Earthy Brewery
Patrick Rue founded The Bruery (“Brewery” using the letters of his last name) in 2008 to work on barrel aged and experimental ales. Part of his repertoire always included “wild beers” but he later separated them off into their own company: Bruery Terreux…loosely translates to “Earthy Brewery.”
I first had one of Terreux’s beers when I was in Orlando earlier this year. My friend, KJ, is crazy about sours and he brought along a bottle of Frucht Boysenberry. I didn’t expect much from it, but it was delicious. When I found out where Terreux was located, I knew I had to make it part of my SoCal trip.
Another taproom, another flight…I have to say that Bruery Terreux’s list is very well done. They separate things into general types of beers, going from less to more intense, then have a separate section for the “Offshoot Beer Co.” Some of the offerings on the main list would fit under “The Bruery” and others under “Bruery Terreux” and all have ABV helpfully listed. I picked 5 and hoped for the best…
Frucht: Raspberry, Lychee and Tangerine
If you like sours, this company really excels at them. This is really, really…really…sour…but it’s in a good way and I ended up liking it a lot. I prefer the Boysenberry version still, but this was maybe the second-best sour I’ve ever had. Starting off easy at 4.5% ABV.
The Wanderer ’17
This is an oak-aged sour ale including blackberries and cherries. I found it less sour than the Frucht beer, but still very complex. Stepping up to 8.3%.
Rueminator
Obviously again named after the founder of the place, this is a Doppelbock aged in new American Oak. It was very smooth with a pronounced maple note…and it clocked in at 10.8% ABV…moving on up.
White Chocolate with Cherries
After 3 taster samples stepping up the ladder of ABV, I was starting to get a little fuzzy-headed. This next one is a bourbon-barrel aged wheatwine with cacao, vanilla and tart cherries. It was massively sweet with a load of cherry flavor, along with lesser notes of chocolate and vanilla…and an ABV of 14.2%…dear Lord…
So Happens It’s Tuesday ’17
An Imperial Stout, aged in Bourbon barrels…and clocking in at 14.6% ABV…I think it was good, but I had stopped taking notes at this point…I had stopped trying to walk, too. This stuff was so strong…
And then Vernon decided he didn’t like his “Barrel-Aged Zesty Mounds” and let me finish it…I probably shouldn’t have…because then it was time to head to the last brewery on our list…
A Logical Choice
We didn’t have far to travel to get to the last stop on our little tour. Bottle Logic is just a mile or so up the street. I guess there’s almost a “La Palma Avenue Brewery Row” thing you can do.
Bottle Logic Brewing was established in 2013 in a warehouse-converted-to-a-tasting-room. They do some different things, but have 5 “Constants” that they offer as a tasting flight…we all did that one…
(714) Blonde Ale
This one’s name spoke to me…I grew up in the 714…I still have a 714 cell number…and I was blonde as a kid…yes, I was a little tow-head…though I never dated any 714 blondes. This was a light and crisp beer; it was enjoyable and pretty “universal” which explains why it would be available “through the Disneyland Resort.” Easy-drinking and designed not to offend anyone too much.
Prequel Gamma
This was my first (known) experience with a Saison. It was spicy and complex, but overall, too bitter for my taste buds…even after the abuse I had been subjecting them to.
Cobaltic Porter
The day had turned into a bit of a marathon…I didn’t take notes on this one and didn’t give it a rating. It did get a Gold Medal at GABF and a Silver Medal at the World Beer Cup…so it must have been good.
Odyssey of Oddities
This was my second experience with a Chai beer…and I didn’t like it any more than the first one. I’d pass on this one, but I’m sure it has an odd-ience…ha! See what I did there?
Recursion: West Coast Style IPA
So this was my last beer of the day…and it was one of my least favorite. Nothing like ending on a low note, I guess. Let’s just say it takes a special IPA to not make me wish I had ordered something else. I’m still open to trying them, but it’s taking more and more to impress me. This one didn’t do it…but if you’re an IPA freak, it might be right up your alley.
Chill in the Hills
At the end of our visit to Bottle Logic, we were joined by Aaron (he also hung with us at Taps on Tuesday). One common aspect of every taproom we went to: no smoking allowed. We had no place to light up a cigar all day long to go with the great beer experience. Vern suggested we head over to Islands Cigar Lounge…Dale said, “Sure…or we could go to Aaron’s house.”
Aaron agreed to it and we headed that way. Turns out he and his family recently moved into an amazing place in the City of Orange hills. Literally, we stood in his back yard and could watch airplanes pass by and track them all the way to a landing at John Wayne Airport. We could see a patch of orange lights off in the far distance…turns out they are the Port of Los Angeles.
We lit cigars and watched the end of Thursday night’s football game…then we watched hockey on two channels at once…the Kings won (Dale was happy) and the Ducks won (Aaron and his wife were happy).
By the time those games were finished, I was feeling more or less human again…we left and headed home.
Postscript at Network
On the day before I came home, I met Jeremy from Caldwell again…this time at Network Brewing in Santa Ana. We met and talked a little more business, had a beer with Mike (Twerking Tortoise…an amber lager that was pretty good), and then I had to get ready to get back home.
As always, my trip to California was fruitful for business, interesting from a cigar standpoint, and it’s always a joy to get to hang out with friends and family. Special thanks to my in-laws for allowing me to stay with them…and to the Watercolor West painting society for giving me a solid reason for being out there every year. If you’re anywhere near the Brea Art Gallery in the next month or so, go check out their show.
Thanks also to Keith, Vernon, Ray, James, Alexander, Danny, Jeremy, Aaron, Paul & Julie, Michael, Amar, Drew, Ben, Art & Garnette (the best In-Laws anyone could ask for),Taps, Bruery Terreux, Ballast Point, Bottle Logic, that chick who almost ran me over when I was crossing the street in Brea (never a bad idea to think and drive, lady!), Maxamar Ultimate Cigars, Embassy Cigars, Islands Cigar Lounge, the Los Angeles Dodgers (almost!), everyone who didn’t try to burn SoCal (and NorCal) down, Total Wine, Network Brewing…and anyone I forgot…let’s do this again next year!
Good times, brother!