Bruery 2016 RS/HS Allocations

I went to SMM yesterday and tired everything.
Dodie - All I can say is it's different. I taste what they were shooting for but not my cup of tea/beer.
Frambulous - I really liked this one, not overly tart and plenty of raspberry in the nose and taste.
Chronology - I did the flight of all 4. I liked them in this order. 24,6,18, and 12 I believe.
Quadrupel Tonnellerie - This was the surprise of the night! It was very sweet with a lot of blackberry, loved it!
Melange 14 - This seems like a really basic blend but the blend is very good. I could probably drink this all the time
Frucht: Apricot - Extremely tart! The tartness overpowers the fruit in my opinion. The passion fruit was better I think.
*Bonus* BT Maderia - So smooth and sweet! Delicious.

 

Without getting too far in the weeds, what kind of things in general did you like more/less about the different Chronologies?

 

I really liked the sort of flash of booziness you get in the 6. It's also has an amazing mouthfeel from I would guess aging outside of the barrels the longest. The 24 seemed to blend itself together the best for what I think, I'm not sure on any of this, because it had the most time in the barrel. It seemed to me to be a bit more boozy but not in a hot liquor kind of way, more like a caramel mouth feel.

Sorry if I wrote that in a confusing way, I tried to explain how it felt drinking them at the time. I hope that helps

 

any other opinions on dodie? that's the one i'm most on the fence about. i enjoyed ghc.

 

If you liked GHC I think you will enjoy Dodie. It seems very similar to me.

 

Indeed. I want to try it, but then again.. I don't. I could save the money for my El Cat bottles.. or more Bruery bottles.. or hell, shipping.. A slot in the shipper is a precious thing!

 

It was the only one at the SMM that I couldn't put my finger on. I think I may need to try it a few additional times to make up my mind. From what I recall of GHC they are close but GHC (IMO) has more flavor from the spices.

 

I thought it was awful, I haven't had roble blanco, but it was the worst Bruery beer I have had. I enjoyed l'deracola more. The rest of the months allocation are really good. I was surprised at how good Quadrupel Tonnellerie is, I wasn't expecting much out of it.

 

This month is going to murder my wallet between this months towering allocation and the FO dinner on the horizon. If anyone has any solid descriptive tasting note on this line up I would love to hear them.. My wallet needs to learn how to say no.

 

So why the late addition of blackberries to "Quadrupel Tonnellerie?" I can assume they're not going to release both since this month's allocation is called "Quadrupel Tonnellerie" and not "Quadrupel Tonnellerie with Blackberries."

 

I was told that the quad has been sitting in barrels for a while and while it was good, it didn't get to where they wanted. They then threw in some blackberries and made it pop.

I'm honestly not a fan anymore of quads but god damn, that beer was awesome. I was pressured to try it and thank god I did.

That being said, I would suggest drinking this quick before the fruit fades.

 

It is also sour as noted in their description on the website but the sour description is lacking from the allocations e-mail. Maybe it wasn't meant to be sour to begin with so they are complimenting that flavor with the berries?

"Quadrupel Tonnellerie, a barrel-fermented Belgian-style quadrupel with blackberries, is no exception." - allocation e-mail

"Quadrupel Tonnellerie, a sour and funky barrel-fermented Belgian-style quadrupel with blackberries, is no exception." - website description

 

I thought all the "Tonnellerie" beers were sour by default? When I head the name I assumed it was sour before even seeing the Terreux label.

Those labels are also different in that it's now tagged "Preservation Series" - so maybe they'll release a non-Preservation Series without blackberries if it suits them.

For those who have tried it, how sour is it relative to other Bruery beers? And is it more of a funky sour like ToD or a puckery sour like Frucht?

 

It is not overly sour but it is definitely present. It is mostly blackberry with some tartness.

 

Not much sour at all, and a very fresh dark-berry finish. Was surprised on this one. Going in I wasn't expecting to buy many bottles but will likely max.

 

The Tonnellerie label isn't sour by default, some have been, but anything brewed under Terreux is either wild or sour, so the beer was always slated to have some funk to it regardless of a recipe change or addition. I love the idea of blackberries, quads are one of my fave styles and fruit additions always make them better. Sierra Nevada's Ovila Quad with Plums and with Cherries are fantastic. I take it this will be a little more tart/sour, which is fine with me.

 

That was an omission in the email - sorry about that ;-) It's certainly intentionally sour and funky.

 

Are all the Tonnellerie series barrel fermented? I feel like I remember the term through around when the first of the series came out. I'd think barrel fermenting would bring out some funk/tartness.

 

Good memory! They are all barrel-fermented.

 

Yeastern Arlines ( Vermont style IPA) is on tap today, excited to see how this will taste today.