Bruery Black Orchard Dark Wit pulls off a hat trick

With my brother Warren in town and me moving out of LA in 6 weeks (you heard it here first), a trip to our favorite brewery The Bruery is in order. I'm designated driver on the way back, so naturally I drink several beers beforehand and plan to sober up while I'm at the brewery, but nobody believes I will! I don't know what I could have done to give them that belief...

 

After a detour to The Bruery Provisions store where Nick G, Warren, David, Aaron B, Jamie, Karl and his crew order some sampler plates and I stock up on beers from there store such as the Stone 15th Anniversary Imperial Black IPA, Iron Fist Velvet Glove and the brand new brew from The Bruery's Provisions Series, Snickelfritz, we're onto the main brewery.

Beer drinkers take blurry pictures. It's an occupational hazard

Upon arrival, I note a sign posted above the bar noting the Bruery produced 2500bbls last year - that's 31 gallons per 1 bbl - so 77,500 gallons. This year they produced 5000 bbls - 155,000 gallons - double! Wow. I've seen The Bruery in Chicago and New York, but I didn't realize until today after I asked the bartender, that this 4 year old brewery is in over 16 states. It's absolutely amazing. We started drinking their beer 3 years ago, and I suddenly feel like I've been at the epicenter of what will become one of the most renowned breweries in the United States. Bruery's a pretty damn special place. This will probably be my last time here which makes me sad - I might even miss the creepy babies hanging around here (Creepy Babies),  so I'm buying a long overdue hat to keep me company in San Francisco. 

The one beer I am going to have today is their seasonal Black Orchard Wit. The style is unique and I've never heard of a black belgian wit bier. It's 5.7% and chamomile is added for the aroma. This could be really amazing or Patrick Rue's day dream gone wrong, what will it be?

The flavor profile is fascinating and delicious, a subtle dark roast bitterness at the beginning that fades as the sweet belgian wit and spice (coriander and orange peel) subtle kick in. I'm going to use that word again because I don't know how else to convey this beer; it's so subtle. As far as unusual styles go, this is up there. I feel like the Bruery pulled of a hat trick here, combining all these ingredients to make a smooth and delicious brew. At the end of the day, we had already filled up our 3 growlers for the party at home with Loakal Red, Mischief, and Snickelfritz, when David walked away from the car and back into the brewery. He returned sometime later with a newly purchased 4th growler full of the Black Orchard. He bought (a probably unnecessary) 4th growler just to make sure we had more of the wit to drink this week because it was that good. A true gauge to the tastiness of any beer is the length a person will go to find and drink it. I think the 4th growler speaks to the power of this beer. BAD BOYS rating.

The brother's Davis take over a table

Drake's Brewing Expedition Red Ale compliments a feast fit for a Rachel

Aaron B is throwing a festivus for the rest of us to say goodbye to Sarah P's, sister, Rachel, who has spent the last week here. To honor her send off, I pulled an 'expedition' ale out of the fridge. I'm incredibly excited to try this, as Drake's is one of my favorite breweries. I'm hoping this red ale, like Rachel, will be the younger sister of the hoppier and stronger Denoggonizer, which is one of my favorite 'pleasure beers.' David and I have to always ask the other when buying beers, if it's a day beer - for the blog - or a pleasure beer, which is something we've already drunk and won't count for that day. At 315+ beers, we rarely drink pleasure beers because we're already swimming in ale.

Between Aaron and David, I'm surrounded by excellent cooks and I'm eagerly looking forward to dinner. What awaits us is shrimp seviche in sliced cucumbers, scallop salad and flank stank with a balsamic vinaigrette reduction. Everything is delicious, and I had thirds of the flank steak. Yes please thank you much fat kids rule.

The Expedition Red Ale clocks in at 60 IBU's and 7% alcohol, compared to the Denoggonizer's 90 IBU and 9.75% but the Red holds it's own. It's not as intense as the Denog, but this is a good thing. The caramel flavor is medium rich and the sweetness doesn't last long, quickly replaced by a roasted flavor that isn't too bitter. The problem with red ales is they tend to be overtly sweet because in order to create that caramel flavoring, you have to use a high percentage of caramel malt. Drake's fixed this by adding a small amount of roasted malt to their grain bill. Some people just do what they do well, and Drake's has another winner. I plan on adding this to my small list of 'pleasure' beers. THE ROCK rating.

David finishes off the main meal with broiled sea bass. For dessert, Jessica grilled peaches and chopped walnuts while David delivered homemade whipped cream, whipped with awkward enthusiasm by David himself...That boy certainly loves a brisk churning. 

