Style: Witbier
ABV: 5.70%
Sometimes I just scribble beer reviews onto scraps of napkins or jot notes down in my over-privileged leather bound journal. I had forgotten that I scribbled a review of The Bruery's Orchard White beer in my journal back in August, when I was having dinner at Mr. Dunderbak's one night. I didn't date the entry but it's located between the August 9th and August 17th entries.
The brew was on tap at Dunderbak's and I asked our bartender, Clayton, if he recommended it. He gave me a quick little description of the beer that apparently appealed to me. I was sold, and I ordered a pint.
Here are my notes:
"I ordered this beer because I liked that the tap was a piece of wood. No really, it just looks like a piece of drift wood.
When Clayton poured it, it looked like champagne. A beautiful light golden color with a coating of tiny bubbles strewn across the inside of the glass with a nice frothy top. And of course, it came in a goblet; my favorite."
When I sniffed it, I was actually a little disappointed, as it reminded me a little of a perfume, light and almost soapy.
And then I took the first sip, and any misgivings that I had were immediately put to rest. Somehow this beer manages to exhibit a plethora of unique spices yet still maintain the daintiest, lightest, most summery-fae feeling I might have ever had in a beer before. It tastes a bit like heaven, like maybe this is manna in liquid form reigning down from god above to the mortals here in Tampa. =) It tastes like sun, it tastes like the beach, it tastes like the Mediterranean. Like I should be having a fresh date or a roll of baklava with it. It tastes like a cornucopia.
Clayton told me that it was brewed with lemon peel, orange peel, lemongrass (nod, nod, okay yes... but what else?), and... lavender! Yes, this is the herb of the gods. Why wouldn't I have tasted that the first time around? It reminds me of my family, life, love, and death. There it is. Lavender. I can smell it now, before I even taste it. And it shows up sweetly in my aftertaste.
And... is that a clove? A mild clove - a clove cigarette - to give a sweet little buzz while coating the inside of my mouth.
This tastes like an entire garden of herbs in delicious, beery, alcoholic form. This is the beer of gods; it takes you above, it takes you home.
And it just keeps getting better as it reaches room temperature. The flavors reach my tongue more easily, the herbs present themselves more boldly, and it takes me to my zen more quickly."I have had this brew a couple more times since then. I love it just as much every time. It is easily the most bizarre witbier I have ever had. Very crisp and clear; I never see any sediment floating around. And the herbs that it is brewed with are so unique. I've never had lemongrass or lavender brewed directly into a beer. And the mouthfeel is so different than a normal wheat! I described that first pour off the tap as looking a bit like champagne, and honestly, it feels like a champagne, too. It is so bubbly.
This beer gets varying reviews online, some people really dislike it, a couple of people really dig it, and most people seem to give it a B or a C. I think it's lovely, and the reasons that I like it seem to be all the reasons why other people don't. But I've never claimed Beer Snobbery, only Beer Enthusiasm.
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