Brewery Vivant

That sounds like you've been hitting the indo. I think Belgian styles are some of the most underappreciated styles in the U.S. That's probably a reason why I've liked BV, but get distracted by all the US IPA's and stouts.

 

Heh. It's a combo of exhaustion, divided attention currently watching Peaky Blinders), and autocorrect.

 

They also offer cans to go of brews not in their yearly lineup. They are called Brewer's reserve. Nice to bring home something most people have never had.

 

The sour release today was great, picked up a half dozen bottles. They also have quite a few cans for sale that don't hit distribution. The kids had fun in the sandbox.

 

Brewery Vivant is honestly one of the more under appreciated breweries in the state. They make awesome beers across the board, have a great brewery/taplist, good food (albeit overpriced), and are starting to produce some quality sours. I love the fact that when you visit the brewery every time they have beer available in cans and now occasionally in bottles that you cannot find anywhere else.

 

I visited Michigan for the 2nd time ever and Brewery Vivant may have been my favorite of the 7 breweries we visited. Farm Hand is totally crushable and I really enjoyed On the Trail Ale, Moon Monk, and BA Framboco. The story of the building, the atmosphere, and the staff was great. I didn't get an overly Belgian feel to the beer, but I enjoyed it a lot. Definitely will hit BV again if I'm in the area, or Greyline, instead of Founders, but I am glad I got to experience them all! Michigan was terrific.

 

To those with more access to BV than me, when was the last time they released Love Shadow? I thought it was outstanding and I need to try to track some more down.

 

I believe September of last year. I have one left if you're interested. Probably not worth your time for a single but it's been in the fridge for months and wouldn't mind getting it out of there.

 

I've really been enjoying the frequency with which they've been putting out sour beers now. Hoping this trend continues.

 

I would expect more and more of this since they added the foeders last year.

 

I tried a Fussy Dutchman last night (picked it up in March at BV) and it was quite excellent. A nice bit from the red wine barrels and very enjoyable, if you like sours! It's not quite Paris (I realize different types of sours) but it's right up there!

 

I'll 2nd that. Really enjoyed my visit when I was in town. Awesome space and good beer for the most part. I definitely wouldn't eat there again. They try to push out higher end food (for a brewery) with a price tag to match. Everything we tried fell far short sadly.

 

Anyone try any of the Plein de Vie series yet? Almost no ratings here. Wondering if it'll be worth the investment to grab 2 bottles of each. One of each to try fresh and one of each to try sometime down the road.

 

i got tasters of all before getting a full pour of Angelina... So far I've only had it on draft but honestly I think it's one of the best beers they've ever done a wide release of, maybe third behind Paris and Escoffier with some time on it.

In general I agree with @Angerhaus, most of their beers are misses for me, but Angelina's a winner.

 

I had a bottle of Angelina last night and it was fantastic. Very complex sour with an interesting taste.

 

I had all three side by side at Logan's Alley last week. None of them are great, must try sours, but all three were good. I'd say Angelina was the best, followed by Habango, with Harvest Breed in last place, though the difference in quality between the three isn't especially large. Given that they all seem to retail for $10-12 per 500 ml bottle, I'd grab them if I were you. And I say this as somebody who thinks Vivant is decent, but who isn't nearly as enamored with them as most people posting in this thread.

 

Definitely snatch up some bottles of Angelina, I think it'll age beautifully. I'm also happy about the fact they chose to put it in glass (for aging purposes, obviously I like the can format for price/oz). Cheers!

 

Just a price check here. I found wizard burial ground for $26.95 a 4 pack. I love old style ales and BA barleywine but don't have a ton of experience with quads. Is it worth the price point?

 

No

 

It's a fantastic beer. It's worth the price considering what bombers go for these days. It's simply in a format no one is used to, which is why the price seems high.