybe Jolly Pumpkin, maybe Russian River.  Can't go wrong with sours from any of those four breweries, really.

Thing to Think About Today:
If I'm trying to shake off the cobwebs and get the brain moving again, perhaps Florence + the Machine can help me out with Shake it Out, a great song with great lyrics.  Hope you like it too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtnxsIBVm5s

"I'm ready to suffer and I'm ready to hope"

Day 653: The Bruery Sour in the Rye

I really need to start giving myself more to work with than the following helpful hints:
post goes here (JD Salinger)

After mulling it over, I think I may have wanted to draw a parallel between Sour in the Rye and Catcher in the Rye, but at this point...who the hell knows.

Dear brain,
     Write better notes for the blog.
                                  Love, Me

Tonight's beer is The Bruery's Sour in the Rye, which is a sour rye ale aged in oak. It pours a warm, chestnut color with a medium, quick to disappear ivory head. The smell has a wonderful sourness with sweet fruity esters. There's also lots of rye in the nose.

The flavor is dry and mouth-puckeringly sour. I wrote bracing in my notes, which isn't a word I often use but in this case, it was absolutely perfect. I can easily taste the oak. There's a good lemony sourness. Then I found this in my notes:  nTextP � n e ��} � T /p>

Aliens are trying to communicate with me through my draft posts. That's the only obvious answer, right?

Beer stats

Style: Sour ale
AGV: 7.8%
IBUs: Unknown
Rating: Excellent

Previously reviewed from The Bruery
Five Golden Rings, Oude Tart, Tart of Darkness, Hottenroth

Day 432: Five Golden Rings for Everyone

Today marks eighteen Valentine Days with this guy.

And I couldn't be happier.

I feel like I should have reviewed one of the Valentine's Day themed beers that are floating around right now, but the best beer/Valentine's Day tie in I could come up with is The Bruery's Five Golden Rings. What guy or gal wouldn't want golden rings on Valentine's Day?

It poured an opaque apricot color with an off-white  thin head. It smells of ginger spice. The flavor reminds me of autumn pie spice with light ginger. There's a nice biscuit flavor in there and a slight tartness. I also noticed some pineapple notes. It's boozy and delicious.

Beer stats
Style: Belgian strong pale ale
ABV: 11.5%
IBUs: Unknown
Rating: Excellent

Previously reviewed from The Bruery
My review of Oude Tart with soap box rantings on the world's problems
Gary's thoughts on Tart of Darkness
My review of their berliner weisse Hottenroth, which I had at the greatest burger joint ever...Slater's 50/50!

Day 370: The Bruery Oude Tart

Everything I wanted to write about feels so utterly frivolous today. As I sit here staring at a blank screen, an unknown number of families are dealing with the aftermath of a senseless act of violence. Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown (Connecticut) is the latest scene of a mass murder committed by an armed gunman. It comes on the heels of the mall shooting in Portland. And that came on the heels of another shooting. And that came on the heels of yet another shooting. See a pattern here?

What the fuck, America?

Seriously. What is wrong with people? My twitter feed has exploded with numerous people extolling their views on gun controls. Guns for everyone. Guns for no one. Bigger guns. Smaller guns. Knives. Nunchucks. Trebuchets! While I certainly find value in a challenging and honest conversation about gun control, perhaps there are other conversations that need to be had. Mental healthcare, anyone?

And for everyone who opts to stick their head in the ground and declare now not the appropriate time to talk gun control, maybe they should watch CNN's video of a 3rd grader who was in class at the time of the shooting. Then tell her that despite how scared she was and how being in that situation made her classmates' bellies hurt that we have to wait for a better time to talk about how to prevent it from happening to other little kids. Because honestly anyone who takes that angle is a spineless, soulless coward. Also CNN should be ashamed of themselves for INTERVIEWING A 3RD GRADER WHO WAS JUST PART OF A NATIONAL TRAGEDY. But I digress. 

There are giant, terrifying problems facing our country. I don't know how to begin thinking about it. I feel overwhelmed and helpless. How do you fix a system and a country that is so broken? Our country is broken.  The answer lies in better education. Willingness to compromise. Reducing big business in government. Healthcare that is not privilege. Basic human kindness.

