Mischief from The Bruery in Placentia, California This is the second beer from The Bruery that I have tasted. The first was Autumn Maple, which was terrific. Their beers get rave reviews. They do a lot of sour beers, which is not really my cup of tea! From the Bruery website: Mischief is a hoppy Belgian-style golden strong ale. This wickedly good golden ale is fiendishly dry-hopped with American hops to add a layer of complexity and mystery to its fruity, dry Belgian-style character. Citrus and resin diabolically combine with ripe melon, pear and slight peppery spice in a precariously effervescent mixture. This beer is 8.5% ABV and 35 IBUs. It gets a 98 from ratebeer and a 90 from Beer Advocate. It is a 25.4 ounce large format bottle and it is an unfiltered bottle-conditioned ale. I picked this up at Steins Deli in New Orleans back in mid-October, and it has been laying down on the shelf in the beer fridge since then, and I can see the sediment in the bottle. Wow, this is some seriously good stuff - loads of sweet citrus fruits, a great malt presence, and enough hops to balance it all out! It is hazy golden in the glass with a nice aroma of tangerines. This is highly carbonated and a towering head of bright white and fine fizzy foam forms on the pour and leaves patches and broken rings of lacing inside the glass. The mouth feel is medium and the carbonation works its magic on the tongue - effervescent is an accurate description (see the quote from the Bruery website above). Extremely refreshing. This would work well with a lot of different food styles. Never too heavy! There is just a hint of the signature Belgian banana ester here. It is somewhat dry and very crisp on the finish. The aforementioned peppery spice is there, but only after it warms a bit. I get orange and tangerine and some melon. I do not get resin or pine at all. The hops influence is well done and never overpowers. This brew is really complex. I would be hard pressed to identify the style if I was drinking this without seeing the bottle label. Delicious. This one is classy and elegant! I like this one a lot!
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 03:30:27 +0000