The Bruery (2024)

Looks like it will be a Monster Stout base, but still sounds great to me!

https://ttbonline.gov/colasonline/p...uador_Back_375ml_April2024_3x3.png&filetype=l

 

Werewolfs are monsters... Maybe the name more than label style is the new indicator?

 

Shoot, maybe try this link (you'll need to click "Printable Version" link to see label). The back label explicitly mentions Monster stout base...

https://ttbonline.gov/colasonline/v...publicDisplaySearchBasic&ttbid=24009001000259

 

I just wanted to put this out there, I too was unaware of the change from Mr. Daisy to not having a distribution point in DC anymore. The Bruery was great and they shipped my cellar beer for free.

 

My box just shipped today. It was almost 2 weeks from when I ordered. Still no delivery date in the tracking info. I think this was longest delay since they started shipping nationally, so hopefully just a temporary blip.

 

Never posted my top 5 from 2023, but since it's still a thing, here goes:

1. One & Dunn Grand Reserve - Phenomenal. Incredible depth, insanely rich, distinctive rye character, boozy in the best way, seems ridiculous to call something like this balanced, but… it’s very well balanced

2. Demon Water - As with DrunkTroi, the whole Distiller's Box was emphatically my thing, but this was clearly the best of those. Malt Mill and Forgotten Lore also pretty great. Fireproof is fine, but that Bayonet base is maybe a bit too Thicc for my tastes...

3. Mélange à Trois - My favorite of the included bottles, and a nice blend for sure. I think I still prefer Melange #3 or Thr3e, but this is up there.

4. Come Together - I enjoyed the entire Belgian collection or whatever it was called, and I seemed to like this a lot more than most.

5. So You Liked Dem Coconuts? - I maintain that having two coconut stouts in the included RS lineup is a bit much, but this one was well done.

I'm obviously one of those guys who tends to prefer less of the wacky ingredients/treatments so this year's included RS lineup was... disappointing.

Honorable Mention & non-2023 releases drank in 2023: Fruet (man, those older Anny beers were sooo good, still love the newer ones and Cristal was fine, but those older ones were more approachable and complex), Vanilla Villain Reserve (looking forward to that Werewolf beer for sure), Fat Twosday (a bit heavy handed with cinnamon, but I liked it a lot), Pass the Yams (a worthy successor to Autumn Maple), Strange Case of Dr. Elijah And Mr. Cacao (great Cacao character and more approachable than Chocolate Reign, though I liked that one too), and Black Tuesday (duh)

 

13% must mean SHIT base? Unless they blended BT with one of theirs?

 

https://mybeerbuzz.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-bruery-adding-desert-flora-order.html?m=1

 

That was Stealth, but I can share what I've observed in how they do shipping...

For awhile last year they had 15 bottle boxes, I don't know if they still do or if they've gone back to 12.

375ml take up a full 750ml slot.

Single cans also take up a full 750ml slot, so 4-packs eat up space real quick. I've seen them put a single 4-pack in loose this way, but 2+ packs and they use a separate box for cans (and thus a separate box charge)... UNTIL recently! They now have box inserts that can hold 6 4-packs vertically. They replace the inserts for 6 750ml bottles... meaning a 12-bottle shipper can hold 6 bottles and 24 cans.

What I don't know is if the weight of that forces them to charge more than the $30 they would charge for a 12 box with 12 bottles. I don't know if their main cost driver is weight, materials, or labor.

Merchandise has always been a wild card. They've often been happy to cram it into bottle shippers to save money... but it depends on size. With glassware, imagine the glass, plus at least some bubble wrap... is the girth of that more than a 750ml bottle? If so, then it probably can't go in a bottle shipper and needs its own merch shipper.

note: shouldn't be tax charged on shipping typically, but who knows what weird laws different states have.

 

They used to have 9 bottle boxes but I wonder if they're just doing 6 and 12 now to streamline supply ordering?

Maybe they had 15's and are phasing out for the same reason?

 

Can we just write in, "Autumn Maple"?

I guess it depends what elements we get to vote on? The barrel program has taken center stage for a long time... But they've made some killer non-BA over the years.

A session version of Mischief could be cool... Maybe take the Petite table beer and dump some Citra in?