When it comes to big barrel aged beers I have a soft spot for them in my heart they just make me melt inside, and The Bruery out of Orange County, California’s 4th Anniversary beer “Fruet” an Belgian-style old ale coming in at 15.5% abv barrel aged in Bourbon barrels is on my list of beers of big barrel aged beers. Each year they will continue to blend old barrels of anniversary ale with a new batch of the same beer, adding an additional layer of complexity that will grow over time as they continue to age and blend with each anniversary, creating an older average age to the ale. This year, for the first time, they are only offering the 100% bourbon barrel aged version of their anniversary ale. It has taken them four years to work up their capacity enough to do this and they are extremely happy about this offering.
The Bruery – “Fruet” Belgian-style old ale aged in bourbon barrels
15.5% abv – 4th Anniversary ale – Poured into a tulip glass from a 750ml waxed bottle. Bought at Kelly’s Liquor Store in San Jose, Ca.
Appearance: Pours a cloudy unfiltered golden brown, with a 1 finger khaki color head that dissipates fast, huge alcohol legs, and minimal carbonation.
Aroma: Picked up chocolate, honey, cherries, vanilla, oak, nice toasty/bready quality, and some booze.
Taste: Taste huge honey sweetness with chocolate, vanilla, oak, cherries, nice sticky booze, caramel, and huge malt back bone.
Overall: DAMN! over all this is a 20/20 beer for me a HUGE A+. This beer still needs age on it but man this thing is a monster of a beer, it screams heaven in a bottle, and really was worth it. A medium body beer with sticky feel to the palate with a after taste that sits around for days. I loved the barrel age on this style man it delivered everything you want from a old ale. A $29 bottle well worth every penny. I see this aging for 5 years to produce even more greatness so the alcohol can die down but I would drink this fresh any day.
