Juicy June: Brace Yourself for All the Fruited Brews

We had a fun month during May releasing tons of archived bottles for sale in celebration of our 6th anniversary. We thank you for coming to visit us, whether it was to just grab a few bottles to complete your craft beer collection or to raise a tulip of an old favorite from the archives.

As we roll into June, we have loads of great new and archive beers to look forward to on draft. In addition to the annual bottle release of some seasonal favorites, we also have fun archive bottle pours and even an archive bottle sale, too.

Here's what you can look forward to for our Fruited Beer Month of June. For exact dates of these happenings, follow The Bruery Tasting Room Facebook and Twitter. Please be aware these items are subject to change -- we were just so excited about all this good stuff to come, we wanted to let you know what's up.

Design Contest! A Coaster + A Postcard = A Coastcard

We certainly enjoy having you stop in for a beer or some tasters at The Bruery Tasting Room, and as we continue to slowly and carefully grow our small craft brewery, we want you to be a bigger and bigger part of who we are. After all, we have the opportunity to grow and become an even better brewery for you because of your support!

With this in mind, we think it's about time we give our coasters a little refresher at The Bruery Tasting Room, so we're on the look out for new coaster design ideas.

Pilot Batch Release: Stay at Home Dad by Stefan Weber

Our fifth and final Meet the Brewer Night is on Thursday!

Meet Stefan and try his pilot brew on Thursday, 3/6 from 6-8PM!

Our last limited release pilot batch beer comes from one of our newest additions to our brewing team. Stefan Weber came up with a little twist on a German classic just in time for longer days here in So Cal.

He chose to brew Stay at Home Dad for his pilot batch because one of his favorite styles is the tart, refreshing Berliner Weisse.

Expansion Update 4: More Warehouse Space = Improved Quality

The addition of our brand new brewhouse from Germany means some things will need to move around inside our current spaces. We're pleased to announce that another step in our expansion plans for 2014 includes the lease of two new warehouse spaces, which means separation of clean beer and sour beer fermentation and packaging.

At the end of January, we leaked a sneak peek at one of our new warehouse spaces located near our administrative offices. This warehouse is pretty cavernous and will be used for marketing department raves the less glamorous parts of the wonderful world of brewing, like bottle conditioning and storage of packaging materials.

Pilot Batch Release: Chupacabra Quinceañera by Sean Flannery

We have one more pilot batch being released this month, and a bonus one coming at you for the very beginning of March!

Meet Sean and try his pilot brew on Thursday, 2/27 from 6-8PM!

Our fourth limited release pilot batch beer comes to us from brewer Sean Flannery. Before working at The Bruery, he cut his teeth at San Diego's Aztec Brewing, Prohibition Brewing Company, and OC's Bootlegger's Brewery. With an intense enthusiasm for craft beer, Sean is also one of our BJCP certified staff members here at The Bruery.

Sean decided to make this beer in order to showcase an unusual strain of brettanomyces. You may have tried a 2013 release of ours that was 100% brett fermented with another strain and called Werewolf Bar Mitzvah. In keeping the "mythical creature" + "type of party" appellation for 100% bretted beers here, Chupacabra Quinceañera is 100% fermented with a substrain of Brettanomyces Bruxellensis.

Pilot Batch Release: Walt by Andrew Bell

It's time for another limited pilot batch to be released at the Tasting Room!

Meer Andrew and try his brand new batch of beer on Thursday 2/20/14 from 6-8PM!

As we continue our series of experimental pilot batches, Andrew Bell, who you may already know from homebrew circles in and around Los Angeles, has prepared a very special tribute beer. Andrew started working at The Bruery as a brewer and was recently promoted to Experimental Brewer.

Andrew's beer was made in memory of Walt Powell, who passed away on June 4th, 2013 at the age of 33. Walt was a craft beer fixture in Andrew's home away from home of Texas, and was a big force on RateBeer.com. Walt was a fan of Orval, a brett-conditioned Trappist ale so this dry, peppery beer was made as a tribute to him.

Pilot Batch Release: Bitter Milk Biscuits by Rich Ruelle

We're releasing a pilot batch of beer every week at The Bruery Tasting Room during the month of February!

Meet Rich and try his pilot batch of Bitter Milk Biscuits on Friday 2/14/14 from 6-8PM!

Our team of brewers have been working on their own 3 bbl brew on our pilot system. Each brewer had full creative control over his own batch, and we're releasing these very limited, experimental brews all month long.

