The Bruery Barrel Fermented Autumn Maple

Formerly brewed at The Bruery
Style: Sour Ale/Wild Ale
Placentia, California USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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In short: A messy barnyard-ish brown beer that I found inexplicably enjoyable.
How: Bottle 750ml, probably over 1 year of age. Shared at post-HF Harvest 2012 party. Bottle sent to me by kegbear, thanks Craig.
The look: Cloudy brown body topped by a beige ring of foam.
In long: Weird nose with vegetal notes, old wet wood, wet earth, barnyard, pickles. Strange aroma but not really repulsive. Taste is surprisingly cohesive and not so weird considering how strange the aroma is. A mix of caramel, spicy hard candies, dirty barnyard bretty notes, earth, mild red fruits sourness. Didn’t taste any maple, caramel yes, maple no. Appropriate lively carbonation. Overall sensation of an approximate “let’s see what happens if…” beer that resulted in a somewhat enjoyable mess. Another beer rating for me, over 5,000 of them and with still a long backlog to go, no doubt I really am an overachiever when it comes to wasting my time.

30 nov 3012, bottle. Rosy amber, clear, no bubbles. Nose is seriously sour but alternates between that and a sweet cherry and yammy(?) nose. Thin body and faintly fizzy. Sour up front but it immediately turns into sweet yam, dry oak, and a faint tartness. Nice. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Sampled at GonzoIllini’s Birthday Party (Western Springs, IL). Happy Birthday, Tony! Pours a rich roasty brownish pour, darker with some glowing edges. Gentle loose tannish dies to a film, laces small. Aromas are gentle funk, sweet potatoes and gentle growing brett. Touch of sourness, oak, and spirit. Initial is gentle spice, caramel and carmelization, sweetness, toffee, pumpkin. Gentle spice, toffee, and funk. Middle is gentle spice and pumpkin caramel sweetness. Gentle spice. Gente sweetness, ok. Not all that funky. Lacking a bigger bunch as I expected with such a potent wild yeast emphasis. More oak, some muted base flavors. Meh.

Pours very hazy deep brown with a slightly red tint and a small off white head. Nose is funky as hell. Nose is vinegar, lemons, and despite all the reviews claiming the absence of the original's qualities, I still get the wonderful spice and yams. Taste is very complex. Lightly bitter with great sweet and tart. Love it. Mouthfeel is soft and easy, body is heavy and finish is long. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Bottle shared at HF Harvest fest. Brown pour with white head. Aroma of pickles, earthy, mushrooms. Taste has a good brett character, some cooked squash flavors, must be the yams. Taste is decent, not as strange as the aroma. Palate is pretty dry and carbonation is good. Okay.

Bottle thanks to a generous trader. Pours a hazy deep amber with a light brown head that dissipates completely. Aroma has a tart note up front with a bit of backing light funk, maple and a hint of earthy veggie. Flavor begins with light spice and yam that transitions in to a tart fruit and light funk.

Throw out everything you know about Autumn Maple if you’ve had it before. If you’ve seen my review of the original beer you’ll notice I called it Thanksgiving in liquid form. All the ingredients on the bottle came out. Stuff like yams, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. In this beer it’s like they totally rethought the recipe. There are traces of the old Autumn Maple sitting in the background but they are small. Instead it’s more of a sour beer and damn I loved it.

Bottle thanks to my brother. Pours amber/brown with thin tan head. Aroma is funky, light tart with an alcohol spiciness. Flavor is unique, nice light tartness, faint hints of maple, funky, dont know what yams taste like so can’t comment on that.....also has a hint of astringency. Light-medium body woth fizzy carbonation. Overall, not bad.

Bottle thanks to thome50. Poured deep amber with a fading white head. Aroma was caramel, spice, nutmeg, and funky. Flavor was was much the same with a super dry body and low carbonation.

750ml bottle into a tulip glass. A - Dark reddish brown, fairly cloudy body. Almost no head forms, just some large dirty off white bubbles around the edge. Some decent legs and lacing S - Its amazing what brett does to a beer. Smells like an oddly spiced thanksgiving gueze. Bright funky tones and vinegar, followed by some fall spices and earthy yam aromas and finally a bit of alcohol. The funk is very dominating. T - Tart. Funky horse blanket and some notes that are borderline citrus, but not in the fruity sense. This is accompanied by earthy yams, caramel, and some nutmeg. A bit of oak as well, but no bourbon notes. Very interesting and unique. Mouth feel is a bit thin, but carbonation is moderate and decent for the flavors. O - This is a much different beast than the regular autumn maple. The funk is on full display here, where as the yams and fall spices are faint and in the background. I think I liked this beer, it was just so....weird.