The Bruery Black Orchard

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

A nice witbier but I’m not sure what character comes from the dark malts. Touches of phenol and wheat in the nose, and some distinct coriander. Vague fruitiness in the flavor. Pretty refreshing on the whole.

Pours very dark with a dark red tint and a good sized tan head. The aroma has toasty malt, appropriate sweetness, gentle spice, hints of orange and an angel food cake sort of quality - quite pleasant. Medium light body with lots of lively carbonation. The aroma has toasted gentle malt with no bitterness, bit sweeter than the aroma (it’s a clean sweetness), sharper orange and more pronounced spice aspect. The finish has various spices with some coming across as sharp and some as gentle. The angel food aspect is coming out on the finish as well. A great beer and very unique.

Pours brown with a beige head. Aroma of caramel, apple and quite a bit of yeast. Light body and active carbonation. Lightly sour finish

Bottled version, thanks to heemer77 for the sample. Tart, fruity, spicy aroma, roasty, sweet and grainy, even a bit smoky; quite remarkable all in all. Cloudy dark brownish-red color, head is fine and fading. Flavor follows the aroma closely, with plenty of darkly roasty malts and spiciness, along with a very mild tartness and bitterness, just a lot of things going on at once, but maintains its balance. Effervescent and active on the palate, body is light-medium. Different, to be sure.

750 ml bottle from BevMo (E. Tucson) - Pours a hazy brown color with a large light tan head. Light lacing. Aroma is sharp esters and spice. Flavor is dark esters, lightly sweetened roasted malt, and spice. Medium body. A nice beer.

750ml bottle from South bay Drugs. Pours a dark cloudy brown with a big beige head. Faint aromas of wheat, Belgian yeast and some spice. Flavor was lightly spiced with yeast and a touch of hops. Beer was not as good as expected, not bad, and very drinkable.

draft: very dark brown beer with a thin off-white head. very subtle yeast nose of bubblegum. wheaty & yeasty flavors, pretty concentrated on the yeasty bubblegum notes. balanced hop character and a slight roasty thing going on behind the scenes. the beer is clean for the most part though can be a little flemmy in the aftertaste. pretty ordinary overall though...i think it would better with a strong roast character.

750 ml bottle courtesy of a trade with dirty martini. This one was a gusher when we opened the bottle. Pours an opaque very dark brown, not quite black, with a very large off-white head that lasted until mid-glass. Mild earthy aroma with molasses, lightly roasted malt, and yeast. I am not picking up the coriander or the orange at all in the nose. The flavor is also a bit earthy with more yeast than the aroma along with some mild roast. Light-medium bodied and a bit sprtizy on the palate.