This weekend at the Tasting Room...

Spring is finally here! And it definitely has felt like it over the past week. I hope everyone who made it to the St. Veronus Celebration enjoyed the beer – and the waffles! I apologize for the confusion in the newsletter last week regarding what day we'd have our special releases available. I hope everyone that wanted to try those beers got the chance! If not, you may still have the opportunity...

The Holiday Wine Cellar Imperial Porter will still be pouring this weekend. We also have a VERY LIMITED amount of Melange #3. If that's what you're after – come early!

This weekend we have one of our favorite food trucks stopping by to serve you some tasty snacks with your beer. Friday night Louk's Greek Gourmet to Go will be returning. A few weeks ago their truck was out of commission and we missed them, but they're back in business so come ready for some Greek grub!

This weekend we'll be pouring:

Orchard White (available for growler fills)

Rugbrød (available for growler fills)

Mischief

Melange No. Sechs (Reserve Society growler fills)

Saison Rue

Saison De Lente (Reserves Society growler fills)

Holiday Wine Cellar Imperial Porter w/Vanilla Bean & Bourbon Oak Cubes

Melange #3 (LIMITED!)

Hope to see you there!

1st Annual Black Tuesday Release - Tuesday, October 27, 2009

"I cannot help but raise a dissenting voice to statements that we are living in a fool's paradise, and that prosperity in this country must necessarily diminish and recede in the near future." - E.H.H. Simmons, President, NYSE, January 1928

Logistical Details:

-- Three (3) bottles per person (not including prior allocation purchases)
-- $30 per bottle
-- Ticket distribution starting at 5:30 PM. If you want 3 bottles, please request 3 tickets.
-- The number of tickets will correspond with the number of bottles available. Starting at 6 PM, we will sequentially be calling a range of numbers (will be displayed on the projector, not audible) and those ticketholders will purchase their bottles
-- Doors open at 6 PM and close at 10 PM
-- Those who purchased allocations will be able to pick up their bottles at this event or on a later date
-- Cash and credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover) will be accepted. No checks, please.
-- In the event that Black Tuesday does not sell out on the release date, additional bottles can be purchased on Friday, October 30th starting at 4 PM

Special Beers Available:

-- Special Cask: Chocolate Rain (Black Tuesday with Cocoa Nibs and Vanilla Beans)
-- Black Tuesday will be on tap, as well as our full lineup
-- We will also have several other special bottled beers for sale: White Oak and Bourbon Barrel Aged Partridge in a Pear Tree (and possibly Barrel Aged Autumn Maple if it hasn't sold out already)

Other Details:

-- 2010 Bruery Reserve Society memberships will also be for sale at this time. More details coming soon.
-- Light complimentary snacks will also be served.

Looking forward to a great release party!

Cheers,
The Folks at The Bruery

Special Release Beers for our St. Veronus Celebration!

Our St. Veronus Celebration is almost here!  As promised we'll be releasing some new beers for the event, and oh man are they exciting!

First, Melange #3 is a complex blend of three unreleased bourbon barrel aged beers, including our Black Tuesday Imperial Stout, White Oak Wheat Wine, and Papier, our 1st Anniversary beer (an Old Ale).  Weighing in at 15% ABV, and layered with flavor, this is a special release you won't want to miss.  Some of you may have had the opportunity to sample this one at the Tasting Room, and now you can come and fully enjoy it.

Another beer we'll be premiering is our Cuvee Jeune.  This is a Young American Wild Ale fermented with traditional Lambic flora and then aged in Chardonnay barrels, finishing at approximately 6.5% ABV.

Last but not least, we'll be serving White Zin.  Nope, not the wine.  It's a beer for which we've blended that Cuvee Juene with our Zinbier, a Belgian blonde fermented with almost 1000 lbs of zinfandel grapes.  It's approximately 7.5% ABV and will be available for the first time this weekend.

Hopefully this news has you even more excited for this weekend's event, I know we sure are!  See you there!

Beer Releases and Approximate Dates

Some have asked what we're coming out with in the future.  While I still want to keep some tricks under my sleeve (mostly just in case plans change), this will be what we're seriously planning to release.  

Seasonals:

Saison De Lente-- Mid-February

Trade Winds Tripel-- Late April

Autumn Maple-- Late August

Two Turtle Doves-- Late October

Special Releases (Small, brewery only releases):

- Cuvee Jeune: A young blended sour beer, release sometime in Spring/Summer when ready

- Papier: Our 1st anniversary beer, tentative release date of May 9th, brewery only release in 2009 (Approx. 16%)

- White Oak: Early summer, this barrel aged wheat wine is coming out very nicely (12% ABV)

Special Draft Releases:

For those in Southern California, Hottenroth Berliner Weisse is coming back in late January!  We brewed this batch a bit differently this time around, so it's a bit more tart and a bit less grainy.  Same ABV of 3.1%, this is a great session beer.  I think we nailed it.

Around the same time we release Hottenroth Berliner Weisse, we'll be releasing Humulus Ambre.  It's a continuation of our hoppy Belgian-influenced beers, this time a moderate 6% and loaded with American hops.

Cask Releases:

We don't plan these ones so much, but I can tell you about what we'll be putting on this weekend and next month.  For the first Friday in January, we'll have Humulus Gold, loaded with extra hops.  Which ones?  I forget, so you'll have to come by and try it out.

In February, we'll have Orchard Mole Poblano, Black Orchard aged with roasted cocoa nibs, roasted poblano peppers (with seeds removed), and cinnamon.  Think Black Orchard meets the delicious mole poblano sauce.

We have some other beers on the horizon, but I know they won't be ready for some time.  We have an Imperial Stout aging in rye and bourbon barrels that's approximately 18% ABV.  It's coming along nicely but still needs quite a bit of age until it reaches what I'd consider it's peak.  Our Flemish Red is coming along well but the funk is still developing in this one.  We brewed a beer with about 30% Zinfandel grapes and a base blonde strong ale which is aging in barrels. My best guess is we'll release this around August or September.  I'd forget about these releases for awhile if you want to save your sanity, I certainly have.

For a few festivals and at the brewery, we'll soon have Melange #3.  This is a blend of White Oak, Imperial Stout and Papier.  I'm excited about this one-- I'm too impatient to try these barrel aged beers when they're good and ready to be released, so this release is totally self serving.

Trade Winds Tripel

I just realized I haven't been plugging the Trade Winds Tripel as much as I should be, given that it's my new favorite beer and we released it about two weeks ago!

A very late summer seasonal, perhaps even an Indian summer seasonal (crap, why didn't I put that on the label!), Trade Winds Tripel is a Belgian-style Golden Ale brewed with the Asian-inspired ingredients Thai basil and rice.  For those of you who swore off drinking beer with rice, it's about time to consider your choices again.  Don't blame it on the rice, it's the boring beer the rice is in!

The Thai basil comes through in the aroma as a flowery, almost hop-derived, and the rice imparts a coconut-like quality.  In the flavor, the malt contributes a hint of sweetness, with the Thai basil delivering unmistakeable herbal and floral qualities, and the rice giving a hint of coconut-like creaminess in the finish.  The relatively high carbonation and the dryness of this beer keep it immensely drinkable.

I've heard several people call it a dangerous beer on various occasions for its high drinkability while maintaining a respectable 8.1% ABV.  Dangerously delicious, perhaps.  Dangerous after guzzling two bottles and deciding to drive around on Labor Day weekend?  Definitely.

If you get the chance, I'd recommend enjoying one over this Labor Day weekend.  Be safe so you can go back to work on Tuesday!