The Bruery Autumn Maple

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

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.

Poured hazy brown with an almost tan head and light lacing. The aroma is heavy on the cinnamon and clove spices, softened a bit by brown sugar. The flavor is cinnamon, clove, brown sugar and with yeast and light tartness towards the end. Medium bodied mouthfeel with a touch of alcohol that didn’t feel out of place.

Pours reddish brown with a brown/orange disappearing head. The aroma is very yeasty and Belgian, with dark fruit, molasses, cooked yams, brown sugar and spices like cinnamon and clove. The flavor is very powerful and a tad harsh on the palate. Yeast, spices, molasses, maple syrup, banana stand out. The yams come through in the finish surprisingly.

750 ml bottle from South Bay Drugs ($7.99). This was the 2008 version drunk today, so it’s been aging for over a year. Pours a chalky muddy brown with hints of orange and red. No real head (yes, I was aware of the carbonation problems from this inaugural batch). Aroma is dominated by normal pumpkin pie spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice) with some yam/pumpkin notes. Tastes strongly of sweet yams (fortunately, I really like yams) and the aforementioned spices. This has an earthy sweetness with some maple hints as well. The finish is lightly sweet and tangy with the spices. A hint of alcohol, but otherwise the high ABV is hidden well -- this is quite quaffable. I like it, but the complete lack of carbonation is a problem. I may pick up a 2009 bottle and re-rate. (191, 215)

Enjoyed this beer with Thanksgiving dinner, and it definitely fit the meal. A sweet and spicy beer, roasted malts, molasses, slight bananas, and tons of autumn spices giving it a pumpkin pie quality. Very fitting for the season, and a good, interesting beer, but not something I would drink everyday--a little too sweet (in the wrong way) for my everyday tastes.