The Bruery Humulus Gold

Brewed by The Bruery
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Placentia, California USA

On tap at City Beer a while back. Gives you the sense you’re drinking a Belgian on the nose, then taste more like highly malted and heavier APA. A tiny bit boozy. Lots of sweet hoppy flavors with a easy finish. Good stuff.

On tap at the brewery. Somewhat hazy, golden yellow color with a tall layer of fizzy white head. Lemon peel citrus hop characters combine with some slightly resinous pine. Belgian esters back, bringing out notes of pear and even a hint of black pepper. Fresh and dank, although I find that to form a bit of a strange end result combined with the Belgian characters. Medium-light bodied, well carbonated mouthfeel with a dry, seltzery palate. Faint bready malt sweetness up front on the palate, followed by a wave of hops, mainly citrus and pine. Hop flavors are fresh, dank, and refreshing, although as in the nose, I find it to clash a bit with the belgian yeast profile - mainly notes of pepper. Alcohol is a bit hot on the back end. Nice clean hop profile, but I’m not a fan of the American hops combined with this particular yeast strain; in this case, I think this would be a great beer with a more neutral yeast strain.

On Cask. This was the version hopped with Cascades I guess. The aroma was strongly hoppy. Lots of pine and floral hops. Very Cascadey. Underneath this was a light yeasty presence. Pours golden with a moderated haze and little head. More big C hops initially followed by a light yeasty spice, bready grains, and a lightly noticeable sweetness. Lots of lingering hop resins. Carbonation was almost null and void. Had no clue this was 9.1%. This was interesting and nice.

Dry hopped with cascade hops. Excellent hoppy aroma. Medium to low hoppy bitterness. Easy to drink. Very good. I feel my rating will be a little high, because I drank under these awesome conditions, but whatever. Good is good.

On tap at City Beer Store in SF. Call me crazy, but I’m going to be an outlier here and say this was a phenomenal beer. An excellent merger of the Belgian Golden Ale and West Coast IPA styles. Aroma is yeasty with citrusy hops. Flavor is the same, balanced by sweet malt with light fruit notes. Medium-bodied with a lively mouthfeel. Mr. Rue, if you’re reading this (and you probably are), I beg you to brew more of this stuff.

A very nice Belgian style strong ale on draft at Pizza Port in San Clemente. Nice balance of hops and malt with hints of pitted fruit and cereal throughout.

Pour is a golden color with creamy white head. Citrus, lemon zest, biscuits, fruity esters, and floral hops. This was really nice and drinkable for the abv. Nice mouthfeel. Excellent brew.

On-tap at Stone. Pours hazy bright orange with a moderate sized, fizzy white head, specks of lace. Smells light and citrusy hoppy, floral as well with a big dose of Belgian yeast. Tastes light and floral and citrusy hoppy with a big bready, Belgian yeast flavor. Tasty. Medium body, vibrant carbonation.