Mélange No. 14
The Bruery

 

750 ml bottle poured into Aslin anniversary glass and allowed to warm.

L: 1F or so fluffy white head. Leaves no lacing but you get a nice ring. Beer is a very dark chestnut brown but not quite completely black.

S: Quite a few different malts, molasses and kandi sugar, lots of dark fruit like prunes and raisins, a touch of oak

T: Fairly sweet, a lot of the barleywine character comes through with the sugar and dark fruits. less of the malty stout though you get some dark roast.

F: Full-bodied, light carbonation.. Not too cloying or sticky, but maybe could have been controlled a tad better. Alcohol controlled very nicely.

O: Very good dessert beer, obvious care and effort in making it.

 

 

 

A- 750ml into a small becher with a small foamy nutty tan cap. Decent head retention and small sheets of lacing.

S- Smooth ass Bourbon barrel and a fairly bold stout that brings both the black and the brown malts. Some bold caramel and dried dark fruits like fig and raisin rounding it out. Spicy and smooth oaky Bourbon, vanilla sweets, brown sugar, brownies, toasted nuts, a hint of booze and souffled sugar. Becomes pruney and fairly date strong with those dry fruits coming out.

T- Ditches some of the fruits and really becomes more of a dessert and sweet stout here, quite the shift. Brownies and vanilla ice cream sundae with bourbon whipped cream and caramel. Fudge and roast barley play of the spicy bourbon and woody oak very well and a moderate sweetness rounds it out with a touch of booze. Great depth of flavor and balance. Just a hint of dates and figs.

MF- Thick overall body and the texture is slick and a bit frothy. Carbonation at a medium level and ends a touch warm.

Doesn't have quite as much as the cloying booze super intense fig flavor and allows more roast grains, bourbon and barrel flavors to shine alongside the big ABV flavors. Shifts a bit away from the stout flavors as you sip on it but a great beer overall.

 

Muddy brown and mohogany red color with murky body and a finger of tan head

S - Malty goodness, caramel, butterscotch, toffee, coffee, dark chocolate, molasses, oak, wood, toasted coconut, boutbon

T - Dark chocolate from the stout, toffee/caramel sweetness, huge malt presence, sweet sticky bourbon, coconut, char, vanilla, and tobacco from the barrel

F - Smooth, no booze at all

O - Perfect blend of barleywine, old ale, and imperial stout with a stick bourbon bear hug. Amazing.

750 mL bottle into a Bruery snifter

A: Dark-brown, viscous ale, indistinguishable from a big, high gravity stout. Soapy looking head collapses under its own weight.

S: Big, bold bouquet with strong notes of unsweetened cocoa, leather and oak. A touch of orange peel accents the bourbon-y overtones, emulating a yeasty Old Fashioned. Plenty of alcohol volatiles deliver the aromas.

T: Stong bourbon-y flavors with tons of warming booze. Seems boozier than the 13+% ABV. Good doses of oak and tabacoo suppress subtle nuances of carob and citrus notes. Big malty sweetness ushers in a long, sticky finish. Sweet bourbon-y notes seem to linger indefinitely.

M: Strangely lighter complexion than expected, although still oily rich. Seems the ample carbonation adds some levity.

Another big tasty blend from the Bruery, although the flavors are a little more disjointed than some of their other offerings.

 

 

This beer was tucked away in my cellar I decided it was a grand time to drink this beer. I do not know anything about this beer and will research at the end of the review. I am fascinated with The Bruery Beer I hope this one is better than the last one I drank. The beer is 50 degrees and served in a tulip glass. A gentle pour on the beer produced a one finger head with poor retention. An airy and foamy dark brown head dissipated fastly. The color of the beer is SRM 36 a dark brown nearly black beer. The black beer is opaque.

The initial aromas of the beer are toffee, figs, and burnt sugar. Additional aromas are nutty, breakfast coffee, mild chocolate, roasted malt, toasted malts, bready, caramel, bourbon, vanilla, wood, earthy, alcohol, oranges, char, and herbal note.

The initial flavors in the beer are coffee, bourbon, chocolate, and stone fruit. Additionally roasted malts, caramel, toffee, earthy, herbal, wood, alcohol, bready, vanilla, char, oranges, grassy, nutty, burnt sugar, yeast, and toasty notes.

The mouthfeel of the beer is smooth and dry.

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

The beer has an incredible balance and harmony. A tasty beer and a must try.