Our second beer in this series is Rich Ruelle's Bitter Milk Biscuits. If you've been a patron of The Bruery for a couple years now, you've seen Rich work in just about every role here. It's pretty convenient he happened to be an excellent brewer!

This aptly named, subtle twist on the American Red Ale boasts a big biscuit malt base, moderate bitterness, and a very silky texture thanks to the addition of lactose, which also contributes to the sweetness and full body of this 6.5% ABV beer.

Pilot Batch Release: Saison Garni by Matt Becker

We're releasing a pilot batch of beer every week at The Bruery Tasting Room during the month of February!

Meet Matt and try his pilot batch of Saison Garni on Thursday 2/6/14 from 6-8PM!

Our team of brewers have been working on their own small batch of beer on our little 3 bbl pilot system that's tucked away inside the brewery where our old Tasting Room counter once was. Each brewer had total creative control over their own batch, and we're releasing these very limited experimental brews all month long.

The first beer release is Matt Becker's Saison Garni. You might recognize Matt from the longtime running (and delightful) blog/video/podcast that is New Brew Thursday.

Saison Garni was inspired by French culinary ingredients.

Sensory School: How To Have Your Own Beer Tasting

Whether you're having a tasting to learn about beer, figure out what to brew next, or just to have fun, there are some simple tips that can make you look like you really are a beer pro if you are the host (or simply make it easier to enjoy the experience and just focus on the beer).

Craftbeer.com has already done the legwork in putting together some awesomely thorough at-home tasting guides and handy-dandy beer placemats. Though we won't reinvent the wheel, we recommend reading their guide before having a tasting, then using the following pointers when it comes to having a tasting with OUR beers.

Recipe: Aaron's Holiday Bruery Beer Cocktails

Our manager over at The Bruery Tasting Room has experience working at fancypants cocktail bars in San Diego, so when we were looking for some holiday recipes that incorporate beer, we had to include a couple bonus "recipes" that the cook might enjoy while preparing all those holiday plates. Aaron put together some new beer cocktails using each a limited release Bruery beer, a seasonal, and a brand new brew that we have not released just yet. It's tough work, but someone has to do it!

The first cocktail is a classic that has been around The Bruery since it's inception -- you will even see it in our Tasting Room from time to time: the Hottenroth Mimosa.

Harvest Beer & Cheese Pairing Favorites from our Resident Cheesemonger

Today's Harvest Month beer & food pairing comes from one of our humble barrel fellows who spends his day making sure the thousands of barrels in our warehouses stay happy and organized. Before Cesar started focusing much of his time on Bruery beer, he did a lot of homebrewing and worked at a local cheese shop.

Here around The Bruery some call me The Barrel Whisperer, but did you know when first starting at The Bruery I was also working as a cheesemonger? Let’s say I just did I did it for some extra ... cheddar.

Anyways, while working the cheese shop I learned a great deal about different varieties of cheese and how I can incorporate my love of beer to every type.

Meet the Hombruer: Matt Olesh

Homebrewing is where Patrick and the OG Bruery crew first got their adorable little beer making sea-legs. The homebrew community is certainly still a priority to us, and so for our milestone batches we host a competition where the winning recipe comes from ... you guessed it: homebrewers! So far we've made Batch 1, 50, 300 and are now on to our 1000th batch featuring a recipe from Brian and Bryan (AKA Briyan) from Colorado. They'll be coming out to visit us in mid-July to help brew Batch 1000, a Cascadian dark rye.

Though we are a larger company now than when we started only five years ago, our passion for brewing (and goofing off) has only grown stronger. Whether we work in the office, tasting room, or brewery itself, lots of us homebrew when we're off the clock, even though we're around it all day!

We're highlighting our "homebruers" in a series of blogposts in support of our upcoming Batch 1000 beer. This time we're featuring a man who is no stranger to many of you who hang at The Bruery Tasting Room. Matt Olesh is our Director of Retail Operations and he's been a homebrewing for about 5 years now.

Blank & Branded Growlers at The Bruery Tasting Room

There has been a lot of discussion (and certainly a good amount of confusion) about CA growler laws lately. Though the law has not actually changed recently, there has been much more attention on it. You can read the whollllllle PDF about enforcing these rules & regulations here, but we've been through the research and come up with a solution that we think is a MUCH more interesting read. We're ready to change our growler policy, and this blogpost explains how we will be doing that, based on frequently asked questions we've received so far.



We will fill 2-liter blank, Palla-style swing top growlers (the same style as the ones we currently fill), but that have no markings that can be associated with any other brewery. We’ll sell empty, blank growlers for $10, the same price as our own The Bruery™ branded growlers.