Waiting for Black Tuesday

While things may be looking grim for the economy, the craft brewing industry, holding just 4% of the American beer market, continues to thrive. One such brewery that has made an impression in the craft beer industry is The Bruery of Placentia in Orange County, California. Deriving its name from the Rue family, namely Patrick Rue, and his wife Rachel, The Bruery, in just its second year in operation, took home two medals at the 2010 World Beer Cup. And not just two medals, two GOLD medals. These were for a 100% Brett Autumn Maple, an exclusively Brettanomyces fermented version of their heralded Autumn Maple  (experimental category) and the Oude Tart, the judges’ top choice amongst Flanders ales.

Having garnered world recognition has lead to higher demand for The Bruery’s 750ml bottles. States the company’s website: “We’ve been inspired by many different breweries and beers, some from Belgium, and some not. As strong as these influences are, we’re mostly driven by experiences of flavor. Sweet potato pie, Thai food, the intense aroma of freshly picked lavender, among many others, are our primary influences. All of our beers are 100% bottle conditioned, unfiltered, and unpasteurized. We create complex flavors from simple ingredients, and commit to producing our beer in the most wholesome of ways.”

On a Fall 2008 adventure through Northern California, we were pleased to discover our first bottles of The Bruery’s brews at the San Francisco City Beer Store. When we left Oregon, the beer was not available for distribution in our state. Upon returning a week later, we found their beers available at most craft beer shops (Glad we drove these beers 1,000 miles home). While the aforementioned gold medal winners are limited to small taproom quantities, you can find a great lineup of The Bruery’s bottles at some of Portland’s top bottle shops like The BeerMongers, The Hop & Vine, and Saraveza.

This past weekend, during the Portland’s Cheers to Belgian Beers (CTBB), The Bruery’s public and media relations guy, Ben Weiss, was in town checking out the Portland beer scene. Weiss, also a former assistant brewer for the brewery, spoke with us about some of The Bruery’s delicious beers. The next day, Saraveza hosted a special tasting featuring five delectable flavors. These included:

Saison de Lente, a spring release, and one of two available Saisons released in bottles to the Oregon market. Saison de Lente is light blonde in color with a fresh hoppiness and a wild and rustic Brettanomyces character. Lighter in color and alcohol than our Saison Rue, yet equally complex in its own way. Aptly described as “Perfect for warmer weather and Spring celebrations.” ABV: 6.5%, IBU: 35, SRM: 4

Trade Winds Triple: Here is the summer seasonal of the lot. Trade Winds  is a Belgian-style Golden Ale with a Southeast Asian twist. “Instead of using candi sugar (typical for such a beer), we use rice in the mash to lighten the body and increase the gravity, and spice with Thai Basil. The result is an aromatic, digestible and complex beer made for a lazy summer evening.” ABV: 8%, IBU: 25, SRM: 5

Autumn Maple: Here’s the original Autumn Maple from The Bruery (no Brett added). We snagged a bottle of this beer on our fall 2008 excursion to Cali, and the brew is now available in Oregon during the autumn months. Brewed with 17 pounds of yams per barrel, this autumn seasonal is a different take on the “pumpkin” beer style. Brewed with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, vanilla, molasses, and maple syrup, and fermented with our traditional Belgian yeast strain. The Bruery says “This bold and spicy beer is perfect on a cold autumn evening.” ABV: 10%, IBU: 25, SRM: 15

Two Turtle Doves: The first time we tried this was at our friend Lisa “The Beer Goddess” Morrison’s cellar cleaning party late last fall. What an incredible beer!  This brew is the second in the 12 Days/Years of Christmas Series (the first was Partridge in a Pear Tree). The Bruery claims “We decided to take our inspiration from the name and base the beer on the “turtle” candy, brewing it with cocoa nibs, toasted pecans, caramelized sugar and a lot of caramel malts. Somewhere between a Belgian-style Dark Strong Ale and an Imperial Porter, this beer is designed to take the journey through time until 12 Drummers Drumming.” ABV: 12%, IBU: 25, SRM: 30

And the mother of all The Bruery’s beers…

Black Tuesday: Holy cow! This brewery exclusive was a real treat to try. Thanks so much to Ben for sharing with us! The infamous Black Tuesday is an Imperial Stout aged in Bourbon barrels for over a year. Rich caramel, toasted malt, vanilla, burnt wood, anise are just a few of the many flavors of this rich, decadent imperial stout. You may have heard about this beer in beer geek forums. RateBeer.com ranks this the #22 best beer of 2010, and BeerAdvocate ranks it at #16 on the planet.  ABV: 19.5%, IBU: 40, SRM: 100+

Here’s an interview with The Bruery’s Ben Weiss during his recent visit to Portland, Oregon.