YUM

Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot makes us say, WTF haven't we heard of you before?

Before I focus on barley, water, hops and yeast concoction commonly referred to as "beer" or "suds" if you still live in 1950's middle america slang, I want to share with you the most amazing jumpsuit your (insert color here) eyes will ever feast upon:

 

She was pilfering through cigar boxes, CIGAR BOXES people. Right off of 3rd street on our way to brunch. What a gem, what a diamond in the rough.

To unwind from a phenomenal brunch, filled with limitless small plates and sake sangria (Zengo), we're decompressing with some suds at Jamie and Aaron's house. We also invited Zach Galifinakas and Robert Downey Jr into our living room for a performance of DUE DATE.

David and I both agree it's a cool label. It's the military call-sign for WTF. Pretty clever. This is very interesting, very unique. It pour a dark brown color and has a very sweet and malty flavor. It finishes a bit nutty, like a brown ale and the 7.8% alcohol rips through as you finish. This is a mix between a Scottish Ale and an American Brown. At first I believe that I couldn't drink a lot of this, and then I realize how big of an idiot I tend to be. I could drink a ton of this! THE ROCK rating

My Homebrew Heisenberg's Honey Wheat to celebrate my berfday

Today is my joint berfday party with Aaron and Tiffany! Turning 28 today, the year which legends are made, friendships created and my liver fatally destroyed. Still recovering from Aaron's All-Denim Party, Aaron, David and I head to Costco for liquor to make Fader-aids, which are Gatorade and vodka. Our guests will love us and they're vital to the distinguished game of Sloshball. 

This is my 4th homebrew and by all accounts, probably my best. This is coming from David as well as other friends. It's easily the most drinkable and perfect as a summer hammock beer, which was intentional. The irony of the situation, is that this was also the cheapest to make. I added very little adjunct malt to the recipe and it cost me a little over $30. My belgian homebrews cost over $50 in comparison. What made the difference was my decision to use Kolsch yeast, which provides a less tart flavor profile than an American Wheat yeast and clean, lager like finish, and also my dedication to keeping the temperature constant in my room, which was no small feat. I spent many nights freezing my butt off to keep the temperature in the room well below 70.

The beer itself is clean and crisp, with a tinge of sweetness from the caramel malts. It's something I could make and enjoy for the rest of my life and tweak the recipe very little. I plan on making this for every summer as long as possible. Here is the original link that explains the name (Heisenberg's Honey Wheat). This is a TRANSFORMERS rating because it's not a complex or astounding beer, but I think this brew is worthy of greater attention (perhaps a homebrew competition in the future?)

Birthday kids!

Sloshball is the game of kickball but played with cups filled with alcohol. It's a hilarious game. People trying to catch the ball with one arm, others trying to kick the ball (my every at-bat ended with alcohol on my face and up my nose - apparently I kick by throwing my arms up in the air), and people having to finish their cup as they round third, which also ends with a large amount of booze on their face.


It was an amazing birthday filled with body paint, booze and great friends! I thought it would be hard to beat last year's joint birthday party with my friend Natalie, also held on the beach, but this topped it! Wildly successful. Just amazing. Thank you to all my friends who came out!

Marin County Brewing Stout kicks off Aaron's All Denim Party

Tonight kicks off a birthday filled weekend and nothing says P-A-R-T-Y like an All Denim Party. Aaron B, the man with the largest Jewfro in three surrounding counties, is the genius behind the event and is celebrating his birthday tonight.

Berfday kids! Hide yo kids, hide yo wife, because I'm pretty sure that's a nip-slip on the left.

We had a wheat beer from Marin County the other week and it wasn't so tasty. If this one fails as well, my friends Mr. W Turkey and his fruity cousin Caprisun are going to follow the Stout down my gullet.

I take that back, this beer is awesome! It's everything I want in a stout. This has a rich aroma with dark chocolate and nut flavors. It's incredibly well balanced. If you like dark beers, pick this up at Whole Foods. You will be the opposite of disappointed. THE ROCK rating.

That's how we roll

A small part of the whole denim group parties on! Who knew people owned so many denim shirts and vests.

All I can say is, I quickly switched to hard alcohol and sooner rather than later, the party really got started. It was wild.

There is fairly long video somewhere of David and I dancing to WHAM! that will undoubedtly torpedo my political career and mostly likely hurt my friends, after they laughed hard enough to fall down after viewing my incredible dancing. PARTY

I went to sleep closer to sunrise than I planned to, but that was partially due to a 3am beach excursion and that I had to make a yeast starter (brew a small batch of beer for the yeast to grow) around 4am. Now I'll be all set for making beer beer on Sunday. Hell of a birthday weekend kick-off!

