Collaboration Series: Ichigo Highway - The Bruery

DavoleBomb

Ohio

3.63/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured into a tulip.

3.0 A: Deeply hazed, near murky plum color. Fizzy off-white head falls as quickly as it forms.

4.5 S: Nice aroma on this. Lots of strawberry and a pleasant tartness. Red grape adds another layer of complexity underneath. Funk nicely balances the tartness and sourness. Musty funk with dry rotten sweatsocks and pollen-filled air from a wildflower field. Good mixture of aromas with strawberry leading the pack.

3.5 T: The taste does not encompass the power of the strawberries found in the nose, but that's usually the case with fruit sours. The more important issue is that there isn't a whole lot of flavor overall. Acetic and tart, but on the tamer side of what the Bruery usually puts out. Strawberry and grape fruitiness is found here. Mild musty funk featuring the flavors found in the nose. It's tasty, but I keep wanting more complexity and more power from what is there. The malts are doughy and probably more doughy than any other sour I've ever had. Hints of tannic astringency.

3.0 M: Medium to heavier medium body. Carbonation is fine, but on the lower end of normal. Lacking spritziness and a bit chewy as opposed to creamy.

3.5 D: Great nose and worth a try, but it's not very impressive overall.

Serving type: bottle

11-30-2012 23:52:11 | More by DavoleBomb

tastyville

California

4.5/5  rDev +15.1%

05-16-2013 22:26:07 | More by tastyville

moonknight31

California

4.25/5  rDev +8.7%

05-14-2013 22:10:28 | More by moonknight31

thegerm87

Connecticut

3.75/5  rDev -4.1%

05-11-2013 14:37:37 | More by thegerm87

drlovemd87

Colorado

4/5  rDev +2.3%

05-10-2013 04:00:45 | More by drlovemd87

billab914

Virginia

4/5  rDev +2.3%

05-05-2013 00:25:28 | More by billab914

IPAyForHops

California

3.75/5  rDev -4.1%

05-03-2013 01:02:54 | More by IPAyForHops

Nightrain87

California

3/5  rDev -23.3%

05-02-2013 06:18:26 | More by Nightrain87

cosmonick

Indiana

4.5/5  rDev +15.1%

04-29-2013 00:22:04 | More by cosmonick

Douvalis

Texas

4.5/5  rDev +15.1%

04-29-2013 00:16:02 | More by Douvalis

alpinebryant

Connecticut

3.76/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

A: Pours a hazy murky strawberry brown with white bubbles at the top.

S: Aroma of funky overripe strawberries. Similar to what one would expect when pulling out some over ripe strawberries from the fridge after they have warmed up to room temperature and practically melt when you touch them. Tart acid and some lemon rind.

T: Whew this is sour. There are some of those Red wine tannic flavors along with American oak and over-ripened strawberries. Sour lemon rind and sweet strawberries dueling it out for top flavor. Some of that battery acid flavor and of course the Bruery sour lacto flavor.

M: Medium body that is dry with a lot of carbonation.

O: Overall, not horrible, slightly too may strawberries however I have never been a Strawberry beer fan so this automatically made me a bit harder on this beer. It has a nice color to it which I liked probably most out of all the characteristics in this beer as it reminded me more of an Oude brune at least in color.

Serving type: bottle

04-14-2013 17:47:26 | More by alpinebryant

dhbiker0889

Colorado

3.5/5  rDev -10.5%

04-13-2013 19:50:42 | More by dhbiker0889

largadeer

California

4/5  rDev +2.3%

04-11-2013 22:45:38 | More by largadeer

notchucknorris

California

3.25/5  rDev -16.9%

04-05-2013 22:04:50 | More by notchucknorris

aranton

New York

4.25/5  rDev +8.7%

04-03-2013 19:14:13 | More by aranton

ngeunit1

California

4.33/5  rDev +10.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - Hazy red-orange with a finger of frothy slightly off-white head. Fades fairly quickly.

S - Caramel malts, strawberries and other berries, oak, red wine, vanilla, Brett and other funky yeasts, some sourness.

T - Sweet caramel malts, lots of tart strawberries and other berries, oak, red wine, brett and other funky yeasts, lactic acid, vanilla, some sourness.

M - Medium bodied, moderate carbonation. Smooth with a tart, funky, and sweet finish.

D - Super tart, but nice and complex and still has some balance.