I want everyone reading this -- yes, all three of you -- to be kind to those you encounter. Maybe those people will be kind to the next people they encounter. I am a firm believer that you get out of the universe exactly what you put into it. This morning was a startling reminder that we need to put more good out there. Get on that!

And because at the end of the day this is a beer blog, I'm now going to write about beer albeit with a heavy heart. 


My hand is enormous!

For starters, excuse that ridiculous photograph. This was taken at TJ's 9th anniversary party last weekend and there were like 4,000 people crammed in the bar, which made for difficult picture taking.  It's the Oude Tart from The Bruery in California.  It looked like a brown ale with ruby highlights. It had a thin head that was slightly off-white.  The aroma was light balsamic vinegar but the flavor was a much stronger. Lots of dark fruit and tart vinegar with hints of malt.  It was thin but immensely flavorful.

The Oude Tart is aged in wine barrels for 18 months, proving that good things come to those who wait. Is this why my mother always told me that patience is a virtue?

Beer stats

Style: Flemish-style red ale

ABV: 7.5%

IBUs:  15

Rating: Excellent

Previous reviews of The Bruery

Gary's review of the Tart of Darkness

My review of Hottenroth

Sour, But Delightful

Beer #254 Tart of Darkness / The Bruery, Placentia, CA

Great day today, as I took a vacation day instead of going to work.  Managed to run some errands, get my car inspected (thanks, Berger Family Dealership!), make another batch of homemade pickles, and just take a breather from work in general.  Ended this day with an opening round win in the summer league playoffs, so I'm feeling pretty good right now.  I can't stop sweating, but I imagine that should eventually subside.  Right?

Another beer from the Sour Fest is your beer of the day: the Tart of Darkness from The Bruery.  It has a pitch black color, and a thin tan head.  I picked up aromas of plum and roasted malt, and flavors of sour cherry, roasted malts, and earthy dark fruits.  Very tart and delicious.  As readers of this blog may recall, I really don't drink many stouts or porters, but I can definitively say I'm always game for a sour stout, and this one was incredibly well done.  It reminded me a bit of Jolly Pumpkin's sour stout, the Madrugada Obscura, which Marci has previously reviewed.

The best kind of stout = sour stout

The Bruery cranks out some really enjoyable and unique beers, but every time I hear or see their name, I immediately think back to The Brewery, a legendary basement bar in State College (read: dark cave with sketchy bathrooms).  Many, many, many of my Tuesday evenings in college were spent in said cave for Pitcher Wars, where $1.75 got you a giant pitcher of any beer on tap, including my go-to option, Yuengling Lager.  You also got a mason jar to drink out of, although seeing people just drink from the pitcher as they rocked out to whatever band was playing was just as common.  Now, if they start serving beer from The Bruery on tap there, I'll gladly make a re-appearance next time I'm in town.

Two State College bar scene references in back to back posts?  Must be getting close to football season...

The Thing to Think About Today:
Sometimes the iPod goes above and beyond in its random selection of shuffled music.  Like today, when I was in the midst of having the day off, driving home from Hazleton, and heard a song about... a blissful way to spend your afternoon.  Yes, I'm talking about Afternoon Delight by the Starland Vocal Band!  Okay, so the lyrics are describing a more... ahem, shall we say... pleasurable way to spend the afternoon with your loved one than running errands.  Regardless, it's a great song for a sunny afternoon not spent at work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NUkhMq_iRo

"My motto's always been: when it's right it's right / Why wait until the middle of the cold dark night?"

Beer 187: Finally The Bruery

The anticipation of this trip delayed some significant gratification when it came certain breweries. One of them was The Bruery's Hottenroth.


Weighing in at a very drinkable ABV of 3.1%, this is a great California beer. I love that Berliner Weiss is starting to become more mainstream. This one poured a hazy yellow with a very short lived white head.

The scent was strong lemon that carried into the taste. It's bright and refreshing. As I made my way to the midway point of the glass, I noticed a slightly chalky thing happening with the flavor. It wasn't off putting, just interesting.

The Bruery seems to be doing a lot in the way of brett-heavy or sour ales. Now that I've officially crossed them off the list, I'll be on the lookout for more offerings. Cheers!