The Drunken Polack

The Bruery Black Orchard – The Bruery has just hit Virginia.  I’ve had some brews from these guys before but this is my first beer in their regular lineup.  Everything I’ve had before was seasonal .  I was really looking forward to trying this brew but I left kind of disappointed.

Black Orchard pours a very dark brown with ruby red highlights if held up to the light.  It pours a huge carbonated head.  Like soda.  Just like soda the head fizzes away quickly to what you see above.  The smell is actually pretty good.  Chocolate and caramel malt.  Light amount of spice.  Pretty decent aroma.  But the taste is where the beer just falls apart for me.  I understand it’s a wheat beer and a lot of times wheat beers won’t blow you away but the taste in this beer was almost non existent.  Everything was faint.  Small amount of sweet chocolate and that was about it.  Disappointing.  Mouthfeel is highly carbonated and medium.  I’d say skip this one if you want to get into beers from these guys.  They make better.

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: Around 12 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.thebruery.com
What the company says: Black Orchard is an unfiltered, bottle conditioned Belgian-style black wheat beer, or “black wit”, if you will. This dark but surprisingly light bodied beer is very drinkable while still having character and complexity. Chamomile is added for its floral aroma, while the coriander and citrus peel give the characteristics of a traditional witbier.
ABV%: 5.70%
Other beers to try from this brewery: The Bruery Saison Rue, The Bruery Orchard White
Other beers to try within the same style: Ommegang Rare Vos
Rating: C+

The Bruery Hottenroth Berliner Weisse – A buddy of mine told me once that whenever he sees this stuff on tap that he has to have it.  So when they just recently starting bottling this beer I was all over it.  Overall I thought this was a decent beer.  It kind of has same issue as the Black Orchard.  The taste isn’t huge but the light sourness and tartness this beer gives off hits the spot and makes it a great beer for the summer.  At a low abv of 3.1% you can drink this stuff all day and be just fine.

Hottenroth pours a pale yellow color.  Very little head is poured.  The aroma is acidic and tart.  Small amounts of wheat come through.  There isn’t much to the taste but what is there builds up nicely as you drink.  In the beginning there’s a small tart taste.  Not huge at all.  But as you start to drink this beer it starts to add up.  It’s acidic, tart, with a shot of lemon.  Slightly dry and funky.  Like I said above, this stuff is something you can drink during the summer.  It’s refreshing and is great for an all day drinking affair.

Found: South Bay Drugs. Imperial Beach, CA (Mail Order)
Price: Around 8 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.thebruery.com
What the company says: Brewed in memory of my Grandparents (Fred and Sarah Hottenroth), this tart German-style Berliner Weisse is as authentic as it gets. We used lactobacillus and a hint of brettanomyces to sour this very unusual, low gravity wheat beer. To cut the tartness for those with sweeter tastes, raspberry or woodruff syrup is a traditional way to sweeten the beer. Almost an extinct style, we hope to help revive the Berliner Weisse in memory of two great people.
ABV%: 3.10%
Other beers to try from this brewery: The Bruery Saison De Lente, The Bruery Autumn Maple
Other beers to try within the same style: First brew I’ve had like this
Rating: B+

Nestled in a small town named Downingtown, PA, lies a brewery that helped me get into craft brews.  Their Hop Wallop and Hop Devils beers are some of the first true craft beers I had ever tried and fell in love with from the start.  I had always known this brewery wasn’t to far from my moms house in PA but I really never had the chance to stop by.   It just so happens while on vacation for Christmas I did have some time to kill so me and the girlfriend decided to make the 1 1/2 hour drive. I’m oh so glad we did.

When you enter the parking lot for the brewery you’re like where the hell is it.  Basically it’s a industrial park type atmosphere with a brewery stuck on the right side.  I knew for sure we were in the right place when I saw people walking out with growlers in their hands.  We had made it their about 3:35 pm.  15 minutes before the only brewery tour they do all week.  I really didn’t understand that but we would soon find out why.  On other brewery tours I’ve been on the tours are sometimes short, maybe 15-20 minutes.  Oh no not at Victory.  This was a tour filled by details, tons of rooms, and a ton of questions.  Plus the amount of people for this tour had to run close to 50.  The tour guide was not a brewer.  It was actually the restaurant manager from the brewpub next store.  Didn’t matter though, he knew a ton of details about the brewery, the brewing process, and what makes Victory different than the rest.  He did a hell of a job.

After the tour was all done we ran back the brewpub because there was no way I was going to miss getting a few growlers of fresh beer.  The bar was packed and the growlers looked like they were disappearing.  I had to act fast.  I decided when I got into the brewpub that I would be taking home two growlers.  I had seen their growlers once before at my friend Jeff’s apartment and was instantly jealous of them.  Plus when the hell do I ever had time to come back to this place!  Oh so what beers to get?  During the tour, the guide mentioned that half their beers on tap here were not available in bottles.  He also mentioned that one in particular was a Harvest Ale made from hops around the town of Allentown, PA which is right around the corner from my moms house.  It struck me as something I just had to try.  Growler 1 full!  Next I looked over the tap list.  It was pretty damn big.  Around 30 beers, some on tap, some I would never be able to see again, some on cask.  I spotted one I had read about before, Yamika Twlight, which is a Imperial Double IPA that is only available there.  I said good sir can you please fill growler 2 up with that.  I was disappointed when he said no due to the beer only being available on cask that day.  Shenanigans!  OK give me a pint then!  Growler 2 had to wait until after dinner and until I had time to think what nectar would be going into that growler.  We sat down and enjoyed some fantastic food.  Their brewpub is top notch.  Emilie talked me into getting a sampler (she didn’t have to talk to hard) and I made sure to pick 5 beers that I would probably never see again.  Let me go over what I tried that day.