Widmer Brothers Brrr Seasonal Ale should be used as a penalty drink in our Kings game

We're playing an epic transcontinental game of KINGS up in Big Bear with Abrye (in Australia) after a great day at Big Bear and Snow Summit. Whoever pulls a king has to take a shot and fire the trick pistol, which electrocutes you. It's so strong that each person who has tries it immediately flings the pistol across the table. It really sucks. Thanks Jay!

The Widmer Brrr Seasonal ale has a TON of spices. It's as close as I will get to chewing a bag of all spice, cinnamon and nutmeg. I'm not enjoying this at all, in fact, it's going down as a TRANSFORMERS 2 rating.

Aaron B however, prefers this over the Infinium that David opened up as his beer of the day, so to each his own.

Mission St. Brown Ale couldn't distract me from CATFISH

Our second beer from the Paso Robles brewery/Firestone Walker subsidiary which I purchased from the Trader of the Joes. We poured while Jamie K and Aaron B joined us for the much buzzed about documentary CATFISH.

The beer didn't stir me nearly as much as CATFISH did or what I was hoping for after a disappointing Blonde. There were roasted malt tones and caramel but overall the body lacked the richness of the Sierra Nevada Tumbler we had several weeks ago. Overall, kinda weak. 

Now CATFISH was a surprising delight. It lived up to the hype but in a different manner than I expected. It was very emotionally engaging. I refuse to say anymore, you really just have to see for yourself. It's worth a viewing, unlike Mission St. Brown Ale. THE ISLAND rating.

Rogue American Amber. A million times more delicious than cod worms.

Dead Guy was one of my first "holy crap, what is this?!" beers, so I'm really hoping this is good. Aaaaaaaand, it IS.

The slightly toasted malt gives the subtlest hint of a dark beer, a little like wood or nuts, while letting the hops play an equally subtle, co-starring role.

So it turns out were at Aaron Bs making sweet potato crusted pacific cod, see picture, as well as salt baked branzino. And just as Aaron is getting ready to dip a filet of the cod. BAM WIGGLE!!! He finds a worm on it! WHOA! Sam J gets on the Google, only to discover that, while
repulsive, they're pretty common and will not grow babies in your belly that eventually escape through your...

Back to the beer. In honor of his shared regional heritage with Rogue (Oregon), smooth demeanor and balanced, laid-back character, this beer is Sam J. He also is enjoying it with us and likes it quite a bit. The worm will not be enjoying the beer with us.

Rogue American Amber Ale Fights Terrorists

Coming back from from an intense Krav Maga workout I joined Aaron B, Sam B, Jaime and David at Baseman's lair for beer. We watched Sniper Deadliest Missions on the History Channel during dinner. The production on that show is excellent, the best I've seen for a re-creation and the graphics are ridiculous. SWAT snipers hunting fugitives from helicopters and Marine Snipers in Fallujah killing terrorists from over 1300 meters? You know what kind of channel History is? THE BEST kind of channel. I was armed with a Rogue American Amber Ale.

Fugitive Michael Alan Silka takes aim but he's gonna be toast in three seconds

The others were cooking fish so I couldn't smell but what a beautiful color! I need to fix the flash on my camera, I know, but the color was enough to get me excited. Subtle malts followed by even subtler hops. Well balanced with a quick finish. Thanks to the water, there's a little metal aftertaste but it is soon forgotten.  I'd have to consult the charts but I believe this is one of (if not the first) amber ale we drank and Rogue, I knew you wouldn't disappoint. After so many full bodied, heavy Belgians, I was elated to realize that I could drink a lot of these. Tonight was perfectly excellent. THE ROCK rating.

Quote of the night, a marine sniper said in a perfectly normal tone;

"...and that's when I dropped the hammer on him" 

Just another day in a life for soldiers. Mess with a Marine and they're gonna mess with you. Enemy combatants, I hope you like eating lead. Booyah. U.S.A. wins.

Stone Ruination Double IPA with Amarillo Hops, Cask Conditioned

Like a tsunami, the smell of Axe body spray in a gym locker room and large women at R Kelly concerts, this beer is overwhelming. David and I went out to the Daily Pint Saturday night with Aaron B, Nick G and his special ladyfriend / ball-and-chain, depending on the moon's phase.

