I love The Bruery. They are unique and innovative. Oh, did I mention their brewery is located about 10 minutes from my house? I have to say I noticed the Bruery Provisions store before I went to the brewery location but I already knew about them. That being said, the Provisions store is located in Old Towne Orange which is 5 minutes from my house, and how I love riding my bike down for a tasting on the weekends.
I also am a fan of them on facebook, read their blogs and recently had a keg of Sasion De Lente for my boyfriend’s birthday party which was a huge hit.
Since I have been a fan, I have heard of a few Provisions Series beers I haven’t had the pleasure of trying and I had the chance to taste and buy some bottles on March 1st 2011. I bought 2 bottles of Old Richland (I have had this one before and since I am an IPA girl I love it), one of the Gunga Galunga, one of The Workman’s Friend and 1 of the Lokal Red (which is just good beer but not part of the Provisions Series).
Premiere: Light colored for being barrel aged with a nice flavors of honey and citrus. Not your standard honey but the expensive organic stuff. Some caramel undertones but no real burnt sugar tastes to it. Seriously I can't believe its 10.4%ABV. No wonder they sold out of these bottles. I would have liked to buy one since they said it can be aged nicely but at least I got to try it! Me and my dear friend Michael Rooney (referred to affectionately as Rooney) agree that it could be sipped and savored almost like a smooth scotch – which might be the bourbon flavor talkin. This was Sean’s favorite.
Gunga Galunga: I seriously hope they thought of Caddyshack when they named this beer, and that it’s not just some crazy coincidence. Much to my surprise, there is such a thing as a Galunga root which has a ginger flavor. Apparently “it’s been said that when mixed with lime it can have an afrodesiac effect and possibly even cause some hallucinations” according to Wikipedia. I don’t think the beer caused any hallucinations for me but hey, it’s interesting none-the-less. It’s a dark, dark beer with smells like coconut even though I don't think they have any in it. It has a little ginger taste but spicy in general. Being thai inspired it hits the mark with its earthiness. It was also made with 100% brettanomyces which again, required a trip to Wikipedia for me to learn that it’s a non-spore forming yeast that tones of great breweries already use. At 7.7%ABV not only is it interesting but it’s educational!
The Workman’s Friend: Imperial porter smells like melted chocolate onto your campfire without being too smoky. Even has a hint of graham cracker and toasted marshmallow. Really nice rich smooth texture which makes it for a nice, laid-back sipping kind-of beer. It forces you to slow down and smell the childhood camping experience. Made like comfort food at 7.5%ABV makes a very good friend at the end of a very hard work day. As an HR Manager, we have lots of those.
Old Richland: I've had this before but I do love it. Nice deep brown color and bitter hippy floral smells. It’s their barley wine spin that I am happy that they went in the direction of hoppy rather than sweet. Nothing ruins beer more than being too sweet. It hits you with a 9%ABV but it’s super easy to drink.
Cuadruple: It’s dark but lighter in texture due to being Belgian. The sour/sweet agave taste and dark malted color hides the ABV of 10% very well. Nicely carbonated and lovely. This was Rooney’s favorite. He thinks it made him look classy.
No comments:
Post a Comment