Demented Brewery

All you need to know is that the memberships are still available, months after they were first sold lol.

So... I sampled my bottle of Wrath last night. It was pretty good, which is impressive considering how low my expectations were. The barrel character was relatively light, but it tasted like the base RIS was very solid (perhaps a touch sweeter than I prefer, but enjoyable nonetheless).

Not sure I love an $18 price on these, but the beer is not nearly as bad as you might think, having read this thread lol.

 

I don't think their beer is bad - Astarte was genuinely good, the Berliner was fine if forgettable and Scarlet Nights is pretty good too (biased RU alum though). They do homemade soda for the kids too which is cool (and funny considering the motif of the taproom). More breweries should do that. I'd love to see a dry hopped Astarte, it'd be like TH Milkshake-lite.

 

I think Astarte, Scarlet Knights, and Double Dementia are good starting points and should be a part of their core... but at least 6 of those can come off the board and I wouldn't notice nor remember which 6 came off.

And I agree with @Dschwartz83, it's about seeing them try to succeed. And the fact that I didn't even realize the brewer had left... well... yeah.

 

Honestly I think their only real issue was pushing Double Dementia as their premier beer (they know what sells - IPAs) when it was an awful mess. Even with the new brewer, I wouldn't try it again. Terrible. Ditch all the hoppy beers and start fresh, ditch the membership program and NEVER EVER release an $18 BA stout without releasing the original in the taproom or something.

 

That's how Magnify opened just 4 solid beers nothing fancy. I have only been to Demented once and was not impressed much by any of their beers.

 

I cracked 1 of the 2 bottles I got last night. Not to bash them, but I wasn't super impressed...I got no real bourbon or barrel from it, even tryiing to let it warm up a bit, and found it strong and a bit bitter in taste. Will be holding on to my other bottle for a while.

I thought their Vulcan and Belladonna were enjoyable when I visited...I'll give them another shot in the future.

 

So they posted a picture of a fridge full of their Wrath bottles.
And apparently some Legion memberships still available for purchase.

Can someone tell me what the advantage of the Legion membership is? You get a bottle like a day before or something?
I'm genuinely asking.

 

They also posted about their 1y anniversary, which is being held at a restaurant, not the taproom. New formula for Double Dementia at release (from the new brewer)

 

The new brewer used to work at Carton, correct?

 

IDK but I hope so! They are like the Parcells coaching tree of good brewers with Other Half et al

 

Phresh, from Carton, started in the last couple of months from 2015...I believe?

 

Well, hopefully that rights a few wrongs in the long-term.

No pressure.

 

Had the Dementia Double IPA and it was solid. A little on the sweet side, but still decent. Would definitely try some of their other offerings.

 

Interesting, I had it last summer and it was bitter with zero malt/sweetness flavors.

 

You're at all not crazy for thinking that. Over-reach by small brewers (such as that which you described) is simply an extension of the average homebrewer mentality. And most of these places are basically serving glorified homebrew made on a bigger kit.

I have nothing against homebrew...quite the opposite, actually (I've been a homebrewer since 1971, and a seriously dedicated one since '79). So I do sort of understand the desire for experimentation and I certainly went through a phase where every brew I made at home had to be different ...but I finally outgrew that. For the last 30 years, I've basically concentrated on just 5 different brews that I was determined to perfect (to suit my specific personal tastes), and with which to achieve a good degree of repeatability. More small brewers need to do that, rather than jump into the commercial fray essentially selling their 'experiments' and expecting customers to be their lab rats.

I visited Demented when they first opened (they are a mere 7 miles from where I live), and I've had some of their brews at a restaurant earlier this year that had their beer on draught. While nothing really blew me away and a couple of their offerings were definitely NOT ready for primetime, I've certainly had far worse beer from other small brewers... and most especially from brewpubs (which I have pretty much stopped bothering to even seek out any more).

I hope it works out eventually for Demented. They seem like very nice, down to earth folks (and considerably friendlier than some places I've visited in my travels over the last few years).

 

Second Bottle Announced Today. And from back-reading this thread, I'm thankful I didn't grab a membership.

 

I visited this place again after awhile. Haven't been all that impressed and bummed about it because it's literally 10 minutes from my house. Today I went to try a new IPA and to have a small taste of Wrath since I wasn't about to drop $18 for a bottle. Well, while the Wrath was underwhelming, the new IPA Be Real was excellent! Low ABV but hazy, fruity and delicious. Maybe the new(ish) brewer is turning things around here. I was also impressed with the Vila (Belgian wit).

 

It seemed like Doug was turning around the Double and the IPA Be Real. I'm hoping he just completely turns it around.
Maybe even cut down the number of offerings.

 

I don't see that happening (cutting down on the number of offerings) but the hoppy beers were tastier for sure. Hopefully it's a good sign.

 

Overall I was pretty underwhelmed the first time I stopped in during the Wrath release but was much more hopeful last week stopping by. I thought the Be Real, Dementia on whole leaf Amarillo through a randall, and sample of Orcus were all pretty good; all better than anything I had on my first trip out.

Anyone else try the Orcus yet? I didn't really care for Wrath but found the Orcus very nice; some definite scotch in the nose and more like a caramel-y barleywine.

Sounds like a sour is coming up for the next release. It also sounds like they plan on putting the strawberry cream ale Astarte through a randall with kiwis which could be cool.