Cuivre
The Bruery

 

 

 

 

 

Cracking into another beer from the cellar, Cuivre. The beer is five years old. The beer is 56 degrees and served in a tulip glass. The beer produced a two-fingered tan airy head. The head retention of the beer was fair. This beer has a high alcohol content, not surprised by the average retention. Nice carbonation still exist in the beer after five years. The beer is dark copper brown, and murky. The head left no lacing on the glass. Overall the appearance of the beer is above average.

The initial aromas in the beer are bourbon, sweet sticky malts, and wood. Next, I smell toffee, caramel, roasted notes, toasted bread crust, leather, floral, a touch of solvent, earthy, and dried fruits.

The flavors in the beer are bourbon, oranges, leather, burnt sugar, toasted bread, biscuit, caramel, toffee, leather, earthy, figs, raisins, a hint of floral, wood, and a hint of smoke.

The mouthfeel of the beer is chewy, sticky, and intense.

The body of the beer is full, medium carbonation, and finish.

This beer is awesome. The beer is a touch sweet and heavy malts. This beer could sit in a cellar for years and probably develop more complexity. The complex malts beer mingles well with its other friends, water, yeast, and hops. This beer is a testament to the Brurey. Absolutely an awesome beer.

 

Started off a nice copper on the pour. In the glass it forms much darker, like a light colored stout with minimal ruby highlights.
The nose is a ton of caramel mixing with dark fruit and molasses. A lot of alcohol booziness, a lot of dry barrel character.
The taste has so much pronunciation on caramels and dark fruit. Prunes, plums, raisins. Huge, but balanced barrel; tobacco and dry oak.
Low-moderate carbonation. Sticky sweetness but overall not widely thick. I would say medium bodied. Definitely has heft though. Nice barrel warmth, but not too hot.

Overall, this is viscous but balanced. A really nice treat.

750 mL bottle into Hoarder’s snifter

Muddy-brown appearance, a small wispy head tried to form but is quickly pulled down by its own weight.

Boozy, bourbon-y, oaky nose. Notes of caramel and carob against tobacco and leather. A slight note of cayenne lingers at the edge of the bouquet.

Caramelly and viscous on the palate. The carob note pokes through noticeably, with nuances of nutmeg and clove and leather. Oak works to balance, and helps mask warming alcohol, and does pretty well given the 16%+ ABV. Long, sweet finish with caramelly notes lingering.

A definite sipper, but as advertised, years of cellaring have done the brew well.

So for anyone familiar with The Bruery's anniversary beers, this one is no different. They are some of the best old ales you can find anywhere, expensive but very obtainable, and they keep for years without much discernible change from the ageing process. Always exceptional.

Poured into a The Bruery tulip. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque black in the glass with a fine, thin brown head that dissipates to a solid film with light lacing. Aroma of mildly toasted biscuit malt, bourbon, dates, raisins, plums, caramel and vanilla, sharply boozy. Flavor is caramel and biscuit malt, vanilla, sherry, plums, dates, raisins and bourbon. Very sherry / port-like finish. Medium bodied with light creaminess. Decided to break out this old soldier for a birthday. It is one of those ales that is so big that it "needs to be saved for a special occasion", and that has now reached 5 years and it is time. As usual with this series, great, complex flavor depth with strong malt and fresh and dried dark fruit and still hot after all these years. The heat has mellowed to more of a fortified wine flavor than old ale, but that is perfect for the evening. I hope that The Bruery considers a somewhat smaller format for these (like Firestone Walker has done), because the 750 of these big ales is somewhat intimidating and they stay in the cellar too long. On the other hand, they hold up to aging very nicely. A fine, deep barrel aged old ale.

Bottle poured into a snifter

A: Pours deep ruby brown with a frothy khaki head that settles to a thin layer and leaves a little thin lacing.

S: Toasty slightly roasty, spicy, dark sugar, molasses and toffee, and a touch of leather.

T: Toasty slightly roasty malt, big dark sugar sweetness, brown sugar and toffee, bourbon, a bit of spice, a touch of vanilla, dark fruit, and a hint of leather.

M: Full body, moderate carbonation, creamy, with some pleasant warmth.

O: Pretty standard Bruery work, big decadent brew. Enjoying this one.

 

 

 

 

 

Capped and foiled 27.4 fluid ounces. Poured into a stemmed tulip. Shared this with family during our regularly scheduled Sunday dinner.

