Referend Bier Blendery

They are actually a blendery. Using spontaneous fermentation with a mobile coolship. Pretty amazing stuff.

 

big fan of the stuff i tried at the blendery. cool spot too, 15-20 minutes away from troon

 

It is one of companies discussed in the thread
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-mercer-county-brewery.402784/

 

Open Tasting Day / 1st Bottles Available
Saturday, April 15th, 2-8pm

• Berliner Messe: Alleluiavers bottles are available beginning at 2pm and will be sold from the driveway to the right of the main entrance. You may purchase up to 3 bottles, at $18/75cl bottle. Cash only for bottle sales, credit accepted in the tasting room for cask pours.
  These bottles are Easter brunch ready as an improvement upon the Bellini, or can be cellared for years in the name of delayed gratificatio...n.
  
• Jung: Oloroso, fermented and aged for 6 months in Oloroso Sherry casks, will be poured by gravity in the tasting room.
  
• OED is a new name for a now old beer. We are celebrating the graduation of certain barrels from the young "Jung" to the old "OED". OED will also be poured by gravity in the tasting room tomorrow.
  
• As usual, there will be a selection of 3-4 Berliner Messes on cask

Nina's Waffles of Princeton will be on hand early on to round out your palate's enjoyment!

 

i wonder if these bottles will last til next saturday.

 

They will have bottles for onsite consumption in the coming weeks. So perhaps thats the game plan for what's left over, if any

 

Sold out around 3pm

 

Wow. One hour? Damn a few months ago this brewery didn't even exist.

 

Not sure what to total amount for sale was, but there were about 30-40 people in front of me in line and when I got to the front there wasn't much left on the pallet they were getting boxes from.

Eventually everyone was in line for pours and I saw a few people go back for seconds of bottles. Seems like the brewery didn't have a problem with it. There was a good 15-20mins where there was no line.

 

Sad I missed this with the Kane release today.

Nice to see their first bottle release be a success though.

 

Lucky enough to get here shortly after open after leaving Kane earlier. 20 mins or so after 2 there was no line at all for bottles, despite a large line for pours. Never seen the place so busy before. Congrats

 

Not just that it sold out in one hour when it didn't even exist... but these aren't styles that the average beer drinker typically go after, so THAT alone makes me happy.

 

hoping to go this weekend.

Just curious do they fill growlers or do anything to go? or is this strictly onsite pours?

 

Strictly onsite, I think. At least it was when I went 2 months ago. I couldn't even begin to guess how much a growler fill would be here, based upon their 6oz pour prices.

 

Best bet would be to follow social media; they may fill (pre-fill) a very limited number of growlers. Hence, be there early:



"Look for them again in April or May, but then much more regularly."

 

Collaboration sounds killer, so will the anticipation:

"What sets this apart (physically as well as philosophically) from every other wort we've brewed, is that we've welcomed these esteemed brewers' mixed cultures into the blendery. This barrel stack, comprised of Pinot Noir and Syrah barrels from Alba in Milford, NJ, contains one barrel per brewery of pitched mixed cultures on the bottom row. These are cultures that have been lovingly cared for, propagated, selected for the attributes each brewer prizes in a beer of mixed fermentation. The three barrels at the top of the pyramid are none of those things — they are purely spontaneous as usual."

http://www.thereferend.com/discussion-archive/2017/4/26/a-little-time-in-its-pure-state​

 

i was lucky enough to get 1 of the 12 growlers. the fill - while being "still" - was great.

21 bucks is kinda steep for 75cl. I would definitely not mind paying a little less (and for gloria, love that beer).

 

how were the prices?

 

^

Just to note, those are for (I believe) 6 oz pours. Maybe the glass was 8%, but either way, it's a bit pricey. Definitely a cool place to experience, but it's not a place I would go back to regularly, like Conclave or Troon.

 

Thank you both. Plan on hitting Troon likely too. Was even thinking of crossing the bridge to Vault.

anywhere you recommend reasonablly close by?

 

Visited a few weeks ago (April 8). I got there shortly after 2 PM and it was very quiet. Started with a glass of Jung (superb, just superb) and took a seat along the wall looking in on the barrels. I sipped and read a book, staying for nearly two hours with glasses of Alleluiavers, Gloria, and Veni Sancte Spiritus along the way.

Traffic definitely picked up pretty quickly. Sitting where I was, I overheard a bunch of conversation and there certainly seemed to be a good many people doing some combination of Troon, River Horse, Vault, and Referend. A lot of people for whom this was their first exposure to beer of this style, as well.

Most of all, I was incredibly impressed by the owners. While I didn't engage with them personally aside from ordering my beer (I was focused on the Dickens I was reading), I caught a lot of their conversations with other patrons and was incredibly impressed. They're fantastic advocates for the work they do and the beer they make. There was one patron, from one of the groups touring multiple breweries, who was frankly a total jerk. Loudly dismissive of the beer, insistent that they need to brew stout, chugged his glass "to get it over with," and so on. The owners took it stride, with an aplomb that was far more than the man deserved. I was cringing for them and yet they were completely cool.

It's a unique place and one that I plan to revisit. Considering the remarkably good quality of the beer, I found the prices completely reasonable.

Oh, one last note: the narrow, stange-like glasses they use are absolutely wonderful. They felt great in the hand and are beautiful, as well.

 

Anyone who was at Saturday's release pop a bottle of Agnus Dei yet? If so, how was it? I may pop one of my bottles tonight.

 

I got a bottle and didn't pop it. I ordered it on draft first and then got it and the dude pouring said it's very "different" in the bottle than on draft. I'm guessing there's carbonation in the bottle hence the cork...

 

Well popped a bottle last night and you sir are correct. Very effervescent. Champagne like in fact.

Great beer as well. Maybe my favorite of the Berliner Messe variations that I've tried. The influence of the vidal blanc grapes and juice is very noticeable. Works well with the biting carbonation.

 

did these bottles sell out too?

 

We are excited to announce our extended open hours! Beginning this week, The Referend will be open on Thursdays & Fridays from 4 -7 PM. Our Saturday hours remain in effect.

Cask pours by the glass, growler fills, and bottles of Berliner Messe - Agnus Dei are all available during all open hours.

 

I was surprised by how mellow and well-integrated Veni Sancte Spiritus was when I had it on cask. Interestingly, it might have been the most "approachable" of the beers available on that given day.

 

I like where this is going...

 

How's the place look, today? Any news?

 

I was just there and it's dead with plenty of bottles left.

 

Great day at referend, as always. It's amazing that more people aren't there, but I can't complain. Sanctus lasting this long is absolutely wonderful. It's so good. Someone called it "st lam light" and I think that's 100% accurate

 

I was there Thursday night for about an hour between 5 and 6. When I arrived, there was one patron there. In the hour I was there (reading and drinking lovely glasses of Nelson Sauvin Jung and Liber Novus), one other customer came in.

It's is bonkers that Referend isn't busier. In a sea of hazy IPA and overpriced can releases, they're doing genuinely interesting stuff, with an incredibly high level of craft. And they seem like genuinely nice (and hyper-literate) people.