I ran into Patrick Rue, the co-founder and CEO of The Bruery, while he was sweeping up some trash. I promptly gave him some crap for cleaning.He was in a jovial and excited mood and I said how much I love their beer and that I can’t wait to see where they go in the coming years. I mentioned that I had made some cookies with Old Richaland and he immediately said, “Oh! You made those cookies? Those were great” which tipped me over the giddy stalker-fan scale and seriously made my day. He is above all things: a really nice guy. I can say that about almost every person I have met who works for The Bruery.

The beer was also outstanding. They had a beer truck with a bunch of Bruery beers like Salt of the Earth and Iniquitous and Strand’s 24th Street Pale Ale (6.1% ABV 77 RB) which was nice and hoppy. It was my first taste and a good start. Sean had the Iniquitous (10%ABV) which was a more simple Belgian Strong Ale comparatively to other Bruery beers but again, a very nice start to the day.

Inside a large white tent was a bunch of guest breweries. On the list was: Ballast Point, Black Market Brewing, Cismontane, Coronado, Craftsman, Firestone, Hanger 24, Inland Empire, Kern River, Ladyface, Left Coast, Noble Ale Works, Packing House, SoCal Beer, Stone, Strand, Taps, and Tustin Brewing Company. One of the notable beers I tasted was the Dark Sybian IPA (6.5%ABV 77 RB) from Noble Ale Works. It was a nice hoppy IPA that was incredibly dark with some coffee notes. The IPA from Cismontane was so good, it made me feel like I got over my cold – temporarily. Sean had their Blacks Dawn (8%ABV) which had nice smokey flavors which reminds you of coffee, chocolate and had texture like a good Irish cream ale. Of course, I had to get the 2007 Stone Imperial Russian Stout (10.5%ABV 100 RB) which was nothing short of wonderful. In my notes I simply wrote: Great as per usual. Packing House‘s Black Magic IPA (7.4%ABV) was surprisingly hoppy which made Sean’s eyes grow wide. We are suckers for a good hoppy beer. It was very dark with little to no head at all. Mental Note: go and visit Packing House in Riverside…and drag local friends along.

Overall, I was happy with the event. I mentioned that I was happy to see the same tab bracelet system that Stone had at Oakquinox and I was then informed that they had a new event coordinator who used to work for Stone now working for The Bruery. Good for you guys! I love it when events are so well organized. My only gripe was when we got to the front of the VIP line they were out of Chocolate Rain…less than an hour after the event started. That was a bummer. On the plus side, I finally got to try Black Tuesday (19.5%ABV 100 RB) which was super sweet but complex and certainly didn’t taste very high in ABV but apparently it was! That explains all the fun and ridiculous photos at the end of the day…