The Bruery Provisions

Partridge In A Pear Tree - Winners

2011-12-24T13:00:00.000-08:00

If your name is listed below, you can come purchase a bottle of Partridge in a Pear Tree before the end of our business day at 6pm.

Merry Christmas!

Aaron Renfro
Amit Cheena
Andy Dispun
Armenica Costea
Arturo Salcedo
Brian T. Schmaltz
Chad Gallagher
Chris Whitemill
Christopher Caceres
Craig Bayer
Dan Gruia
Daniel A. Tieman
Darla Thompson
David Brooks
David L. Crecelius
Deirdre E. Mann
Denise Bates
Desiree Bonner
Donald P. Bray
Edward J. Filart
Eileen Perales
Elizabeth Lee
Elizabeth Willis
Frank E. Messing
Greggson Young
Jacqueline Chen
James M. Bray
Jason Samarin
Jaun L. Jr
Javier Jauregui
Jennifer L. Goodman
Jenniffer Yu
Jeremy M. Dille
Jessica R. Bray
Joeseph C. Romero
Jorge E. Mir, III
Joseph D. Pfieffer
Joshua Yoshimoto
Julig L. Erralt
Larry J. Hack
Laura S. Shield
Lydia Chain
Maria Agudo
Mathew Ewig
Michael testa
Michael Troughton
Michelle Kinsman
Mike Chaplo
Nicholas Jaquay
Nicholas O. Frey
Nicole Grepo
Robert Greene
Robert J. Perales
Robert Stevens
Robert W. Trehane
Robin Greene
Rodney Cox
Ryan Joly
Ryan Mauban
Ryan P. Lynch
Scott Bennett
Stephen Ciaori
Sun Ae Pae
Thomas Hall
Tristan Faber
Vahe Issai
Vanessa L. Pfieffer
Vicken Aboyan
Vince Delperdang
William T. Lewis
Willian C. Hankins

The First Day of Christmas

2011-12-21T16:43:00.000-08:00

For everyone looking forward to the final day of our 12 Days of Christmas countdown, we'll ruin the surprise for you today. Saturday morning we will be selling 6 cases of Partridge in a Pear Tree, our first in the line of Christmas beers.

Here's the catch. It will be a random drawing for those who want to purchase this beer. Beginning tomorrow, during regular business hours at The Bruery Provisions (and only at The Bruery Provisions, not online) you can sign up for the drawing. The sign up for the drawing will end at 12pm Saturday and the drawing will occur at 1pm that day. A list of winners will be posted on facebook, twitter, at Provisions and possibly through email. The winners have until closing (6pm) on Saturday to purchase their bottle.

Here's the other catch. Each bottle will be $100 and will be 100% donated to the Lestonnac Free Clinic, a medical clinic located in Old Towne Orange that provides care for the poorest of the poor.

Both to sign up for the drawing and to redeem a winning bottle, you must have your own valid ID with you. No trustees, family members or otherwise. You may only enter once.

If you have questions, post them on facebook and we'll do our best to answer them all. Hopefully this will result in a fair chance for all involved and relieve you from lining up at 5am on Christmas Eve, plus we'll be raising over $7,000 for charity!

Beer 101 - American Innovation

2011-07-06T10:36:00.000-07:00

Wine & Cheese - The Basics

2011-05-31T08:20:00.000-07:00

It's time for yet another great class here at Provisions and this time we're taking a little break from our obsession with beer to feature some classic wine and cheese pairings! We'll be teaching you about basic cheese styles and basic wine styles and how these great things can harmonize with eachother!

Check out the flyer and give us a call at (714) 997-2337 or stop in one day to make a reservation!

Cheese & Beer Class!

2011-04-19T14:09:00.001-07:00

Hey all!

Thanks so much for your excitement about our Cheese 101 class that is taking place this week. We ended up selling that class out in just 4 days and Kendra is really excited to teach those lucky individuals about all things CHEESE!

We're starting signups for our Beer & Cheese pairings class that is taking place in May, but you better give us a call or come in soon to sign up because we've already got a few people who were sad about missing out on Cheese 101 signed up for this class. So space is very limited!

Cheese!

2011-04-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

Hello Cheese Lovers!

It has been a lot of fun over here at Provisions seeing all of our beer customers getting more interested in cheese and vise versa. The gain in interest had made it easier for me to have a bigger selection so THANK YOU! I now have posted on www.TheBrueryProvisions.com under the Cheese tab a list of not only the new cheeses, but every cheese on the shelf! Remember, if you have a cheese you're interested in getting onto your table, feel free to give me a call and I can see about a special order as well as proper beer and wine pairings!

Also, some things to be looking forward to are.... CHEESE CLASSES! We are going to be offering some really fun and informative classes here at Provisions very soon, hosted by yours truly, with some possible special guests! We will have the specifics for you very soon. Look for BEER AND WINE CLASSES too! Oh geez, exciting stuff!

