Bruery 2014 RS/HS Allocations

^add cooler bags to that list.

 

Man, everyone keeps raving about the barrel aged Ms Stoutfires, I guess I should have tried some. Also bummed I totally forgot about getting some Pugachevs Cobra. But my focus was on sours and I pretty much succeeded with everything in that respect.

 

Yeah, there's was a lot to go for. I forgot to get a couple of the list I made a few days before, but none of that bothered me since the amount I did get try really was amazing stuff.

 

Smog City, Hoptonic variant. For me I thought it had a great nose, but the taste didn't work as well. Now how they got that color?

 

Probably woodruff syrup.

 

Seems like the initial response on Untappd for the Soroboruo is positive. I know when this was on the calendar at the beginning of the year as not being explicitly stated as a sour beer, but I guess whatever happened to it worked out.

Anybody else have firsthand thoughts?

 

Blue-green algae. My girlfriend asked.

 

I had it on Friday. Thought it was pretty good, not amazing. Somewhat similar flavor profile to melange 1, but not as good.

 

I didn't think it was very good. Definitely seemed like a mix of flavors that didn't really blend together, and I couldn't get into it. I guess I get the "not as good" M1 comparison, since it has bourbon/malt/sour notes, but would take it a bit further and say it's a bad homebrew clone of M1. Not a fan.

 

I think I know the answer to this, but do you think HS will get the opportunity to purchase another Portuguese Brandy Sucre? That was my favorite beer of Sucreversary, but before I tasted it I already promised the bottle to a friend I share the HS with.

 

Email said no more available for purchase.

#readingcomprehension

: )

 

Wait... When was portugese brandy for sale for hoaders?

 

It wasn't, I think it got subbed in for one Cognac bottle. The initial mailings said we'd get 3x Cognac, however I am sure the yield was lower than expected and they had to limit it and replace one. I am more than ok to get a little more variation, but I am sure some people with plans to trade off a few were bummed.

 

Ah, part of the hoarder allocation. not for purchase, cognac too...
I guess i didnt read the whole thing.

 

You guys need to get on this one, it could literally be the "next big one" like Oude Tart, Black Tuesday + variants/etc for you guys. That is, Stoutfire was the sleeper hit of the year from your line-up for me from the last batch of bottles my trustee sent me.

 

Yeah. I say clear every shelf of those dust collecting regular versions and just start pouring them into barrels. That was some amazing stuff compared to the base beer.

 

I stopped by the tasting room on Thursday night since I was in the area for the concert and tried all of the non-bourbon Sucre variants, if anyone is interested in another set of notes, albeit a bit briefer than Buck86's: (tl;dr: his assessments were more or less spot on):

Madiera - They definitely got their hands on some barrels from the drier, more acidic end of the Madeira spectrum and the acidity works very well to balance the base beer's sweetness. Not much actual oak character, but good vinous notes and light tannins. If anyone was debating just trying one variant, this would be my recommendation both based on being a damn good beer, as well as the fact that it's demonstrably different from the standard strong ale in spirit barrel profile.

Tawny Port - Far less acidity and vinous character, considerably more dark fruits than the Madeira treatment. The aroma seemed a bit subdued (admittedly, letting a taster pour warm up enough to throw off good aroma can be tough) and the sweeter profile made the barrel notes get a bit lost in the mix. Not bad, but not great.

Rye - The spice character from the barrels was really nice, but it tasted a bit disjointed. I think it will come together with time, but the barrel notes haven't entirely integrated with the base beer.

Rum - Admittedly, I'm not a big rum drinker, but this doesn't do a ton for me. The rum adds some light spice notes, but it contributes more sweetness than anything, which this beer doesn't need more of.

New American Oak - Night and day from NAO Bois. Where Bois was woody to the point of being off-putting, Sucre has picked up the pleasant oak notes without tasting like a lumberyard. Cinnamon, vanilla, brown sugar, it tasted like a freshly baked apple crisp. Whatever they changed from year to year worked wonders.

General, slightly tangential thoughts - I can appreciate the Bruery's sense of experimentation with Sucre, but I don't think it's the optimal beer for so many different barrel types. It's too big and too strong to allow some of the barrels to really shine. In a perfect world Firestone Walker would be doing something like this with Sucaba, I think that would work beautifully with a variety of barrel types.

Aside from the Sucre variants, BeMangoed was damn tasty, Rue D'Floyd was good but very much a beer with strong primary flavors and little else going on in the background (unsurprising coming from a Bruery/FFF collab), and Floyd D'Rue was tremendously over-spiced to the point where it tasted like Jagermeister and bad decisions.

 

any word on when the NAO will be available in bottles?

 

Been wondering the same thing.

 

im kind of beginning to think tequila and new american oak were draft only