The Bruery - Bryeian Batch 1000

Hey guys! Been a while since I've posted and I've got a whole lot of nothing going on. No better time than now to review a new beer. I've had this one for a couple of weeks now and I just haven't had the time to crack it open and do it justice.

So tonight I'm drinking another beer from The Bruery out of Placentia, CA. This is their Bryeian which is their Batch 1000 beer that is a Cascadian Dark Rye Ale/Black Rye IPA. The Bruery held a contest for home brewers to brew a beer with the winner being selected as the beer they'd make as their Batch 1000. Looking forward to this one so let's get it cracked open and I'll let you know what I think of Bryeian!

The Bryeian pours out a pitch black with a slightly tan head. There's no light whatsoever visible through the beer. There's about a 2 to 2 1/2 finger of that tan head with a somewhat decent retention time. It's leaving behind a pretty nice soapy, foamy lacing and hasn't fully dissipated back into the beer. This looks like a pretty standard black IPA. In other words, it looks pretty damn good. Let's get the nose.

First thing I get is a nice pine presence. There's a lot of hop bitterness as well. There's a slight bit of roast character trailing behind the pine and bitterness. The rye isn't as strong as I was expecting but it's there lending itself to some spice notes which in turn is helping to bring forth some subtle grapefruit citrus. As it warms ever so slightly I'm maybe picking up some caramel sweetness. This is a pretty decent smelling beer. Nothing too crazy though. Let's see how it tastes.

There's a nice little pop of bitterness that is immediately kicked out of the way by that rye spice. Middle of the palate there's a sweetness, slightly caramel, slightly creamy. Sides of the palate is where the bitter grapefruit and pine really sticks out. It really does a number on the palate. Back end of this beer there's a bit of bitterness, slightly drying beer but not too intense. Back end you get a bit of that roast character as well as maybe a slight bit of tobacco or espresso even. It's a pretty decent tasting, if not, safe beer.

So overall, I think this beer is OK. As I mentioned, it's a pretty safe beer with nothing really standing out over anything else. I was expecting a little bit more from The Bruery with this one but considering they don't make an Black IPA or even a regular IPA, I guess I shouldn't have expected a hop bomb. It's super easy to drink and for 7% ABV it's a genuinely easy drinking IPA. I think I paid about $8 for this one and honestly, for the size and price, it's not bad. If you're looking for a strong Black IPA, you'll want to skip this. If you're looking for something that's easy to drink and enjoyable, give this one a shot.

Rating: B