Yamika Twlight (On Cask, Double IPA)- Now I’m not a cask expert.  Heck this might of been the first time I’ve had a beer on cask.  But this beer was just creamy, thick, and smooth.  When it comes to IPAs that not something you usually get from a lot of them so I think it was the cask talking.  Now what’s the best part of drinking beer straight from the brewery?  Freshness my friends.  The hops in this beer smelled and tasted just like the first and only time (so far) I ripped open a bag of hops when home brewing.  If was just fresh and that’s the only way I can describe it.  Awesome would be another word.  The only issue with this beer was that it seemed a little bit muted but I think that was due to the cask.  It was enjoyable though and I really wanted another glass.  But the sampler arrived………… B+ (Oh come on you know I have to rate everything gosh)

Abby Six (Belgian Dark Ale) -This one was also very good.  It was full of citrus, banana, and cloves.  Nice spicyness to it.  Would easily drink again (but I’ll probably never see it again!!) B+

Almost Anton’s Lager (Vienna Lager) -  Caramel front end with a bready malt back end.  Slight taste and aroma of hops.  Not much going on here but I don’t think there was supposed to be.  Just a decent session beer. B-

Donnybrook Stout (Irish Dry Stout)- I’ve always heard good things about this stout which of course you can’t get anywhere else other than the brewery.  This stout is full of dark roasted malts with a very nice kick of coffee.  It’s smooth as silk and goes down easy. It’s a great beer to have a lot of.  It’s very low in alcohol (3.70% abv) This is another one they wouldn’t let me take home in a growler due to the nitrous. B+

Mad King’s Weiss (Hefeweizen)- This one looks to be available in bottles, it even has a label on BA.  But I’ve never seen it.  I really enjoyed this Hefe.  It has a nice bubblegum type flavor with a good amount of cloves and banana.  Really good. B+

Uncle Teddy’s Bitter (On Cask, English Bitter) - Now for my favorite part of the sampler.  I’m usually not a fan of bitters but this beer was fresh and I mean fresh.  The hops had the same freshness as the DIPA.  Creamy and full bodied.  This was fantastic.  A

So while enjoying the fantastic sampler I decided to get Hop Devil in my second growler.  Yes I can get Hop Devil anywhere but after tasting how fresh these hops were I had to try it. 

Later that night I brought both growlers back to my friend Jeff’s house and we drank them both.  Like I said before if I was living near this place I would be in deep trouble.

Harvest Ale 2008 (Growler, American Pale Ale) – What we have here is a treat.  It’s a American Pale Ale with local hops.  It was nicely carbonated, crisp and clean.  Not overly hopped.  Just about right for a good Pale Ale.  Goes down extremely easy at 5.70% Once again just a fresh hopped beer. B+

HopDevil (Growler, American IPA)- Go basically if you’ve had HopDevil, take that and add just the freshest hopped flavor you can.  Basically this is what you get.  I can’t describe it any other way.  It was just delicious.  A+ 

So there you have it.  Just a fantastic night.  Great beer, great tour, and great food.  If you’re near Victory.  Don’t pass it up.  If you want to check out all my pictures, visit the brewery link up top.  Some good pictures of the brewery in there thanks to the Girlfriend.

Found: Total Wine
Price: Around 5 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.ommegang.com/
What the company says: Named after a Brussels bar made famous as the starting point for bicycle and pigeon races, our Rare Vos Amber Ale is also a great place to begin your virtual taste test. As you pour, you’ll notice the beautiful coppery-amber color and the rich creamy head. Lift the glass to your mouth and enjoy the aroma of spicy orange blossoms. Taste, and the pleasant mellow flavor of caramel malt glides easily into a dry, hop finish. Once you’ve finished, start again (after all, this isn’t a race).

What I say: As I was enjoying my first Ommegang beer the other day (Abbey Ale) I was talking to my friend Jeff who said “You need to try their Rare Vos!” So the next trip to total wine produced a beautiful bottle of Rare Vos. I poured my first glass and noticed the nice Light Amber color and the nice fruity smell. At first sip I knew I had my favorite beer I’ve had in a very long time. Now lately I’ve said multiple times that the beer I was reviewing was fantastic and that at that moment it was the best I’ve had in a while but this is truely the case. All beer reviews might stop for a while until I get this beer out of my system. It is just a pleasure to drink. It’s just perfect to me. Goes down easy. Just right. I usually don’t give 5/5 for ratings but in this case I think I might have to. There isn’t a perfect beer out there, well maybe there is but who can honestly say that. But it deserves my first 5/5.

Rating: A++