The Bruery - "Girl Grey" ale

I realized it's been a while since I reviewed something by The Bruery, those fine California alemakers that makes some pretty fantastic stuff. You may have seen their offerings in the store - big 750mL bottles with fancy labels. I reviewed a couple of their beers back in 2016 (including "9 Ladies Dancing", a tiramisu stout, and their fabulous "Or Xata") and of course I have often mentioned one of my favorites, the "Autumn Maple". They just opened up a new bottle shop in Union Market here in DC, and my D'Vines colleague Martin O. picked this up for me in trade for a can of Snitz Creek rauchbier.

This is called "Girl Grey", and is an ale made in collaboration with celebrity chef Brooke Williamson, of 'Top Chef' fame. This new release weighs in at 8.50% ABV, and is brewed with lactose, almond, with Earl Grey tea.

You'll see that this beer is made with lactose, which may seem weird. It's actually rather neat: as you may know, sugar is an important ingredient in beer. As yeast dissolves sugar, it produces carbon dioxide and alcohol. The sugars not consumed add body and flavor to the beer, and knowing this, brewers use different kinds of sugars to make different outcomes. For example, using brown sugar (or, in the case of Old Dominion Brewing Co.'s "Candi", candi sugar) adds a caramel flavor to the beer. The most common way you may see lactose in beer is in the popular style of milk stout; milk is not actually used, but milk sugar is - lactose.

So, here we go. 1pt 9.4 floz - a wine bottle's worth.

Pours golden and clear, whit TONS of bubbles. I mean, zillions of tiny little bubbles coming up. It generates a wonderful aroma, one of the nicest I've ever had the pleasure of smelling in beer. Floral, milky, and aromatic. The bubbles settle to a thin, white disk.

OK, whoa, this is really remarkable. Very interestingly, the beer presents the flavors in three distinct "stages":

First off, we have that Belgian yeastiness that we come to know and love. There's some background malt flavors, a little bit of sweetness, and definitely some Belgian spice. A nice background to what's coming next.

This flavor subsequently gives way, very distinctly, to the almond. Not sweet like almond extract, but a pleasant nutty flavor that reminds me of ground almonds. The boozy quality almost makes it like an amaretto.

Finally, the bergamot, which rounds out the beer. Kinda tastes like someone dunked a Lipton Earl Grey teabag into the beer. It's not particularly deep or strong, kinda like a glass of tea with too much water.

The aftertaste isn't terribly strong, but to be expected with the softness of flavors...which was much more understated than I was anticipating, actually. In this way similar to "Or Xata" in terms of texture and flavor presentation. Soft and delicate, the flavors do make a "laddered" appearance (instead of all at once) and the lactose delivers that overall creaminess that really ties this beer together.

Overall, very well done. The texture is super creamy and smooth, the flavors are nuanced and enjoyable, and noticeable! It's really hard to get flavors to show themselves so distinctly. Although it's not something I'd drink with food, it would make a fine dessert beer - or simply something to enjoy and savor all on its own.