A: Poured into a huge Bruery snifter to a deep and ruddy brown but honestly appears to be black. The beer is topped by a dense finger and a half of light tan head which fades slowly to a collar around the edge of the glass with minimal lacing
S: Smells of a ton of bourbon barrels with some nice chocolate and toffee notes with some oak and vanilla plus a hint of some toasted nuts. There's some dark fruits and what smells close to a red wine note as well.
T: Taste is fairly woody on the front end before the toffee and slight red wine like flavor comes in with some leather and nuts. Nice dark fruit notes as well along with some hints of coffee. This really tastes more like a port aged beer than bourbon barrels. Slight toasted marshmallow comes in as well with a little coconut. On the swallow this one is fairly drying with more oak, some toasted nuts, toffee, leather, and some slight chocolate at the very end.
M: This beer is full in body and slightly chewy in texture. Carbonation is slightly effervescent but it's on the money for the style while the beer has a drying finish.
O: Overall this is an outstanding beer. Great flavors and complexity which are melded very well together. Truly a beer to be sipped, savored and shared with others. Worth a try if you can get your hands on it.

Poured from 750ml bottle into glass. 2016 Edition, looks like bottle is stamped '05/23/16' for bottling date.
Dark brown body, with red mahogany highlights. Two finger light tan head settles to thick, creamy cap. A few spots of lacing are left behind. Each new pour brings forth another creamy head which noisily dissipates.
Bourbon, oak barrel aroma blends well with the chocolate of the stout. Whiffs of vanilla and black cherry. Quite a bit of alcohol.
Lots of heavy alcohol, barleywine flavor, with big bourbon oak barrel. The stout chocolate is there and contributes well. Influences of red wine and dark fruit. Vanilla also.
Thicker mouth feel, each sip coats the mouth. Good carbonation.
Enjoyable sipping of the blends, but be aware of the ABV%.

 

 

A - Pours a dark brown with a one finger off white head. Light amount of sticky lacing.

S - Aroma is dark chocolate, oak, dark cherries and bourbon.

T - The taste is caramel, toffee, vanilla, dark chocolate, raisins, dark cherries and bourbon.

M - Medium bodied with medium carbonation. Soft mouthfeel with a crisp sticky finish.

O - There is a lot going here. A nice mix of an imperial stout and barleywine. The ABV creeps up on you making this a slow sipper.

Poured from a 750 ml. bottle into a tulip glass this beer is very dark in color with a 3/4 finger width crown. The crown is loosely based and formed with bubbles of all sizes that don't seem like they want to fit together. The barleywine characters of this blend seem to come through the most, which was surprising to me. I figured the stout would've shadowed over them making them barely noticeable, but that's not the case. The stout notes like chocolate and the creamy mouthfeel are still present. Made for an interesting and delightful blend of brews.

 

 

Pours a dark brown just shy of being black, tan head on the top, good size and good retention, sits around the 3/4" range and just chills. Aroma is the usual mixture of oak, bourbon and chocolate from the Bruery.

Taste really does hit the "blend/melange" notes because there is a lot going on here. Chocolate, bourbon, caramel, toffee, alcohol, nuttiness, oak. Its warming but not blistering heat.

Its a good beer, but the problem is the high price tag. There's hundreds of beers like this, most of which are a little bit cheaper. The base is equal parts big stout, anniversary beer and barleywine/old ale. The stout base provides mostly color, as it is obviously the low end of the contribution percentage wise. Slight roast,but the caramel and toffee really whisk it away like that Japanese Homer commercial about banishing dirt away to the land of wind and ghosts or some shit.

This is a good beer that is very expensive and similar to a lot of other beers out there.

Pours a super deep brown that appears black at first glance, thin foam head that fades fast. Tons of oak / wood on the aroma, supporting smells of vanilla, caramel, toasted coconut. Taste follows suit mostly - not sure where the stout comes into play, i know it is only 15% of the mix but can't say it adds anything detectable. It tastes like as a very good BBA barleywine wine - caramel, treacle, toffee, blackstrap, with some whispers of hop at the end.

 

 

Poured from a 750 ml bottle into a snifter.

L - Dark brown color; slightly cloudy. Head thick, creamy and smooth in a dark tan color. It is made up of tiny bubbles with a few larger, oily-appearing ones.

S - Aromas of Imperial Stout, but somewhat muted and blended into a general maltiness and strong oak. Low fruitiness, like black cherry. Some bourbon character.

T - Faint, roasted, stout-like flavors mixed with a stronger influence of non-roasted malty beers like old ale or barleywine. Very strong oak and low bourbon flavors. Not as layered or nuanced as some of the best barrel-aged beers I've had.

F - Medium body with low carbonation. Strong alcohol burn mixes with medium hops bitterness, resulting in a moderate burning sensation.

O - This is a flavorful and enjoyable beer. The imperial stout portion provides a distinctive hint of flavor, but the major influences are strong barleywine-style malt and oak.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bottled 5/23/16; drank 7/20/16 @ Harvest Hop Haus.

Opaque dull brown/orange rust appearance.

Minimal khaki head; almost no lace.

Red wine, marshmallow, milk chocolate & faint booze heat notes in the nose.

Medium thick mouthfeel.

Red wine, marshmallow & faint chocolate flavors up front; a slightly tart bite on the finish.

An odd but interesting "melange"; drinkable & enjoyable but not quite great.