Reminds me of a sweet Manhattan cocktail. Also reminiscent of Southern Comfort. Drinkable in its own way, but another nice beer made lesser by barrel aging. This beer has some minor old ale characteristics, but it is now a sweet sipper of a barleywine. A desert beer. 3.5

A – Pours a dark amber, cloudy, but opaque in the glass with a two-finger brown head that quickly dissipates to nothing. Good carbonation. 3.75

S – Aromas of oxidation, spirits, vanilla and brown sugar. 4.0

T – Sweet/almost cloying, bourbon/spirits, vanilla, caramel, faint oxidation. 3.5

MF – A heavy bodied beer with a sweet finish, warming with even a bit of heat into the sinuses. 3.75

 

 

 

 

 

 

750ml foiled and capped bottle into Night Shift stemware.

Looks like a typical old ale. More carbonated than most. Nose is tobacco, molasses, brown sugar and syrup. Rich, deep and extremely aromatic. Very sweet and heavy. Beer opens black strap molasses, brown sugar and honey. Tobacco, a touch of roasted malt and more syrup in the middle with a heavy, sweet booziness lingering in the back that builds towards the front at the end. Boozy, brown sugar finish that's sticky and hot. Body is full with low carbonation. Smooth and rich on the palate and hot and rich going down. Sticky finish. Excellent for the style.

This isn't exactly something I'd have often but as a sipper, its excellent. Great flavor with a near-perfect body.

 

 

 

Tasted from a 750 ml bottle. It was sealed with a crown cap covered by a layer of plastic. Bought in 2015 and stored until September 2017.

L - Dark copper color but murky and opaque. The opacity does not seem normal and I believe it has come on during the aging process due to oxidation. Low tan head on initial pour that quickly disappears, leaving only a wisp of bubbles. Some legs on the glass like a red wine.

S - Aged sherry aromas. Leather, oak, tobacco, soy sauce, maple syrup, sherry-like alcohol. They may sound like an odd combination, but it is pleasant and inviting, although some of these notes may be from oxidation and could be bringing the beer down from its peak..

T - The tastes follow the aromas. Strong graham cracker malt with lots of oak. Underneath are tons of flavors swirling around. Leather and maple syrup and tobacco and definitely sherry. Delicious and complex, but again I wonder about the unintended effects of oxidation.

F - Medium to thick body. Low carbonation. Medium to high bitterness keeps the sweetness at bay. Strong alcohol heat and presence.

O - This must have been a world-class beer in its prime, but I regret aging it this long because the appearance (for sure) and the flavors and aromas (maybe) have been affected by aging and oxidation.

750 ml bottle into snifter, bottled on 3/5/2015. Pours hazy very dark reddish brown color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a thin spotty lace cap that lingers. Nice spotty lacing clings around the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of huge caramel, toffee, brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses, coconut, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, brown bread, raisin, plum, prune, fig, cherry, date, apricot, apple, red grape, sherry, and red wine; with lighter notes of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, leather, tobacco, peppercorn, smoke, herbal, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness. Mildly increasing booze in the aromas as it warms, but not overwhelming. Incredible aromas with fantastic complexity and balance of dark/bready/light roasted malt, fruity yeast, and bourbon barrel notes; with big strength. Taste of huge caramel, toffee, brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses, coconut, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, brown bread, raisin, plum, prune, fig, cherry, date, apricot, apple, red grape, sherry, and red wine; with lighter notes of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, leather, tobacco, peppercorn, smoke, herbal, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness. Light herbal/woody bitterness and bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of caramel, toffee, brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses, coconut, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, brown bread, dark fruit, cherry, apricot, apple, sherry, red wine, light chocolate/cocoa, peppercorn, herbal, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/light roasted malt, fruity yeast, and bourbon barrel flavors; with a fantastic malt and bourbon/oak spiciness balance, with zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from bourbon/oak spiciness. Medium carbonation and very full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky, and lightly slick/syrupy/sticky/chalky/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is awesome. Alcohol is very well hidden; a small pleasant warmth with a bit of booziness lingering after the finish, but not overwhelming. Overall this is an insane barrel aged old ale! All around incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/light roasted malt, fruity yeast, and bourbon barrel flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV. Pretty much perfectly balanced between rich malts, fruity yeast, and barrel character. Not overly drying from the ABV and barrel presence. Lacking the butterscotch notes of some previous barrel aged versions; but still nails it on all levels, with even more added complexities. A highly amazing offering.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 vintage; drank 10/16/15 on draft @ Bad Apple.

Muddy brown appearance.

Minimal khaki head; minimal lace.

Caramel, cigar tobacco & milk chocolate notes in the nose.

Thick mouthfeel.

Caramel, cigar tobacco & milk chocolate flavors up front; brandy notes on the finish. Sweet but not cloying; complex yet easy to drink. Very nice!