The Bruery White Oak

Brewed By: The Bruery in Placentia, California  

Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2013

Style/ABV: Wheatwine, 11.5%

Reported IBUs: 20

Continuing with the barrel-aged, bourbon beers...we have The Bruery: 

The Bruery are based out of Placentia, California. As with many craft breweries, The Bruery began as a homebrewing adventure when Patrick Rue, his brother Chris, and his wife Rachel brewed their fast batch of beer. Patrick Rue continued to homebrew during his first year of law school, until he decided that he had a passion for brewing beer. The Bruery opened up in 2008, and since then, they have built a reputation around their experimental, and wild ales brewed with a Belgian flair. To read more, check out the Breuery's website.

Tonight's beer is part of The Bruery's "special collection." The White Oak is is a blended beer, 50% Wheatwine aged in Bourbon barrels, and 50% Mischief (the brewery's Golden Strong Ale). Clocking in at 11.5% and 20 IBUs, this beer is described as having vivid caramel, coconut, and vanilla flavors...blanketed in a crisp yet robust wheat ale. Let's see how she stacks up.

The Bruery White Oak

In low light, this beer pours a darker golden color, with two fingers of fluffy, white head. In bright light, the body of the beer is a murky/hazy golden-orange, and the head is bright white with maybe a hint of gold. There's a lot of tiny carbonation bubbles streaming up in this, and the head is creamy and sustaining nicely like on a nice Belgian Ale.

I was expecting more aromatics on this, but what I am getting on the subtle nose is big whiskey aroma, pears, berries, banana, clove, mango/pineapple, and some light caramel/white sugar. You do get some of that coconut and pina colada thing going on.

Like the nose, this is a subtle beer. But there's a lot going on. You definitely get some big whiskey, oak, vanilla, and coconut in this...but you get a blast of refreshing citrus, mango/pineapple, banana/clove, and wheat up front. As the barrel and whiskey character settles in, you get coconut, pina colada, vanilla, caramel, and lingering wheat beer. 

This is a really awesome blend. I don't know how they did it, but the way this beer transitions from a solid Belgian-style Golden Ale/Wheat beer to those whiskey characters is amazing. The 11.5% in this is completely within reason, as you get much more whiskey than alcohol heat. The whiskey is done with a deft hand, and has a mild character with big vanilla/coconut/caramel. This is a medium-full beer, with Belgian Strong Ale-like carbonation that smooths things out. The wheat gives the mouthfeel a creamy edge, and the beer is dry/attenuated. It finishes with whiskey and some whiskey heat. Palate depth is good, complexity is good...up front is big wheat, clove, apples, pears, citrus, mango/pineapple...this rolls into whiskey/wood...that rolls into big coconut, vanilla, caramel, pina colada. The finish is super dry, with lingering whiskey, wheat, and coconut.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. Not surprisingly, as this warms, the Bourbon comes out even more, with pronounced vanilla, whiskey, and coconut notes. All-in-all, this is great stuff...almost like two beers in one. I wish some of the flavors and aromas were a bit more pronounced, but I can't complain. I'm hesitant to recommend food pairings, as this strikes me as a sipping beer with the potent ABV + the 750ml bottle format. You might do well sharing this with a friend. You could serve this with coconut cream pie, lemon meringue pie, strong cheeses...maybe even something like friend calamari. It's very wine-like, and has a dry finish. You can't miss the whiskey though. I don't remember the price per bottle, but this one will age for a year or two, so it's worth checking out if you're a fan of the style.

Random Thought: I'm so behind on movies. I have so many movies to go see...I'm hoping to knock out one or two movies this weekend, so we'll see how that goes.