Seahorse
The Bruery Terreux

Review: 2523
Name: Seahorse
Brewery: The Bruery
Location: Placentia, CA
Style: American Wild Ale
ABV: 7.6%
Canned: 26 January 2021
Date: 30 November 2025
I opted for a sour beer to close out the night. I am using a tulip glass and serving the beer at 44 degrees. The pour created a frothy, airy, one-fingered, white head with average retention. The quick dissipation left some lacing on the glass. The color is golden yellow with amber hues, somewhat cloudy, and charts at SRM 6. The beer's appearance is average for this style.
Nosing the glass, I smell oak, bourbon, cinnamon, nutmeg, grass, horse blanket, yeasty phenols, oranges, lemons, and a hint of vanilla. The malty aromas are crackers and light toasted malts. The aromas are intense, with wild-ale notes, citrus, and spices.
Seahorse's flavors start with oranges, funky barnyard, yeasty, grass, hay, nutmeg, cinnamon, and oak. Sipping the beer, I taste acetic acid, lemon, a hint of vanilla, light toasted malts, crackers, floral notes, bourbon, and earthiness.
The mouthfeel is slightly puckering, finishing crisp and dry. The body is medium-light, with medium-plus carbonation.
Final Thought: The beer is four years old, and it packs a punch. The beer has a strong, intense sour wild ale note, yet the spices and citrus come through nicely. After a few sips, as the beer warmed, it became easier to drink. I would recommend drinking this at 50 degrees, not 44

A: Poured into a tulip glass to a slightly hazy golden yellow beer which is topped by a large and fluffy three fingers of white head which fades slowly to a collar around the edge of the glass with decent lacing
S: Smells of tart citrus and slight warming spices with some hints of vanilla from the barrels
T: Tastes of citrus and salts with some warm spices and herbal notes. Clean and pleasant sourness throughout with some touches of oak. On the finish there's a little more oak, tart citrus, more spices, and slight vanilla.
M: This beer has a body which is on the lighter side of medium. Carbonation is slightly efferescent and adequate for the style while the beer has a drying finish due to the acidity.
O: Overall this is a pretty good beer, but the flavors do come across slightly disjointed. I think this with just the citrus would have been fine. The spices just seemed like an unnecessary addition.

750 ml bottle, 2021 edition, looks like it says bottled 1/26/21 but the print is pretty hard to read. Served in a Teku, the beer pours a somewhat hazy golden/orange color with about an inch or so off-white head that stuck around a while. Good amount of lacing. I like the aroma, the brew smells like lemon, orange, vanilla, nutmeg, mint and oak. I think the taste is similar to the aroma, but there's also some cinnamon, bourbon and earthy flavors noticeable too. Nice amount of sourness, with a hint of sweetness from the spices. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's a bit coating and has a moderate amount of carbonation. I thought this was a good overall brew, worth a try if you get the chance!

Burnt orange with half finger white head that quickly dissipates. Nose is tropical, lots of nutmeg, and oak. Taste opens with a nice sour hit of citrus, lemons, and orange, followed by a rounded and present but wonderfully balanced hints of nutmeg and cinnamon that folds into a nice smooth oak tannin from the bourbon. Body is light to medium with similar carbonation. Finish is dry and long with a lingering hint of nutmeg and oak vanilla. Overall this is really well done. Everything is so well balanced and all the ingredients shine in true Bruery fashion.

 

Pours an opaque orange-peach, frothy 1" head that fizzles out, minimal lacing. Clarifies and turns nearly clear after settling out for about an hour. Nose is punchy lactic notes, tangerine, orange, cherry, vanilla, and woodsy bottom of barrel. Nose has a good balance between the sour element and the barrel. On the palate, the barrel is more expressive, though not to the extent of some other Terreux beers where the wood is overpowering. Here, it's rounded with the moderate sour of the base beer - nothing off the charts or aggressively tart - along with some citrus and stone fruit. As it warms, more subtle tropical fruit flavors appear which really helps provide some extra depth. The finish is dry and sightly tannic, while the carbonation is small but crisp. Overall, this is nicely balanced and light for a barrel-aged beer; definitely give it some time to warm up at least 30 minutes to get the most out of it.

Kinda crazy to see a beer aged in bourbon barrels called a fruited kettle sour, but its noobadvocate up in here sometimes. Anyways, here is the first review of this beer on BA.

Anyways, at the football home opener in September 21 we cracked this one late in the tailgate. Was a nice refreshing pick me up. Pours yellow. Light cloudiness. Kind of looks like a gose at the outset. 1/4" white head. The aroma lays the foundation for the tiki drink claims, there is a bright lemon sour, oak, orange hit to it.

Taste brought in the season adjuncts, they are much more nuanced than the citrus impression. Nutmeg, cinnamon, but they don't supplant the citrus and bring this into holiday season territory. Sourness it a 6.5/10 pt wild ale scale. Acidity is about 6/10. A tiny bit more restrained than the average Bruery wild ale. Quite the mashup of tropical/citrus/holiday. Easily hides 7.6% abv. Also has a very light malt bill to it that deftly carries a significant mix of tastes. Good carbonation.

Kind of bummed I only had one bottle of this, it was pretty good and unique. Usually unique just means its not very good. Best of Both Worlds here, cue up the Van Halen.