The Bruery Provisions - So Many Beers So Little Time

The Bruery recently opened up a tasting room in The Circle in Orange, which, coupled with The Haven, is very dangerous. Case in point, tonight. 7 different beers. Good thing they only serve them in 2 ounce portions.

The great thing about The Bruery Provisions is that not only do they serve their own beer but they bring in friends'(competitors) and they also stock bottles. Lots of bottles. From places and breweries I have only heard about.




The lineup from left to right minus the Ballast Point

1. The Bruery Seven Grain Saison
2. The Bruery Humulus Session
3. The Bruery Loakal Red
4. The Bruery Autumn Maple
5. The Bruery Three French Hens
6. Ballast Point 3 Sheets Barley Wine
7. Ballast Point Dorado DIPA

I started things off with the Saison which poured a very hazy light yellow. It looked thin but that didn't prove out in the taste.
Sniffing brought forth locker room, feet, armpit, pretty much dank, earthy stink.
On the palate was definite grain. I don't know if there was seven different kinds but it had a grittiness too it that wasn't very pleasant. I know and love most locker room type beers but for some reason I felt like I was drinking a sweaty gym sock. D loves her some Saison Dupont and I have been pushing her to branch out. Bad idea with this one, she was not a fan.

Next up was the Humulus Session which was a low alcohol beer designed for the after work man. This was a bit clearer and a bit darker in color than the saison and brought with it a completely different smell profile. Grapefruit through and through with a definite mixed citrus backing. Humulus was hoppy without being overly bitter. I enjoyed it until the back-end took over. There was a highly tannic, drying, grapefruit rind/pith taste that ruined the earlier part of the beer. What was refreshing became off-putting. I couldn't make this a session like its designed.

Stepping out of the lighter colored beers into the newly brewed Loakal Red I was excited because I was hoping to unseat my favorite red Lagunitas' The Kronik. It poured a nice deep red color and smelled of ripe red fruit, apples, and strawberries. There wasn't much bubble in this slightly hopped(for a red) brew. I was a bit disappointed after the nose belied a sweetness that didn't show up on my tongue. I thought it was a beautiful run of the mill red.

Ahhh, Autumn Maple. Now we're talking big aroma, big flavors, pure enjoyment. Wafting up from the taster was maple syrup, orange zest, clove, and spices to be named later. The glass was highly carbed and all of those wonderful aromas expressed themselves on the tongue. This was by far D's favorite as she ordered another one and wouldn't let me touch it.

Three French Hens, aged in French oak and a nice dark mahogany color. Very complex on the nose, dark red roasted fruit, cherries, fig, raisin. Not much of a head on it and first taste was woah bourbon. I'm not sure why because as far as I know it wasn't bourbon barrel aged. This is definitely a sipper at 10%. I liked it quite a bit as it was thick, caramely, figgy. This screamed Christmas beer to me. It was not Oktoberfest like most beers of the "fest" genre but rather stayed true to its name. This one went down slow but I enjoyed it a lot.

The Bruery beers definitely went Autumn Maple, Three French Hens 1,2 for me. The others save for Loakal Red were disappointing.

The Ballast beers were both heavy duty in their own way.

The Three Sheets Barley was deep, dark, and viscous. This was not a balanced hoppy, malty barley. This was a roasted coffee, dark chocolate, raisiny, pruney, soy sauce bomb of flavor. Dark and murky the only down side was it had a slight cocoa powdery taste to it. It wasn't as smooth as dark chocolate which took points off in my mind.

The Double IPA was a sleeper. Not much aroma but was it ever bitter. More grapefruit than pine but definitely a bitter nuclear waste site on my tongue. I'm glad I left this one for last because I don't think there was anything left to taste with after this one went down. This was a one and done.

Firestone Velvet Merkin Oatmeal Stout at Whole Foods

I think I've mentioned how awesome our Whole Foods in Irvine is before. What could be better? Giant place full of really good food(sandwiches), a large bottled craft beer case, 3 taps, an Enomatic wine machine, and a secluded little seating area shared by usually well, just us. I feel like it's a secret or something.

The place is no joke either. They get beer that's no longer available like Firestone's Velvet Merkin Oatmeal Stout, put together tasting flights like a Unibroue tasting which I am really excited about, and have special events like next weekend when they are bringing Dr. Bill the guru at Stone Brewing(Link to Stone Blog is crazy how bona fide his bona fides are) and Anat Baron the former Sam Adams exec and current "Beer Wars" videographer together for a cheese pairing with Stone Brews. Amazing!

On to the Merkin. I am not a huge fan of Firestone in all honesty. Ever since the guy went on "The Bachelor" I've just had a low opinion. We pass by their brewery and winery when we go to Santa Ynez for wine tasting. We've been to the winery and it was just a cattle call place with just OK wine that was too expensive.

