Forget Guinness on St Patrick's Day–it's such a clichN. Instead, this year, knock back the beer in honor of St Veronus, patron saint of Belgian brewers (I'm not making this up).
This Saturday, March 14, from 2-6pm, the Bruery, a small independent brewery in Placentia, is laying on Belgian snacks (including waffles) along with its Belgian-style brews. It'll also be serving its new Melange No.3, a blend of three bourbon barrel-aged beers that's a whopping 15% abv.
We've not yet had a chance to visit for one of the tastings (which are held on Friday and Saturday afternoons), but we have sampled the brews offsite, as they're sold at BevMo! (among other stores) and are also on the menu at select OC restaurants.
Suffice to say, there's a reason the beers are garnering a large following. The inclusion of unusual ingredients such as lavender and chamomile means the finishes are complex, but they're still highly drinkable (that said, we recommend the Saison Rue for novices). There are also special releases throughout the year. All the beers are 100% bottle conditioned, unfiltered and unpasteurized.
The dedication behind the set-up is impressive, too. It's owned by the Rue family (hence the name), and has a regularly updated blog and Facebook page with hundreds of fans. The winners of its home-brew contest even get to see their recipe made onsite.
Let's hope they don't take the Belgian theme too far this Saturday: remember Plastic Bertrand?
