In Category 12: Experimental Beer for their "100% Brett Autumn Maple."In Category 45: Belgian-Style Flanders/Oud Bruin or Oud Red Ale for their "Oude Tarte."
The Bruery has some seriously experimental beers and they definitely are of a high quality.
I had the opportunity to try their most recent Anniversary brew that is going to be served at their 2 year anniversary celebration this weekend. Two of the brewers from Bruery were at the homebrew meeting I went to on Tuesday and they brought with them a bottle of "Coton" which is a 100% Bourbon Barrel aged version of their "Papier" which has been blended via the solera method ala Sherry.
As you can see the bottle itself is a work of art. Very classy in the 750ml bottle and wax sealed.
This one clocked in at a VERY healthy 14.5% ABV. I was surprised to learn that the barrel can add as much as 5% alcohol to the final brew.
When we cracked open the bottle it poured a deep black with a tan head. I could tell from across the room that this was a BIG beer. Thick and viscous I couldn't see through to the other side of my VERY classy clear plastic Solo Cup.
With 20 of us in the room and and everyone clamoring to get a taste from the one bottle we each got about a finger of beer in our cup. That was all I needed, seriously, I didn't want any more than that. I am a huge Scotch fan and I'm used to drinking my alcohol straight but that classy solo cup hit me hard.
The first whiff off the top was sweet and sticky. I have never smelled a beer so sweet. Caramel, toffee, roasted sugar and vanilla. It was almost cloying and with the alcohol ominously lingering in the background. I can honestly say I was a little scared of the first sip.
Now, I've had some big beers, and I've had some oak aged big beers, but I have never had a beer like this. This beer had the most robust flavor profile of anything I have ever tried. It is without a doubt the best bourbon aged beer I've had. That being said I didn't finish my ONE finger pour. It wasn't because it was bad, it was just hardcore. This is the first beer I've had where the bourbon actually enhanced the beer, and there was a LOT of bourbon. I could have done with less. This beer was not for the feint-hearted.Perfect carbonation mixing bourbon with sticky roasted sugar, raisins, and malty sweetness with a port like quality, quickly gave way to the burn of my nose hairs.
After drinking this I can't begin to imagine what "Tactical Nuclear Penguin"(32%ABV) and "Sink the Bismarck"(41%ABV) made by Brewdog tastes like. Scary. "Coton" was good, it was interesting, but there is no way I could ever drink more than a finger at a time of this one. This is a beer to be shared between 20 people. Perfect.
The next beer to be opened was my "Abyss" from Deschutes that I had brought. In roughly the same class as "Coton" I much preferred it to the "Coton." At 11% I could have actually drank the whole bottle by myself. Slowly, but I could have. I'll review this limited edition beer in the next post. Until then, find some Bruery beer like their "Hottenroth Berliner Weisse" that I reviewed previously or any of their many quality brews.
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