My Mouth Exploded

Marry me Margaret Thatcher! This was an apocalyptic beer. The cask conditioning is evident in smell and taste, as it heightens the already pronounced hops. Seriously, it's Southbound and down, all aboard for the train to HOPSVILLE. And by Hopsville I mean a swimming hole brimming with hopst. Smell and taste are bitter like a lemon, lemon, lemon and it lingers like the Russian Front in World War II. Confederate Calvary General Stonewall Jackson supposedly ate lemons whole for health and vitality. He'd enjoy this beer, that crazy bastard. If you haven't figured out, this hopstacular wasn't very balanced. It's outrageous. If this beer was an art piece, it'd be in the experimental section of the Tate Modern in London.

Stone, you have my respect for pushing the limits. However, this is a specialty beer and only for those bold, bold drinkers who like to have their head explode once in a blue moon. For me, once in a lifetime is enough. TRANSFORMERS 2 rating.

**Special shout out to Aaron B, who rallied to join us after a full day of Wizardry. This man rolls deep:

He is no longer Gandolf the Gray. The transformation is complete; he is now Gandolf the White.

Wilderness Survival Lesson: Stone Ruination double IPA with Amarillo hops, cask conditioned.

Whoa, probably freaked Walker out with this. Since it's cask conditioned there's almost no carbonation. Cask conditioning with Amarillo hops make this much different from the OG Ruination. This beer is crazy time and there's some characteristic that tastes like food, but I can't figure out what. This is really going to annoy me, not IDing the food taste properly. With Nick G, Beth and Aaron B at the Daily Pint, a great place for beer. This will probably be a long night.

This bear is Bear Grylls. Raw, specially trained (in casks) and double dank. Party.

Anchor Summer Beer

I arrived at Cha Cha Chicken and scrounged for leftover ropa vieja and deliciously unhealthy plantains, when Aaron B offered David and I an Anchor Summer Beer.

Interesting malt / hops action. It is an all-malt beer, and over 50% of its malt comes from malted wheat. Anchor Summer is not as refined as some summer ales, but that's not a bad thing. It's like a good whiskey old fashioned. Sugars and bitters take most of the edge off, but there's still some bite. This fella filled me up though, and if I was out in the hammock on a hot summer day I would need to split the sixer.


Love the bottle shape too. TRANSFORMERS rating.

Group Review! Hennepin by Ommegang

This is Duvel's American little brother. It's clean, balanced and delicious. A little less crispness, less alcohol and a little less sweetness. Some of the complex spice notes are missing as well, but if you like Duvel you'll like this, and if you like light, crisp, Belgians, makes moves. Pick up a Hennepin.

Joining Walker and I were some distinguished and excited beer friends. Their thoughts:

Sarah: "Oooo I like this! I think that it's crisp, sour, citrus, but like a day old citrus, not fresh citrus, (takes big sip) definitely something you should eat with. It needs to go with a white fish. But my favorite part of the beer is how the bottle looks."
Baseman: "Kinda reminds me of Duvel! (Continues playing PS3...)"
Blake: "Mmmm, pleasantly... ok hold on I need another sip, it's pleasantly citrusy, I guess that's kinda redundant. Pleasantly citrus; I would say serve with a slice of orange (!) and you have a perfect Sunday afternoon.
Jay: "I'm just gonna say nutty, but it's not nutty, it's not nutty at all."

Hey Ommegang, thanks for the great evening. Also, we all agreed that this beer could be well represented by Cate Blanchett.

Oh my gosh, Ommegang , Hennepin delivers

The last beer from Ommegang we drank last Friday, Three Philosophers, and was no good. However, the New York brewery rebounded with a beer chosen celebrate our first official group tasting with Blake L, Jay S, Sara P and Aaron B.

Hennepin is a 'Farmhouse Saison' and has a beautiful golden body with a sweet and floral and slightly spicy taste. It's crisp and delicious. I could say more, but in researching this beer, I found a comment on the Ommegang website that makes a very powerful statement which I'd like to share with you. Thank you everyone at the tasting, that night was a blast! BAD BOYS rating.

(posted 12/11/2007) "How sad that we learn some very important things at the late stages of our lives. I have spent a lifetime, well at least from about 16 to 85 looking for the perfect beer. Eureka, today I found it. I have no stock in the company, no vested interest, no axe to grind, but today I had a bottle of Hennepin Beer from the Ommegang Brewery. It has an alcohol content of 7.7% and a superb body and taste. Since I love you all, I am passing on my discovery." Robert (85 years old)

We appreciate your sentiment Robert.