The Bruery Autumn Maple

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

Traded bottle over at Sarah and Rhino’s for New Year’s Eve. Eh, okay I suppose. Quite possible that the sweetness from the yams made this a little cloyingly sweet. The sweetness and the raw alcohol were a bit of a downer for me.

From bottle shared by awiseman. nose is dark and sweet with prominent notes of molasses. Pours golden orange with a frothy white head. Yams are apparent as well as some brown sugar. Gets kinda stale and bready at the end. Not a big fan. O well.

Bottle from Keg Liquors in Clarksville, shared with Brothers Eric & Nathan. Pours murky brown with light tan head. Nose is dark spices and belgian yeast. Flavor is mushy yams, spices and slight maple with a solid belgian backing and a touch of alcohol in the finish. Slightly sweet and all around not bad, but a little odd in flavor.

Clear reddish maple in color with a small, dense head. Aroma is a nutmeg perfume. Taste is sweet and sour, with a slight medicinal (spice) edge, and mild minerality, vegetality and acidity into the finish. A bit cloying, but not bad. $10/750

750 mL 2009 batch. Pours dark orange with huge frothy tan head. Very little lacing. Aroma of yeast, clove, yam and a lot of booze. Good sweetness, great brown sugar sweet finish. A bit hot, but still doesn’t taste like 10%. Decent carb and medium mouthfeel. Pretty complex and well made beer. I think I’d like it more with an American ale yeast, but would also like to try the BA version.

Bottle and served in my big ole Karmeliet glass: Pours a deep coppery brown with a fluffy off-white head and left good lacework. The aroma has notes of fig, plum, starchy potatoes, cinnamom, clove, nutmeg, maple syrup, bready malts, light woody smoke and some nutty vapours. The taste is indeed initially spicy and fruity but they don’t overpower has much as I worried about. There is a bit of twangy acidity to help with balance but in retrospect this beer is all about spice, fruit and sugars. Oh, I do spot a bit of booze around the edges which gets stronger as the brew warms. The mouth feel is strange as it is fully carbonated but still seems soft and chalky dry, oh yeah warming upon the chest. Well, not to bad at all and fits right into the holiday spirit but it also something I am not sure I would really want again.

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.