Partridge In A Pear Tree - Bourbon Barrel-Aged
The Bruery

From the 750 ml bottle in a snifter; 2021 edition with a BIG thanks to Bluejacket74! Cheers Dude!
This very nice quad pours a muddled brownish mahogany with a modest head of khaki foam that
settles to a thin ring. Nose of rich bourbon, subtle oak, vanilla, light clove, subtle nutmeg, faint
cinnamon, and candy sugars. Flavors expand on the nose nicely with candy sugars awash in
waves of mellow bourbon, light oak, vanilla, mulled apples, light cinnamon, light nutmeg,
orange zest, and pears....suppose hence the name. Mouth feel is medium, faint
carbonation, smooth, subtly warming, and finishing medium dry with a nicely balanced
finish.

Overall, a stellar brew with many nuances and some rather well hidden booze.

Balanced and beautiful, this is fantastic craft from the masters of flavor pairings.


Cheers

 

750 ml bottle, 2021 edition, bottled 10/9/21. Served in a snifter, the beer pours dark brown with some ruby red tinges, along with about an inch light tan head that stuck around a while. Good amount of lacing. I like the aroma, the brew smells like nutmeg, ginger, vanilla, candi sugar, bourbon, and cinnamon. Taste is similar to the aroma, but with the addition of some dark fruit, oak, caramel and clove flavors. Wish the barrel had a little more of a kick here. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's creamy and a bit coating with a good amount of soft carbonation. I liked this one, think it might have been a little better if it was fresher though. Still, it's definitely worth a try if you get the chance!

750 ml bottle into a goblet. Bottled 10/19/21, had 5/31/24, ABV is 14.2%.

Pours a darker amber color, semi opaque, with a half inch foamy head and light foamy cling. Aromas of caramel, clove, bourbon, malt, other spices, light oak. Flavors of bourbon, caramel, malt, oak, clove, other spices, dates. Smooth, a very good medium body, appropriately carbonated.

Beautifully done. Has a stronger barrel presence than expected, which was nice. The level of the spicing really kicks this up a notch. Really enjoyable.

Review: 2069
Name: Partridge in a Pear Tree
Brewery: The Brurey
Location: Placentia, CA
Style: Barrel-Aged Belgian Quad
ABV:14.2%
Date: 10/19/2021
I am drinking Partridge in a Pear Tree using a Chalice glass at 50 degrees today. Review 1977 was the original non-barrel age. I did that almost 1000 reviews ago. I saw this available and knew I had to add it to my 12 Days of Christmas by The Bruery. The pour created a dense, mousse-like, frothy, one-fingered, light tan head with average retention. The beer, a deep, rich brown with hints of reddish dark mahogany hues, had an opacity of 28 on the color chart. Despite the long-lasting head, the glass had no lacing after dissipation. 
The pleasant aromas of baking spices from Christmas were the initial scents of cloves, cinnamon, and allspice. Nosing the glass again, I smell candied orange, bready, phenolic banana, oak, cherries, plums, pepper, caramel, floral esters, and a light herbal: the barrel-aging added bourbon and some char to the complex nose.
The flavors of Partridge in a Pear Tree are a harmonious blend of Christmas spices, including nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. The malty base is a toasted bread crust, offering a satisfying balance of sweetness and depth. As I savor the beer, I also taste notes of vanilla, light herbal, white pepper, phenolic, dried plums, raisins, orange, floral esters, and dried cherries. The barrel-aging adds bourbon, oak, and light char to a complex flavor profile. Each flavor is distinct yet complements the others, creating a delightful taste experience.
The mouthfeel is creamy and finishes with some alcohol warming. The body is medium, with high carbonation.
I am impressed with this quad, yet it is lost in a quagmire. Technically, it is a Belgian beer, but the depth and flavor profile hide the beer style and make it feel lost. I want more mouthfeel with a bit more malts. The barrel-aging tempered the alcohol and added sophistication to a big beer. I enjoyed sipping on this monster but yearned for a complete quad, minus the adjuncts.

2021 Edition

A: Looks much like its non BA reltive. Deep brown with a finger of light tan head which fades slowly to a collar around the edge of the glass
S: Smells of dark fruits with hints of leather, cherries, bourbon barrels, and mulling spices
T: Taste is dark fruits, oak, mulling spices, vanilla, caramel, cherries, and some hints of leather with some bready malts. On the finish there's more dark fruits, mulling spices, oak, vanilla, and caramel with lingering sweetness
M: This beer has a body which is on the heavier side of medium. It's slightly more syrupy than the non-BA version. Carbonation is soft but it is adequate for the style while the beer has a drying finish due to the ABV.
O: Overall this is a nice beer. Good flavors and some nice added complexity from the time in the barrel. Interesting to compare how this one feels vs the non BA version, but it's also packing a bit more ABV.

Bottle pour 2021 edition - opaque dark brown/mahogany with short offwhite head leaving a foamy ring of bubbles. Nose is sweet with stone fruit and candi sugar, hints of malt and barrel wood with a slight note of alcohol. Tastes follows the nose with a bit of alcohol creep that lingers on a dryish finish.

2021 edition. Maybe it's the name and my suggestibility, but I do get some pear on the nose and palate, joined by lychee and the syrupy fruit cocktail versions of peach and cherry. Very modest clove and cinnamon on the spice lineup. The bourbon barrel definitely hits on the tongue, with good barrel oak notes that complement the base, but also with some boozy sting that doesn't. I agree with another reviewer that the ageing treatment doesn't particularly pay off in this case, despite the Bruery's massively successful track record on that front.

 

 

Trying this after drinking the non-BBA version. My review will focus on this beer compared with that one.

Pours a deep reddish-brown, the same as the normal version.
Aroma is dominated by the whisky, with the dark fruit and other typical aromas found in a quad barely detectable.
The taste brings a nice balance of vanilla and oak whiskey vibes, and dark fruit, candy sugar quad vibes, with the former slightly dominating the flavor profile. Taste is very sweet though, possibly too sweet.
Medium-heavy bodied, light to moderate carbonation, similar to the normal version.
Overall imo this doesn't really seem like a beer that needed to be BBA-ed. The bourbon ends up covering over most of the quad flavors.

An interesting bottle. I brought this to our recent Dave tasting. Murky dark brown pour with a medium tan head. Lots of sludge sticking to the bottom of the bottle. Aroma of dark fruits and cardboard. In the taste, figs, pomegranate, cardboard, toasted nutshells. Barrel presence was very subtle, and there was very little booze detectable, other than maybe some neutral alcohol. Slight oxidation, but not nearly as much as I would have expected. Mouthfeel was medium, and there was a dry, leafy finish. Cool beer to try for sure, but really just a tick for me.

 

 

 

 

Worth the hype