The Bruery Autumn Maple

Brewed by The Bruery
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Placentia, California USA

2008 bottle, 750mL. Poured murky, ruddy brown with just a few loose bubbles around the edges for head. The aroma picked up a heavy dose of yams, maple syrup, and brown sugar upfront with some fruity notes behind.. the candied sweetness couldn’t completely mask the alcohol warmth.. interesting stuff. I thought the nose had maximum yam saturation, but oh boy was I wrong.. liquefied yams, brown sugar, and molasses at the core with some cinnamon and nutmeg accents.. yam-inspired tartness around.. finished a bit sour with a thick sweet backing. Medium-bodied with very, very little carbonation on the palate.. the tartness/sourness threw me off a little.. this was a weird beer, but I’d probably drink it again.. not a good one to drink 750mL of by yourself, though.

75cl bottle. Large beige head atop hazy copper body. Aroma is moderately sweet, Belgian yeast, molasses, caramel, some cinnamon, light clove. Taste is moderately sweet, molasses, yam, caramel, some Belgian yeast, clove, cinnamon, alcohol warming. Medium-full body, lightly sticky. Despite the yamminess, comes across much more as a Belgian Strong Ale than a Spice/Herb/Vegetable brew.

bottle, pours dark brown with a medium tan head. Aroma is yeasty with brown sugar and spice. Flavor is a big pumpkin/yam notes with some sweet brown sugar and a cinnamon and clove spiced finish. Really nice.

Bottle. Pours a light hazy copper body with red hues. The head was thin and slightly off-white, but quickly vanished. Nose was more subtle than I expected with cinnamon, clove, banana notes. I was pleasantly surprised by the unique and subtle belgian yeast flavors, which took the cinnamon, clove, brown sugar and all spice notes to a less traditional place. No one spice or flavor stood out too strongly, and there was a caramel matly background that gave some good depth to the beer. I’m amazing at the alcohol content... not even traceable. Not a standout, but very pleasant.

Garnet-brown pour with a clear body, lively carbonation,and a one finger billowy khaki head that recedes into a nice froth. Aroma fills the the airspace with sweetness and spice. Nose is quite spicy- clove, coriander, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sweetness is caramel and molasses in nature with yam notes subtle but evident. Bready dough presents a nice balance, rounding out the yeast character nicely. Deep sniffs incite nasal warming booze and black pepper. Flavor is bursting with warming sweetness and spice. Tons of molasses, maple syrup, and caramel with biscuit dough and further proliferations of the spice character. Palate is medium bodied with a nice pillowy effervescence. Warming and comforting- a treat for sure.

750 ml bottle from SouthBay Drugs (San Diego, CA). Pours a dark copper brown, reddish underneath and fairly hazed, with a small tannish offwhite head atop that stays decent sized, laces ok. Aromas are interesting and surprisingly pleasant, maple syrup and some yammy type cereal sweeter grains, a touch of cinnamon and vanilla, with some clove, a touch of Belgian yeasty spice, and a decent balance. Nothing too absurd. Initial is medium bodied, fairly sweet although with a decent bitterness on the backend. Maple syrup and cinnamon, with vanilla and a decent yeasty Belgian edge, spicey, with clove, yams. The cinnamon is really the dominant spice, with vanilla and caramel behind. The yams, harder to pick out, but then again I’m not a Yam person, and largely, assume they just add some sweet potatoe like sweetness to the malts. Finish is lightly bitter, with cinnamon spice and vanilla, fairy sweet but still very tasty. Who knows if I could drink a lot of this.. But it really is a well constructed brew, and different than expected. Hard to find the alcohol, really. 10 % ABV? Really?

I liked this stuff a bit more that any typical pumpkin/spice beer that I’ve had. May be it was the extra Belgian character that they yeast provides. I didn’t find the spice overblown like I do with most of this type. Medium body with a warm dry finish. Not to bad at all.

I had experienced my first sweet potato pie a couple weeks back and I’m glad to say this conjured visions of that lovely sampling. Aroma of coca-cola, sweet potato, and brown sugar infused butter. Taste isn’t sweet in the artificial sense but with the carbonation added there is a definite soda presence here. Other flavors are fall spice and what felt like light sherry and belgian yeast at the finish. Nice brew but a little to much coke going on here for my taste. Thank You Bruery. 2009 25oz.