With all that said my opinion of the Merkin was meh. Meaning, it was ok. It was a stout, an oatmeal stout. It wasn't particularly creamy which I kind of expect from a good oatmeal but it was smooth. The smoothness definitely stemmed from the fact that despite coming off tap it was sans bubbles for the most part. The aroma was of raisin bread, slightly, raisiny, pruney, breadiness pervaded the nose but the taste was of coffee, roast, and bitter chocolate. I had heard how great this one was but honestly I was not too impressed. I wouldn't seek it out again.

Being at Wholefoods though everyone had their own different food and own different drink. D had heard trusty cava, Soydog(I really gotta come up with a permanent name for her even I get confused. Any suggestions? Shrub? Greenery? I don't know.) Any way she had a pale ale tasting flight from a brewery in LA somewhere I can't remember off the top of my head. It was semi forgettable save for an interesting IPL. Yes, India Pale LAGER. It wasn't great but interesting. Oh and the weirdest one was like an amped up Coors Light. I'm serious! It tasted exactly like a Coors Light squared.

Of course we were in Irvine, home to all things Asian so we had to stop off at Mochilato. If you've never had Mochi ice cream you are missing out, but if you've never had mochi GELATO, which is what this is you are REALLY missing out. Mochilato has some great flavors too. I had the Creme Brulee which was my favorite of all of them. D had mint chip and Shrub had cookies and cream and plum.

Our night was capped off with a long soak in the Jacuzz(Canadian accent implied) cava, a couple Lagunitas Kroniks from the six I bought walking out of Wholefoods and a cigar. All in all this was one of the best nights I have spent in a while. So relaxing and I couldn't have spent it with more beautiful people.

Bootlegger's Brewery Review

I thought I would write a more in depth review of the actual 23!  beers I tasted at the Bootlegger's Brewery 2nd Anniversary Tasting.

The first thing I want to make absolutely clear was that ALL of the 23!/30 beers I tasted were really good. Did I like all of them? No, but there was not a badly made beer in all of the beers I tried. Pink Funkasaurus(By Bootlegger's own admission)? In a word, funky. But, it tasted EXACTLY how it was described. Ok so it wasn't sweaty sweet strawberries but I new it was going to be weird going in.


That was definitely a very pleasant surprise with every single one of the beers. All of them, and I mean all, tasted exactly how they were described. If it was supposed to taste and smell like liqourice and molasses I could close my eyes and unbeknownst to me, be handed the Blackstrap Porter and pick those exact flavors and aromas out of the beer. So many beers nowadays seem to just have the merest suggestion of the flavors and smells but Bootlegger's does flavors big, and without being cloyingly sweet or overpowering what a beer should taste like.

I'm not one for fruit infused beers but their Plum Riot smells salty and fresh with a hint of plum on the nose and enough on the tongue to make it be noticed but not NOTICED. I enjoyed it and it was the best out of the fruit infused ales.

The lambic #2 was fruity and sweet and funky like a good lambic should be but the sweet didn't overpower the sour and vice versa. I haven't had too many lambics but this was the first one I've enjoyed.

If I had to pick one fault with the beers that I tasted it would be that all of the IPA's and dry hopped beers had nearly the exact same aroma and level of bitterness. I don't know for sure but I would bet the same hops were used for all of them. Whether they were supposed to be over the top or lightly hopped they had the same wonderful grapefruit aroma, not much pine, and the bitter bite didn't fluctuate from brew to brew. That's not to say they weren't good. They were, they were great IPA's. The best being the Dr. Tongue. I grew up in NorCal so pine is no big deal to me but I love when the citrusy grapefruit is there to balance the bitter.

Being an anniversary there had to be a special anniversary brew. I didn't come to(if there was one) last years bash but they had last year's brew on tap and they couldn't have been more different. I liked that they were different too. Where's the fun in brewing a slightly modified version? Last year's 76 Anniversary Ale(on the right) was a malty sweet coffee colored brew with coffee on the nose and suspended sediment that coated your tongue. A really good drink. This year's 77 Anniversary Ale was a hoppy, citrusy, bubbly IPA style brew that I actually ranked as my top IPA of the day even though it wasn't labeled as such.

All in all the best beer of the day for me was the Black Phoenix which is a coffee chipotle stout that I reviewed in the previous post on Bootlegger's. It tastes just like it sounds with the perfect level of each ingredient and at 6.7% this will be my next growler fill.

Thank you Bootlegger's for your well crafted and imaginative beer. I may not have liked them all but I guarantee each beer was liked by someone, because the only funk there was, was intentional, and there was not a fault to be found. Go check out Bootlegger's if you are in Southern California

23 Beers! Bootlegger Anniversary Tasting

Yes, 23 beers, and we didn't even taste them all!

I was introduced to Bootlegger's by The German because he went to school with the Head Brewer Aaron Barkenhagen.

Located in Fullerton, California a little off the beaten path of the downtown strip Bootlegger's Is a 7 barrel brewhouse with 3 fermenters offering a WIDE variety of styles. All of them were on display for everyone to try for their 2 year anniversary.

Aaron and his dad built the brewery from the ground up. They put in plumbing, electrical, and all the inner workings of a full scale microbrewery. It's truly a family affair with Aaron's wife being the Vice President of the company.















