The Bruery's 3rd!

So now's that time of year when things really start to get popping beer-fest wise, and we always kick off the season right with the annual Bruery Anniversary beer fest, this being the 3rd year we have attended and this being the 3rd Anniversary.....so 0 for 3 ain't bad! This year, they had to change things up because of their growing pains. Some of the GLOBE team were not too happy with the changes - however, a good amount of us showed up to represent. The first two years, the event was held at The Bruery's tiny Brewery in Placentia and it was, hands down, the best bang for your buck as far as beer fests go, including both food AND beer AND a nice tulip glass. They used to have a local BBQ place show up and do most of the food, plus they had chocolate bacon, fresh Belgian dessert waffles and gourmet cheese, all included in the entry price. They also had a lot of vegetarian food, which a lot of us liked too. Suffice it to say, we all voted it a Capital event both times it was held as such.

This year, it was held at the Phoenix club in Anaheim, just a little ways away from the main brewery. This place was like a beer Garden type place that was mostly German themed and sold it's own German beer fest food, like bratwurst and potato salad and what not. It also happened to be next to some kind of animal situation, maybe a petting zoo or something and when me and Kenny got there at 10am and got in line, the smell was quite strong. The Picture on the right shows the line when Kenny and I got there. The left shows kenny smelling the pungent animal smell.

Well, the rest of the team was running a little late , and they began letting us in a little after 10 am so we got in and after a little confusion, I got my taster glass (as opposed to the Bruery Tulip glass they used to give) and I was immediately confronted by a table that was giving away free cheese and crackers. You Didn't have to tell me twice. I don't remember which cheeses they were, but they were definitely gourmet and SUPER delicious, especially with the beer.

Finding all the different pouring booths was confusing at first, and a map was given out, BUT since we were MEN and GENTLEMEN BEER ENTHUSIASTS at that, it was ignored, so there was some more confusion at first. There was a giant Zep - Tent and it appears that all beer that were NOT the Bruery's was in here. It looked kinda funny because it was such a huge tent and it dwarfed the small collection of pour stations in the middle of it. It was here I got my first pour at the Hanger 24 station. I chose to sample their Double IPA and it was heavenly - not overly bitter with a nice hope induced grapefruit flavor. I highly recommend it. Alot of good things coming out of Hanger 24 from the IE, they are one to watch. There were several breweries there : Ladyface, Inland Empire Brewing, Taps, Stone, Hanger 24, Kern River, and few others I cannot recall at this moment.

After the Hanger 24 pour, I went to sample the Bruery's offerings, and I tried the Iniquitous, which was and EXCELLENT Belgian strong golden ale (one of my favorite styles) and then I tried their 3rd anniversary beer, Cuir, which blew my my mind and my taste buds away. Strong, spicy, and very unique. Hard to even describe, but I highly recommend it.

By This time, we noticed the rest of the group filing in from the front. You can see Karson with his Green shirt. The event could officially start now that the whole crew (all that was attending) had arrived. On the Left you can see Jim Master Jam, with a generous shot of the Zep - Tent behind him. After salutations were given, we got down to bidness. The Animal stench seemed to be most diminished under the Zep- Tent, so that's where they wanted to go first.

The Generous Cheese plates never seemed to end. Everyone grabbed one before getting their first pours. Megan was very pleased with the cheese, as you can see here. They also were giving out these roasted almonds that were covered in a chili - cocoa powder that was amazing. There were a lot of recognizable industry people there, you can see the back of Patrick Rue and his co-hort to the left here, and Dr Bill from Stone was there, which was pretty cool, and I even spotted Jonny Lieberman , the world famous homebrewer who has helped the Bruery out several times. His brewing adventures are stuff that legends are made of. As you can see on the left, Don Pancho was in the house! Kenny photobombed me.

After everyone had a couple of pours we all got a little tired and sat at one of the benches on the premises. You can see some of the awesome nuts in the picture of Jimmy on the left. Garrett was laying some sort of knowledge upon our heads in this pic.

After this we headed back into the Zep - Tent for the raffle, which we all lost, and then we hung for awhile. Towards the end of the event, it was discovered that many places were not taking tickets, and we all had the chance to get many more pours than the 10 that came with the entrance fee, so we were all pretty excited about that. I'm pretty sure this was sanctioned since so many places were doing it. All in all, this event was definitely a winner. We all enjoyed it thoroughly, and I'm sure at least some of GLOBE, if not all, will be back next year. The Bruery never fails to represent. My favorite beers of the fest were the Iniquitous, the Cuir, The Hanger 24 DIPA, and one from Taps that blew me away called " Balinese stout" that was 8 or 9 percent and tasted like Starbucks. Ah, much merriment was made. Until next year, Patrick Rue and Pals.