The Bruery (2024)

Opened a Dream Bar almost exactly one year after the first bottle I opened. I enjoyed it much more this time.

A year ago it was solid but the flavors seemed like they were fighting each other more than coming together, and there was a slightly off note. This time it’s more mellow and integrated, and rides the pastry sweetness it was aiming for.

I recommend opening any bottles that might be in your cellar and seeing what you think.

 

Put in an order for a bunch of stuff (got free shipping) when allocations opened on 5/7... Not to rub it in, but everything arrived Monday 5/13, which is maybe the best shipping from CA has been.

Chocolate Dynasty - Quite similar to Chocolate Reign, plenty of booze and an almost bitter concentration of cacao. The extra barrel doesn't seem to have added a whole lot, but of course, Chocolate Reign is also great, and this isn't much different. Even that bitterness will probably go away over time (as it did with CR)

Cire - The ABV keeps creeping up and the average age is showing itself in the oak character (maybe thinning things out a bit), but these Anniversary entries are always among my favorites. Older vintages had a more earthy, leathery character to them that seems to have disappeared under the ABV and age, it would be great if they could find a way to reitroduce that character (and/or reduce ABV). Regardless, this will always be something I look forward to every year. Glad I stocked up.

Cire Blender's Reserve - Maybe getting a slightly different, richer barrel character than regular ol’ Cire, but they’re still quite similar. I'm glad I got a couple of these as well. All four of the beers I got in this drop are great, but this one is a step above Cire and CD.

Mélange No. 3 is still the best Mélange… the ABV is creeping up due to Anny ale, but the WOS ale manages to moderate the boozy nature of the other components, and this feels comparable to previous vintages (though obviously I haven't had those in a while). I think this was the best thing I had from this drop, and one of the top beers so far this year.

Agreed! I was worried about the Apple Brandy, as it seems incongruous from the rest of the description, but it actually turned out surprisingly well. I didn't really get any apple out of it all, just a more generic oak barrel. Not sure if that's a factor of the barrels used or the Monster Stout base or the other adjuncts or what, but I'm glad it worked out.

 

Clearly Melange no3 is popular, looks to be soldout

 

It's so funny, I keep seeing ads saying "This fan-favorite is BACK!" with a picture of M3 and then when you click on it, you get a sold out page...

 

Appears to be in stock now!

 

Hoarders Cuvee

Oh man, I was NOT prepared for how overly sweet the agave would be. The flavor and sickly sweetness overwhelms everything. I really liked Agave Amigos, but here the agave and the stout malt feel like an odd blend. Very glad I didn't FOMO buy multiples.

The body is excellent. Rich and smooth. And when I look past the agave, the stout and quad blend I think would have been pretty great.

If anyone from the winning blending team watches this thread: sorry, I'm not trying to dunk on you. This beer is unique, and it is not boring. Not for me, but better that this competition not churn out safe bets every time.

 

Waiting too and getting super concerned.

 

I mean it's starting to feel like the shaving companies one-upping each other by adding another blade.

If they do another after this they should name it, "Fuck it, Let's Do Five"

https://www.theonion.com/fuck-everything-were-doing-five-blades-1819584036

 

All the One and Dunn’s have been fantastic. RIP bank account.

 

Or shotgun them!

 

Opened the new Melange 3 last night. It's really good, but I'm being pretty selective in what I stock up on these days and I think I'll pass on more.

I liked it more than the last batch in 2017 for sure. Maybe on par with Thr3e. Doesn't meet the probably impossible dream of 2011.

It had a lot more Bruery tang than I've noticed in most recent brews.

 

I figured, 2017 was very thin and I figured this batch would be the same.

 

Agree on the thiness of 17. BT was thickened in 18 though. Have you tried this new M3? The body is nice: middle ground on the Bruery range.

I forgot to add it's quite hot. Not harsh, but for a blend I thought it would be more mellow out of the gate.

 

Up tonight: Chocolate Dynasty.

Very tasty, but I'm not buying more. I feel like I've been saying that a lot lately... which probably represents responsible adult decision making? I dunno.

Contrary to other reviews I saw, I think it's pretty darn mellow for a fresh triple barrel release. Super boozy of course, but not hot or harsh. High five to the blenders on this one.

Tons of chocolate. In fact, this is where it loses me. I love chocolate, I love dark chocolate, and this is very flavorful. But too much so. Compared to other grand reserves I find the chocolate overwhelms all of the barrel character I am more interested in. This is a "me" problem and I know a lot of folks are going to love it.

Special shout out on the price point. This is an expensive beer, no question. But despite rampant inflation, I believe $30 is where past non-adjunct 375ml GR's have been? And I believe Chocolate Reign was $58 for a 750ml? Or maybe $53? Either way, adding a third barrel and doing 375ml I could have easily seen them doing $35+ (which would have been a hard pass from me on even a first bottle). I think they ramped up their pricing overall a bit faster than maybe they intended and are locked in at $38 on core releases like BT and Ani. But I appreciate they are quietly rolling back some of those increases for now. Hoarders Cuvee and M3 at $33 are great deals if you like them. They're mostly $38 beers blended (which in theory should require more effort?) and come out the other side of blending magically cheaper? There's probably not a tidy way for their marketing team to mention this, but if they're watching, I see it and appreciate.

 

Second half of the bottle tonight. Still not buying more, but I enjoyed it very much. Not a bad buy at all, and might end up being a winner in the cellar. Sherry/vinous profile really stood out, which I think has to be the Ani in it? Surprising since I thought it was an even third-each blend (maybe not).

 

I find it weird, Rhymes with Orange is included beer and not barrel aged, and interested to see how the BW scores