The Bruery Partridge in a Pear Tree

Brewed by The Bruery
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Placentia, California USA

750mL bottle from Bottle Barn. Clear garnet brown with a one finger beige yellow head. I’m disappointed--usually The Bruery has ten foot tall overcarbonated beers! An exaggeration, but whatever. The head slowly faded to a thick film and thicker ring. Aroma has lots of Belgian yeast, raisins, and figs, as well as plenty of blackstrap molasses, bananas and pears. Pretty sweet thus far. Flavor had some slightly unripe and tart pears with a pretty good amount of alcohol that kept me from being pissed at the sweetness of this beer, though I picked up on more caramel malts as well. That said, still pretty sweet. The finish is semi-dry and dusty with bitterness peaking around a 2. Low carbonation with a body slightly thin for its strength. overall, a pretty good beer, though I like Saison Rue the best.

75cl bottle courtesy of CaptainCougar. Dark amber with a modest head. The aroma has a lot of fruity, spicy yeast character. There’s some apple--or is that pear? Ah the power of suggestion. Some molasses and caramel malt sweetness with a great fruity yeast character. Full and creamy body. Maybe it’s just that this was the only belgian strong of the night that actually had the right yeast character, but this was a really nice one.

(750ml botte, thanks CaptainCougar) Small beige head topped by hazy copper body. Aroma is moderately sweet, apple/pear, some plum, light spice, alcohol. Taste is moderately sweet, apple/raisin, caramel, alcohol. Sticky full body, low carbonation.

On tap @ Live Wire. Really nice looking dark amber color. Smells like caramel and Pear. Smells awesome. Nice pear flavor, but it’s kind of hidden behind all the sugar and alcohol. Very very very sweet. Pretty good, but something I could drink in very very small doses.

Bottle. The body was cloudy dark amber at the edges with a sickly brown colored body. This was topped with a large khaki head. The smell was strong pineapple with some walnut. There was also a little bit of soap. The taste was pancakes with some walnuts. A little bit of mango. Strange with the tropical fruit, this was not fun too drink. Too sweet.

750 ml bottle thanks to padrefan. Dark pour with lots of fruit and spice aromas. Flavors of pear and apple and spice. Very very tasty. I love pear flavor and this beer had it.

Bottle… Dark amber/orange ale with a small, creamy, off-white head. Decent retention. The aroma is a sweet, fruity swirl of molasses, dark-dried fruits, Belgian spice and pear. Full-bodied and creamy with lively carbonation. Boatloads of residual sugar and dark fruits border on cloying without actually crossing that line. Definitely grew on me as it warmed. Mostly sweet, fruity finish.

Tap at Lucky Baldwins. Looks nice enough although disarmingly clear. Dark but clear. Tastes like a dark, thick, almost sour apple cider. Aroma of olives, tart apples. Flavor is not thick at all.