Bruery 2018 RS/HS Allocations

For what its worth, I was not getting my Bruery / Society emails a while back. I was still getting Offshoot and the Tasting room emails.

I contacted the society via the welcome desk email, the same address we use to notify them of a pickup.

Took a few rounds, but they straightened it out.

 

And also 2018 Hoarder Cuvee 375's

 

I've done the same enough times to realize it's not worth it to try anymore. It used to work fine until Offshoot was formed.

 

Just opened a Rue D' Floyd (2017) and really enjoying it. The cherry is really shining and although the coffee is mostly faded, the cherry works well with what's left. I've been drinking a lot of natural coffees lately, so this is really reminding me of some of those that I've tried recently.

 

Opened one over the weekend with some friends. Everyone enjoyed it. Agree with everything you said. Glad I have one more.

 

You've nailed what I was going after in my comments.

Over 20 years, I've tasted a lot of okay $100+ dollar bottles of wine, and a lot of good $30 bottles of wine, as well as the inverse. Unless I've had the opportunity to taste wines from the various producers, which is what I prefer, I would look to multiple outside validations on how wine(and even expensive beers) taste. Outside validation being a periodical, valued friends opinions, or crowdsourcing of multiple opinions. This is how I make an evaluation prior to spending a large amount of money on a single bottle of wine/beer.

I know that I'm outside of the norm for the usual wine/beer buyer. I have a 12 cu foot & 72 cu foot 3 door fridge in my living room that has my wine & beer collection(got it for dirt cheap!), alongside a 3 tap kegerator with homebrew. I live in NorCal, and visit 30-50 breweries per year, alongside 12-15 wineries.

 

has anyone had a chance to try any of the new hoarders box beers?

 

This will be the highlight for me. The Swan Song, if you will.

 

I've tried everything but Train to Miami. Overall, I'm finding these very additive dominant, even more so than earlier boxes. Just a few thoughts:

Crumbfather: Extreme pecan flavor, with cinnamon more present on the aroma than on tasting it.Very solid pastry stout; I'm guessing it used the same base as Bakery. If so, I hope they make some more beers with that base! (UT 4.25/5)

Gluhwein BT: Great. Wine barrel character, orange zest, and the traditional BT flavor all come together and play together well. Spices more of a background note, but definitely present. Surprisingly little booze burn for a fresh bottle of a BT variant. This one was knocked out of the park. (UT 4.75/5)

Melange Noir: God bless an additive-less Hoarder's Box beer! Just a very nice, rich, malty beer. BT flavor isn't too dominate, with a strong barley wine character being quite noticeable. A lot of booze burn, so this might be one that's better let age a bit. (UT 4.25/5)

Call Him Andy: This was the one I was least looking forward to, as it just sounded a bit ordinary. It is anything but. The second I opened it my entire apartment was filled with peach and apricot aroma. Super, super tart, very drinkable, I could down this one by the pitcher on a hot day. Curious what the base beer was; the fruit additions kind of make it unnoticable. (UT 4.5/5)

Dark Rain: I did not like this very much, to be clear (which in this context means the beer is 'ok' instead of 'good/great'). This might be because I think black currants are a garbage fruit that ruin everything they touch, but who can say. Surprisingly, though, my issue was with the cocoa: it just completely takes over the beer. Ended up tasting like a tart, cold glass of hot chocolate. That's what they were going for, and they did it well, but certainly not a favorite of mine; I would've liked more of the ToD to come through. (UT 3.5/5).

 

PSA: Atta Boysenberry allocation is first come first served.

 

I’m just here for the comments on a $700 set of beer when 1 is infected

 

It's not an infection, it's a feature

 

I thought we had agreed to call it a "surprise sour"?

 

I called my credit card company and upped my limit to $650 just to buy these sweet beers. What a great vertical to have and all in 750s! Can't imagine anyone being luckier than my family when I open all 19 over Christmas dinner.

 

The trick is not too take them out of the oven too early. You want to make sure they're piping hot!

 

Anyone know if Partridge in a Pear Tree and/or 2 Turtle Doves will be sold individually? I started collecting these 1.5 or so years ago and didn't become a Reserve member until this year, so I'm in a bit of an awkward position and missed out on the 1-10 sale last year. I currently have 6-11 plus the allocation of 3 French Hens today. Hoping that tomorrows hint of "Wine and Birds" isn't exclusive to 4 Calling Birds as 1 and 2 are also birds...

 

I don't recall seeing either sold individually the last couple years. I do recall them releasing the Christmas beers in order. So sorry if that spoils the surprise. Or they do something totally different, who knows?

I will say though that Three French Hens was, in my opinion, drinking spectacularly well last year. Not sure if it is $51 good or not, but sometimes you gotta treat yo self. Enjoy!

 

trois poules francais

For our third beer in the ‘12 Days of Christmas’ series we decided to take a little creative liberty when approaching the barrel aged version. We were able to acquire an abundance of syrah grapes from the Santa Ynez Valley, which are full of rich, dark berry flavors and a wisp of black pepper which seemed almost too perfect for Three French Hens. The grapes were pressed and the juice was added to the beer which was then aged in wine barrels for one year. The result is a satisfyingly tart, dark ale with hints of oak and dried fruit that finishes with a clean, vinous character typical of a deep red wine.