The Bruery (2025)

Double barrel.

 

Yikes! Good to know. The first one I had was fine, but I have 3 more at home and 2 in the cellar.

 

Anyone try the new Crumbfather yet? I was part of the crew that initially brewed that beer for the first time when it was in the Hoarders box. After being a member for 12 years, I sadly dropped my membership this year. If anyone happens to have an extra bottle or can get one, I'd love to see how this new batch compares. Happy to purchase, trade, whatever.

 

I had it and thought it was very good. Nicely balanced with all the flavors. Cinnamon wasn’t overpowering but definitely there.

 

Thank you. I was wondering about this one and worried that it might be overly syrupy sweet. Glad to hear that it is not so I will pick up a few more.

 

I just opened mine. A lot of times I read people posting that things have gone sour and mine are fine. But this one is going over.

 

Only Anniv ale I haven’t got to try is the 1st year and with Bruery not shipping to Michigan I didn’t renew, but I’d like to keep up with them, would be looking for 2 bottles of regular and 2 blenders choice if they do, would pay upfront and cover yours and my shipping, lmk if interested

 

https://mybeerbuzz.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-bruery-adding-peach-charmd-banana.html?m=1

 

This is new to the website:

Orders containing items from your Virtual Cellar
are shipped based on carrier rates that are calculated by the total weight of items in your order and the distance between origin and destination. These rates are calculated automatically during checkout.

Did some quick test
I was given two options each time UPS Ground or Shipping (West)

7 375ml $33.16 UPS Ground or $40 Shipping (West)
6 375ml $30 Shipping (West) or $30.13 UPS Ground
3 375ml $24.56 UPS Ground or $30 Shipping (West)
1 375ml $24.65 UPS Ground or $30.00 Shipping (West)

Looks like you can still use the old method as well $30 1-6 or $40 7-15. May need some more data...

And yes I went back and double checked that shipping 3 bottles was cheaper than 1...

 

Finally shipped my first box this year, covering the first three months of releases. 12 bottles shipped for 43.65 + tax. Still pretty high and it ships in the bigger box meant for 750ml bottles. It gets marginally better at 15 bottles. Shipped immediately and arrived within a week, so there appears to be no remaining backlogs, etc...

I haven't gotten through all the bottles as yet, but here's thoughts on the first several that I tried:

Fabled Fate - A bit more roast on top of a more standard Belgian strong dark character, nice, but unremarkable. I like it (I miss simple but well made Belgian style beers), but it's still mildly annoying that non-barrel-aged beers are in the official society releases.

Midnight In Bruges - Nice Belgian character under the bourbon and oak, candied fruit, very sweet but not cloying, solid. I don't think it's the same base as Fabled Fate, but now that we have 12 ounce bottles, doing both on the same night actually worked really well. As mentioned above, I miss the straight Belgian styles (beer has generally moved away from that direction), so this was a welcome addition.

Tuesday Morning - Super sweet, lots of maple syrup on top of usual Black Tuesday notes. Not quite capturing that fabled Black Tuesday Maple balance everyone was hoping for, but solid… I think I liked Heavenly Blis better than this as well, but it's quite nice.

Lights Out - Lots of bitter roast coffee character, some underlying sweetness for balance, but nothing particularly special. I'm not a huge coffee guy to start with, but this could really use some bourbon barrel character, I generally appreciate that more.

Mélange à Quad Reserve - Tasty, lots of barrel complexity, the rich bourbon and tangy, vinous Madeira stand out, maybe even a spicy note. The brandy seems to get a little lost in the shuffle. Could do without the Madeira (would be really curious about a similar blend with just bourbon and brandy barrels, I feel like the Madeira takes over a bit too much), but can’t really complain, this is very good.

Amburana Noir - Fascinating, intense, boozy stuff. The Amburana imparts a healthy but not overwhelming dose of earthy cinnamon. That earthiness is full of leather, tobacco, almost smoky, and quite unusual, but still tasty. As it warms it feels almost funky. One of the better Amburana treatments I’ve had... but I wonder about that funky, smoky character - I wonder if this one will fall off over time.

A pretty solid start to this year's offerings, looking forward to hitting a few more this weekend...

 

Cracked my first Double Barrel Smoking Souls last night and it was sour. I emailed the Bruery an within 10 minutes they sent me a gift card to cover the 2 bottles i had purchased.