brewing company
A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of beer ...
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, founded by Patrick Rue and named as a fusion between his family name and the word "brewery". It opened in 2008 and has produced an average of 2,500 barrels of beer annually in their 15-barrel brewhouse.
In May 2017, the brewery announced they were selling a majority stake to Boston, Massachusetts-based private-equity firm Castanea Partners.
Products
The Bruery's products are considered to be experimental ales brewed in the Belgian tradition. Using a proprietary Belgian yeast strain for the majority of their beer, The Bruery creates beers through their use of unique ingredients such as
lavender
''Lavandula'' (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is native to the Old World and is found in Cape Verde and the Canary Islands, and from Europe across to northern and easte ...
in their "Orchard White" or bacteria such as
Pediococcus
''Pediococcus'' is a genus of gram-positive lactic acid bacteria, placed within the family of Lactobacillaceae. They usually occur in pairs or tetrads, and divide along two planes of symmetry, as do the other lactic acid cocci genera '' Aerococc ...
and
Lactobacillus
''Lactobacillus'' is a genus of Gram-positive, aerotolerant anaerobes or microaerophilic, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacteria. Until 2020, the genus ''Lactobacillus'' comprised over 260 phylogenetically, ecologically, and metabolically diver ...
along with
Pinot noir
Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...
grapes in their "Pinotlambicus". The Bruery is also known for their use of oak barrels (both
bourbon Bourbon may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash
* Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels
* Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit
* A beer produced by Bras ...
and wine) for the fermentation and aging of their beers. They have also become known for their strong bourbon aged ales that can range between 13% and 19.5%
alcohol by volume
Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...
(typical beers have around 3% to 7% alcohol by volume).
One beer is a bourbon barrel aged imperial
stout
Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a number of variations, including dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout.
The first known use of the word ''stout'' for beer, in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscript ...
known as "Black Tuesday". This beer is released only once each year on the final Tuesday of October and is named for both the economic downturn of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
as well as the disastrous day at the brewery when it was first brewed. Several batches are brewed and aged in oak barrels to later be blended to taste and bottled for release. It was first released in October 2009 and was 19.5% abv. The October 2010 release was 18.2% abv. There are also several variants of Black Tuesday including Chocolate Rain, a version of the beer with cocoa nibs and vanilla beans added to it.
Special release collection
The Bruery releases a number of small batch beers throughout the year. Often, these beers are only made once and never again, and sometimes they are oak aged beers that are only released once a year. The collection includes many of their beers including Black Tuesday, Melange #3 and The Bruery Anniversary Ale Series. Their Oude Tart is also included in this collection and it won a gold medal in the Belgian Style Lambic or Sour Ale category at both the 2010 World Beer Cup and the 2010 Great American Beer Festival.
The Bruery Provisions
In September 2010 The Bruery opened a retail establishment in Old Towne Orange that specialized in beer, wine, cheese, charcuterie and other specialty foods. They sold bottles to go and also held onsite tastings. In 2013, The Bruery closed their Bruery Provisions store to focus on more exclusively on brewing and managing their many reserve societies. The store was reopened simply with the name "Provisions" and is operated by nearby restaurant Haven Gastropub.