We were a little disappointed about the food truck that was at our later session. I had been looking forward to the gourmet truck from Vizzi's but we ended up with a sort of half staffed, half stocked "gourmet" sausage joint. It was just ok, and not what we had expected nor was it what I would consider worth the price of the ticket.

All three of us(Myself, D, and The Girl of Jewish Descent, as my Mom would now like me to call her(Now to be known as, Tofu? I don't know, Other friend maybe? Suggestions?) were very pleased with the beer offerings. Yeah, there were some weird ones, Pink Funkasaurus? But that's what you do when you come to a tasting like this, broaden your horizons. I'm just glad my horizons don't run as broad as what Talya described the aforementioned funk as, "Sugar and bubbles added to sweaty strawberries, steeped in a gym sock." Funky.


However, the "Plum Riot" was the best fruit infused ale I've ever had and the Lambic #2 was also a standout in the sweet category.


One thing we definitely noticed about ALL of Bootlegger's beers is that they ALWAYS tasted how they were described. The beer of the night for both Tofu/Jew/Other Friend and myself was the Black Phoenix which is a coffee chipotle stout. Pefect balance between earthy coffee and chipotle with just a hint of heat on the back end of. The best thing was that this wasn't 7-11 quality coffee, it wasn't burnt or roasty toasty. This was more like artisinally brewed Italian coffee that you get in a taza in Rome while you eat a bit of bread and listen to the old men's morning banter. The body was velvety but not too thick, perfect amount of carbonation and the deep black liquid with light tan head was just nice to look at.

I enjoyed every minute of the day. The sun was out, D was with me, Seitan(not Satan)/tofu/Something was there. Random people in Utilikilts were making me laugh.

Which, funny enough, I am totally familiar with since my beer loving and brewing cousin wears one all the time. Is it weird that I think I might too if I could get away with it? Imagine me coming to school in a "dress kilt." I don't think that would go over too well. Yet again, I might spark a craze. ANYthing is better than those too tight pants that my students wear now.

Thank you Bootlegger's we had a great time! You have renewed my interest in filling the growler that has been collecting dust in my pantry. I see a Black Phoenix in my future.

Bootlegger Brewery Anniversary Dinner

D and I are heading out to what sounds like is going to be a GREAT beer tasting tonight. It's for a Brewery in Fullerton, Ca called Bootlegger's. The brewmaster is a friend of a friend and I've been there before. He makes really great stuff so we are excited that he's celebrating his 2nd anniversary. Here's an intro to what we are getting to taste and eat tonight. I'll post more and pictures later.

      -          20+ house beers on tap

-          A band and a DJ

-          10 taster tickets

-          Unveiling of a new 77 anniversary ale, a Belgian-style barley wine.

-          Food ticket for the gourmet food truck

-          A special collaboration desert with the gourmet food truck

      -          Plus more

A Partial list of beers that will be on tap are as follows:
-Palomino Pale Ale
-Old World Hefeweizen
-Golden Chaos
-Black Phoenix
-Rustic Rye IPA
-Dr. Tongue IPA
-California Uber Alles IPA
-Knuckle Sandwich DIPA
-Prohibition Mild
-76 Anniversary
-Old School 76 Anniversary (soured in a barrel)
-77 Anniversary
-Double Dry Hopped 77 Anniversary
-Strawberry Sour
-Blueberry Sour
-Blackberry Sour
-Cherry Sour
-Cherry Chernobyl
-Bourbon Chaos
-Brandy Chaos
-Kentucky Wild
-Old World Dunkelweisen

J Winery at Disneyland's Wine and Food Festival

 D and I's favorite sparkling wine in a close run with Mosby's Stelline is J Winery's Cuvee 20 from the Russian River Valley. Their iconic swooping yellow J on the voluptuous bottle jumps out at you from the shelves and screams, "Pick me!" So when D found out that the vintner was going to be doing a FREE tasting and discussion at the yearly food festival at California Adventures in Disneyland we dropped our plans and headed over. This is much easier when you have a yearly pass like we do.

The festival draws a "veritable pantheon of culinary giants" to quote Alton Brown and Iron Chef America. There are all kinds of celebrity chefs giving classes and demonstrations. It's over a month long and the offerings run the gamut from beer education to 5 star restaurant dinners with pairings.

D and I had the opportunity to sit on the J tasting where we were lucky enough to taste their pinot noir(WAAAY too oaky), their pinot grigio(surprisingly tasty, although it still smells like feet), and their flagship Cuvee 20 sparkling(Delicious, biscuity, yeasty, goodness). We got a free cheese plate from a Disney worker before we went in to taste too! Score!

Here's a picture of my tasting notes.

They also serve a smattering of dishes throughout the festival. D tried the beer cheese soup and I had some seared ahi. The ahi was meh but the cheese soup was great according to D

 Ahi, pale, pale ahi. Can you find it? The slaw was good though.

The Beer Cheese Soup in a Bread Bowl