The Bruery, Provisions Series: Gunga Galunga is the Black Swan?

Got four lobster tails from the store today at lunch. Had a really productive, purge of a day. Got rid of a bunch of old shit from my desk, organized some things that I'd been putting off, had a couple productive meetings.
Came home and started making a lobster bisque. Took longer than I expected, but Sarah, Mark and Kevin were coming over to watch Black Swan so I felt a little rushed. Took some work, but it was delicious.
Black Swan was also amazing. Again.
Smell of this is really interesting. Almost like a cough syrup, but maybe that's some misplaced nostalgia for my cold remedies? In fairness, I think it's the lime and dark malt combo.
Tight carbonation and solid black, almost stout, flavor. The lime is very present. Since I don't know what galanga is, I have no idea what it would smell or taste like. I really like this.
Mila Kunis. Probably obvious coming off the Black Swan, and still being a little lovestruck. Dark, but with a twist of lime, like a dark and stormy. Only beer. Whoa, actually, you could replace the Ginger beer in a D&S with coffee and probably get something like this.
UPDATE: I looked up galanga and it's blue ginger! I got the dark and stormy totally right.

The Bruery, Provisions Series: Premiére

Spent most of the day at home cleaning, laundering, dishwashing, etc. Still haven't shaken this cold, which has really gotten on my nerves.

Walker and I got this on a big trip down to Bootlegger's and The Bruery a couple weeks ago. They had two bottles for sale at the tasting room and this is one of them. I don't think I am a huge fan of the bourbon-aged trend/fad that's going around right now. And I particularly don't think it's works too well for a golden, better suited to a stout or red. Again, I'm going on a few days of not being able to smell anything, but I can immediately detect the bourbon casks, in both the first smell and the first sip. It's just too much, sweet maple more than anything. The way the bourbon flavor sticks to the back of my tongue just doesn't make for a pleasant and smooth drinking experience. I almost need to wait for it to leave my tongue before taking another sip.

This is Stephan Lang. Strong foundational character, with great potential, but when you throw him in an environment that he's not used to (like Cameron's Avatar), the performance can be a little over-the-top. It's still good, maybe even great, but not my favorite from The Bruery.

The Bruery Autumn Maple wasn't the nightcap I hoped for

Cleaned up the weekend's mess around the apartment and celebrated our 15 minutes of courage by drinking a highly anticipated brew and checking out highly anticipated pictures from the weekend (which I was ecstatic to view because I couldn't find my camera and thought I'd left it on an LA Metro bus. But cleaning out my room yielded the camera under my cookie monster shirt, score!)

There might have been some incriminating photos...

This is a very unique fall seasonal beer made with 17 lbs. of yams per barrel (crickies!) and brewed with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, vanilla, molasses and maple syrup. It's not just seasonal; it's uber-seasonal and if your dentist knew you were drinking this beer he'd either have a heart attack or buy a boat.

Has a brown ale base. It tastes like a Belgian mixed with its advertised raw maple sweetness and punctuated by a sour finish. Wow. It's a mouthful, (that's what she said) and I felt overwhelmed. I had trouble finishing a full glass and secretly hoped I had a rare glass with a drinking problem, who would make the intense beer disappear. To provide some defense for Autumn Maple, Nick G really loves this beer and stands by it, but he's a wild man who makes Chuck Norris look like Johnny Appleseed. 

I love The Bruery but I feel like they're reaching with this Promethean concoction. For lacking a desire to finish the glass (but doing so because we have rules dammit), TRANSFORMERS 2 rating.

The Bruery Saison de Lente

A Summer seasonal that's true to its word, I drank this beer while watching Entourage (actually good for once) but is better suited for a picnic outdoors.

The pour on this creates a MASSIVE head and I definitely over-poured the first time (sploosh). The taste is an interesting mix of an upfront floral/hoppy-ness indicative of this Belgian style but was soon followed by a grassy/bitter taste. It's a perfectly fine beer but not suited for all occasions. Autobots rule, TRANSFORMERS rating.

Mischief, Salty's and ribs

Today we drank Mischief by The Bruery. It was very delicious. Lighter and smoother than other similiar Belgian strong ales, medium hops notes, and barely any fruit/sweetness. Character comes mostly from the generous carbonation, crispness, and subtle alcohol (but at 8.5% it was hard to miss). Thank you Bruery for continuing to make good stuff. I will get this again and recommend it to Duvel fans.

The real highlight of the day was successfully recreating the clam chowder from Salty's and sharing it with Walker, Lockness and Blake. Salty's is a seafood spot in Seattle/Redondo Beach and they make the best chowder I've ever had AND NOW I HAVE IT. Also made a couple racks of ribs. Party. Not quite sure that my human-pairing fits the beer exactly, but I've got to go with Kevin Spacey. He can be strong, crisp, and subtle. Maybe it's fit better if this beer had a darker character, but I need to give him credit for the sentiment that carried the day - "[Salty's Restaurant Clow Chowder recipe]. The [recipe] I've always wanted and now I have it. I rule!"