Bruery RS/HS Allocations (2020)

Anybody try this years Anniversary ale? I remember last years being a touch dry, kinda iffy if I should buy extra.

 

I’ve noticed this the last 2 years. Dryer and thinner than normal. Hoping for a comeback this year haha.

 

This description is from Saule but so far it's the same description for all the Anniversary beers:
Our ninth anniversary ale, Saule, follows in the footsteps of our anniversary releases before it, which are loosely based on an English-style old ale, fermented with our house yeast strain, aged in bourbon barrels and blended using the solera method. This means that a portion of each anniversary ale is saved in oak barrels and blended in with the next year’s production, providing more complexity and depth of character as the years go by.
The Anniversary beers should be evolving and though I Ioved Papier, Coton, Cuir etc, personally I like how the series has become less sweet fresh. Unless the Bruery changed things up I'm not sure if Soie will be any sweeter and thicker.

 

Either last year or the year before they said they did something to re-jig their solera system because the balance was off. So I'm not sure if that meant brewing/adding more or less than usual, or if they recirculated differently, or promoted newer batches along the chain faster... Maybe all of the above?

 

Anyone had a West Wood lately? Curious how it's tasting these days.

 

I had one in September, so not super recent. Compared to fresh I noted it seemed to have dried out a lot, which in my opinion hurt it's overall balance. But, heat had reduced a lot too. Net feeling was it was still very tasty and enjoyable.

 

My shipper came today and I just poured Soie. It’s the best it’s been in years. Boozy, sweet and barrel heavy. Not fizzy, dry and thin like last couple years.

 

Hmmm, maybe a good question to ask them in the Anti-Social happy hour this Thursday....

 

Hey. It was only "postponed"!

 

Where are you seeing this? I don't have an email from them yet.

 

I’m surprised they postponed it for only 1 year. They’ll probably have to postpone it again. I don’t see gatherings like that happening so soon though hopefully I’m wrong.

 

Anyone else hoping that they release something new on crowler fill? I'm assuming they are putting whatever they have on tap in crowler options, but if not....what are they waiting for? Also, they must have some kegs that aren't going to make it to next year that was lined up for the anniversary party. My Wish List:

- Retreat w/Coconut
- Anniversary Soie on Coffee Randall (Or Acier if they want to get rid of some kegs)
- Anniversary on Coconut Randall
- Anniversary w/something on Randall.....
- Other Offshoot w/hops on Randall

Obviously, you can see a theme with mine. I was thinking they can still be creative and fun and increase the demand for their delivery services if they would punch up the options a bit.

Anyone else want to play and give some ideas?

 

Bruery is getting on that inverse Noble counting system by postponing the 12th anniversary until the 13th anniversary.

 

The email said that the fest was "postponed" until May 2021. I was just amused that they chose to use that word and avoided having to say they "canceled" this year's fest.

Totally agree!

 

Just semantics. Easier to postpone and honor current ticket purchases than to say it’s outright canceled, and have to cancel/refund all tickets.

 

I tried the new Hold The Spoon tonight and really enjoyed it. Completely nails the chocolate ice cream profile. I think it's probably the cocoa powder combined with the salt that does it. Also, surprisingly not that sweet (all things considered) which was actually kinda nice!


Earlier in the week finally tried Apple Falls Far. The flavor is out of this world. Really delicious. I'm not familiar with the cocktail they were modeling, but it definitely has a cocktail vibe (as well as a spiced cider vibe). The catch is that it is sweet AF. Kinda like Bierbara. So sweet it's hard to drink at first. That mellows out over the course of a glass a little as you desensitize, but it's really really over the top sweet. It's also very low on carbonation, which I think makes the sweetness stand out even more. I wish it had more carbonation to mitigate the sweetness. Next time I open a bottle I think I may try pouring some over ice TBH.

 

Sweet af indeed, which is usually anathema to me. It was an included bottle so I knew I would be drinking it sooner or later. Anyways, opened it up and I immediately felt like I was hit with spiced hard apple cider. I loved it. I went right to the website and ordered two more bottles, thinking about drinking it room temperature or a little warm on some chilly winter night.

 

Just wanted to thank you for adding a new word to my vocabulary - anathema. I'll also try AFF as it sounds delicious for this cooler-than-usual weather here in Socal!