Bruery, Ye Olde Ship, Hi-Time Wine Cellar

Spencer and I took a trip over into Orange County for a little Bruery visit today. They still had some of their special beers on draft which I had been looking forward to. We started off with tasters of Cuvee Jeune, White Zin, and Melange #3. The Cuvee Jeune was sour and funky. It was crazy funky. Just how we like it. The White Zin was pretty sweet, wine-like... hard to get a feel for in a small sample. The Melange #3, a 15% ABV blend of 3 different bourbon barrel aged beers was freakin potent. It stings the nostrils. I liked it but am not sure how much I could ever drink of it. Spencer ordered up a full glass of the Melange afterward, while I ordered a glass of Saison de Lente. That saison has some crazy yeast flavors going on. There's also some interesting and strange flavor going on in it which I couldn't put my finger on. Either way it was very good, light and spicy.

For food we headed to The Olde Ship in downtown Fullerton right after to get some fish and chips. I've only been there once and it was 4 years ago but yes, it is still the best fish and chips I've ever had. And they are still amazing. We had pints of Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA as well and lets just say I won't be ordering anymore English IPA's unless I'm in England. Not like I didn't know I would be disappointed in the first place.

Then we trekked into Costa Mesa to grab some stuff at Hi-Time Wine Cellar. I swear I could spend hours just going up and down the liquor isles, into the walk in beer fridge, and down the isles of the wine cellar, even though I don't even really care about the wine. The place is just so cool. We hit the cigar department first (since it's right as you enter) and I picked up a Rocky Patel Winter Collection for $6.50. After that it was straight to the beer fridge and they had some great stuff in there. I picked up 22's of Firestone Union Jack (2/16 fresh!), Deschutes Hop Henge IPA, Green Flash Imperial IPA, Bison Gingerbread Ale (suppose I had to try this at some point), Telegraph Reserve Wheat (a berliner weisse I guess, can't wait to try that), a few Pliny the Elders (very fresh- 2/15!), a 12oz bottle of Sam Adams Imperial Stout, and a 12oz of Deschutes Buzzsaw Brown. Good haul I thought for only about $50. I would have picked up some Blind Pig but the freshest they had were 12/15/08, and the guy said he hadn't got any new cases in since then. Bummer- I'll have to hit up Whole Foods for some fresher stuff.

Looking forward to uncapping some of those great beers for the USC/MSU game tomorrow.