The Bruery Black Orchard

Brewed by The Bruery
Style: Belgian Ale
Placentia, California USA

This dark brown ale poured with a thin off-white head and a malty aroma. The wheat flavor is evident through the darkness, and is rather sour. There is some spice and a lot of anise.

#02 - Amerikaner Blind-Smagning 12-Jun-2009 hos Papsoe. Bottle. Clear brown - offwhite head. Spicy, roasted, earthy, licorice, star anis, sparkling, high spicy, vegetables, rubber. ØV !!

Bottled. An unclear brown beer with yeast sediment floating around under a thin brown head. The aroma is sweet with ntoes of malt, wheat, and caramel. The flavor is sweet with strong notes of wheat and medium notes of malt and caramel as well as a touch of spices, leading to a dry wheaty finish. The body is a bit thin.

Poured a medium brown with large white head. Funky soapy malty nose. detergent, slight citrus, roast malts. There was somehting in the nose that i couldn’t put to words, just odd, not bad, odd. Dark malt flavor, some lemon citrus tartness with nearly acidic notes. Lingering spices. Finished very dry with almost a wood flavor in the finish.

Bottle 75 cl. Courtesy of yespr/Ungstrup. Pours a hazy and opaque dark brown with a lively beige head. Aroma of yest, overripe and dried fruits. Medium body with a heavy carbonation, yeast, brown sugar, spices and again accents of overripe and dried fruits. The finish is dry and yeasty with some phenols present. 120609

Bottle #2 at Papsø’s blindtasting. Hazy red brown with a medium sized beige head. Spicy aroma of coriander, rubber and celery. Spicy flavour of caramel, coriander, rubber and celery. Spicy finish. Unpleasant,.

On tap at The Bruery’s tap room in Placentia. Pours a deep brown, almost black body with a thin, beige head that leaves a soft lacing on the surface. Aroma doesn’t jump out at you, but its rather complex. Some lighter floral spices and sweeter caramels, wheat, raisins, orange peel, a light roast, soft chocolate, and a banana yeast. Flavor is pretty similar with the spices and fruits standing out a little more. Finishes nutty with some rich cocoa and a touch of roast while everything else comes in and balances nicely. A light lasting flavor with the spice taste growing slightly after a subtle dry finish. Light to medium bodied and silky. Overall, an interesting beer that has a lot going on, but not quite as big as I was anticipating. Despite that, decent and enjoyable.

Bottle. Head is initially large, frothy, light brown, mostly lasting. Body is hazy dark brown, bottle conditioned. Aroma is lightly malty (caramel, roasted grain), trace hops (herbs), lightly yeasty (cobwebs), with notes of prunes, overripe banana peel, and pepper, hints of plastic, coriander, and cardboard. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. A let-down compared to Orchard White...weird and almost unpleasant fruit character, with a few other unwanted notes in the background. Rather muddled and unfulfilling.