Serving type: bottle

03-30-2013 06:56:59 | More by ngeunit1

ehammond1

California

3.8/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Bottle (2012)

The Bruery
Orange, CA

(Aged for 6 months)

An initially clear ruby and crimson with a quickly forming, though immediately disappearing, noisy head. The leave the glass dotted with stick. The later pours have significantly more cloudy sediment. A pretty color, no doubt, but the beer doesn't have much stick or head retention.

The aroma is my favorite part of this beer. This smells of fresh, smashed strawberries, and little else. There's perhaps a touch of a green vegetal character as well, but I'm really searching for anything but strawberries. At times, I wished this had more of a complex aroma, but I'd only be criticizing this for something that it simply isn't. This is a mildly sour strawberry ale, and in that venue (small as it is), this aroma succeeds marvelously.

The flavor isn't quite as successful as the aroma, though there's still good amounts of fresh strawberry character left after 6 months of sitting. There's a mild to moderate sour presence, along with some Band-Aid character, and a bit of a bread crust flavor on the finish. Incredibly drinkable.

Thin to medium bodied with low to moderate carbonation.

A very drinkable, strawberry-forward (slightly) sour ale. I like it quite a bit.

Serving type: bottle

03-27-2013 01:36:18 | More by ehammond1

OleDixie

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +2.3%

03-25-2013 02:11:10 | More by OleDixie

merc7186

New York

3.94/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Big bottle poured into tulip glass.

A: Hazy Reddish/Pinkish Hue, Passes Some Light, White Head Ring, No Lacing

S: Bitter Strawberries, Mild Red Wine

T: Red Wine, Bitter Strawberries, Tart Cherry

M: Average Carbonation, Medium Bodied, Semi Tart, Bitter

Overall, i can see why strawberry sours arent common because the strawberry taste melds with the red wine barreling...decent still.

Serving type: bottle

03-25-2013 00:12:12 | More by merc7186

writerLJBerg

Oregon

3/5  rDev -23.3%
look: 2 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.25

750mL courtesy of Shane. Thanks!

A: Off-brown with a dark creme head. Doesn't leave appreciable heads, and it's not an attractive beer.

N: Strawberries, funk, acetone, and some diacetyl. Has some cheese flavors and a slight nutiness. Some glues smell is a turn off. Grapefruit and apricot round it out.

T: Funk, oak, strawberries, bleu cheese. Bracingly sour with a high amount of horse blanket and dry leather. Oak, and more of the glue taste. Grapefruit and oak.

M: Lively carbonation, light body. Normal range for Bruery led sours.

O: Complex but it never comes together in an appropriate way. Not really worth the 18 dollars. But then again, I don't know why breweries insist on trying to create strawberry sours. They don't seem to work very often.

Serving type: bottle

03-23-2013 03:28:49 | More by writerLJBerg

jsanford

Georgia

3.5/5  rDev -10.5%

03-20-2013 23:55:18 | More by jsanford

jeonseh

Indiana

3.99/5  rDev +2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle shared by nasty31

A - Hazy orange with light brown and light strawberry red

S - Strawberry margarita with light lactic acid and lemon that gives it a slight tartness

T - Tart lemon and slight lactic acid up front. As it goes on, there is light strawberry sweetness. The finish is light funk and lemon tartness that carries on with the strawberry aspects

MF - Light body with lots of carbonation. Finish is slightly astringent from the tartness

O - Interesting sour with the strawberry sweetness that interacts with the tartness of the lemon and the lactic acid

Serving type: bottle

03-19-2013 02:47:55 | More by jeonseh

alysmith4

District of Columbia

3.75/5  rDev -4.1%

03-13-2013 17:15:43 | More by alysmith4

dctriman

Virginia

3.75/5  rDev -4.1%

03-11-2013 15:56:51 | More by dctriman

smakawhat

Maryland

3.65/5  rDev -6.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

Poured from the bottle into a snifter glass at Smoke & Barrel DC, for the bottle share. from notes.

A nice light peach amber body color, slightly dull but seems to let the light through, and some slight filmy top, but manages a thin collar while drinking.

Funky nose for the bouquet, with some noticeable heat. It comes off as kind of powdery strangely with some sort of powdered fruit drink angle. An interesting nose, but it's not that enjoyable to me, but certainly nothing offensive or offputting.

A good hit of peach fruit on this on first sip. Mellows out with frequent sips and fills the mid palate. Strangely the body doesn't seem to hold up very much and it's quite thin, with a little bit of tart and funky angles.

Overall kind of fleeting, and not much to say about this one, smells and tastes more peachy than strawberries to me.

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2013 20:01:44 | More by smakawhat