We are going to be getting a great selection of Belgian foods coming into Provisions! This is going to be goodies you wont find anywhere else (other than Belgium I guess, hehe), and it is going to be tasty. That stuff will be out on the shelves very soon. Im really excited about that.

Our baker, Grampy Pat, is still winning our hearts over with his delicious daily baked bread. He has just started to bake us some fresh pretzels for the weekends. Those are available Friday and Saturday, and they come with two types of selected mustards for $2.50! Make sure you try it at least once, we want you to get hooked like we are.

As always, keep an eye out for our “Wedge of Info” Cheese Board on top of our cheese case to see the real exciting new cheeses that have just arrived. Don't forget about the last cheese post on Feb 18th called Pairing Cheese with Bruery Beer, this will help you with simple pairings for our beers as well as some basic tips for your own cheese and beer pairings.

I look forward to seeing you on the other side of the counter!

Fondly,

Kendra, Bruery Cheesemonger

Cheese 101 - Recognize the Rind

2011-03-31T14:58:00.000-07:00

Hello to all the Provisions foodies out there! On April 20th we're holding the first of what will become monthly classes led by Kendra, The Bruery Cheesemonger, to teach you some of the basics about cheese, how it's made, what it pairs with and basically just all things CHEESE!

To sign up, come into the shop or give us a call at (714) 997-2337

Here's the info for the first in the series of classes:

Cheese 101 – Recognize the Rind

Kendra, Bruery Cheesemonger at The Bruery Provisions

$30

April 20^th 2011

8pm-9:30pm

Cheese 101 - Recognize the rind is a class for people who want to learn more about the wonderful world of cheese! Sit and relax and enjoy a plate of some of the world’s most renowned cheeses, all while learning about types of milk, styles of cheese, cheese-making, and cheese-pairing fundamentals. Also includes chosen cheese accompaniments and print out tasting notes to take home. Flex your cheese know-how next time your behind our cheese counter or planning an event!

90 min Curriculum

Six cheeses w/chosen accompaniments and water.

Cheeses include: Picandou Frais, Delice de Cremier, Reblochon, Landaff Cheddar, Krummenschwiler Swiss, and Colston Bassett Stilton

Styles of Cheese – Soft, Semi-Soft, Semi-Hard, Hard, Blue, others

Types of Cheese- Goat, Sheep, Cow, other

Cheesemaking- Conditions, Seasons, Rennet, Process

Raw vs. Pasteurized

How to choose and buy cheese

Cheese pairing fundamentals

Caring for cheese – Wrapping, Cross contamination, Temp

Print out of Cheese Lingo to take home and Print out of tasting notes

Imperial White Orchid

2011-02-28T14:38:00.000-08:00

We've got some sad news for you all today...

During this afternoon's sensory analysis meeting it was decided that Imperial White Orchid is not quite fully carbonated so we have decided to hold off on the bottle release for another week. There are some big pluses and just a few minuses to bottle conditioning beer, but slow carbonation is one of the hardest factors to deal with and today it unfortunately didn't work out as we planned.

In what's still great news...we will still be pouring the previous 5 Provisions beers in a special flight tomorrow evening and Tyler will be around to answer your questions. And in even better news...we'll be putting bottles of the past beers back on the shelves as well!

So, we're sorry about the delay on Imperial White Orchid, but we hope you're still excited about everything else happening tomorrow!

Provisions Tasting and Imperial White Orchid Release!

2011-02-25T10:19:00.001-08:00

TONIGHT!

2011-02-22T10:02:00.001-08:00

Pairing Cheese With Bruery Beer!

2011-02-18T08:46:00.000-08:00

As opposed to the common thought of cheese and wine pairing best, our goal is to express why, on the contrary, cheese and beer compliment each other much better and to give you suggestions on which cheeses pair best with our Bruery beers.

Cheese and Beer heritage is equally as old and even more close: both were historically made on the farm by the housewife, and both are linked to the grain - although for cheese it is linked via grazing animal – which gives both of these artisan crafts their special character. Not only do beer and cheese have similar history and required ingredients, but most cheeses actually have flavors that pair better with beer. By its structural nature, cheeses are more harmonious with beer than with wine: the nut and caramel aromas found in aged cheeses are also present in malty beers like brown ales, stouts and porters. Beer is also much less acidic which makes a pairing with creamy cheese more harmonious.

The Belgian people have been enjoying their cheese with beer, not wine, since the Middle Ages and before, and unlike wine, beer is neither intimidating nor expensive. In other words, you can pretty much afford to buy one bottle of everything and experiment to find out which matches work best for you.

In general, lighter beers like our Orchard White and Hottenroth Berliner Weisse complement mild cheeses; but the reverse is not necessarily true: intense Black Tuesday paired with a super rich cheese is just too much of a good thing. It’s better to seek moderation, e.g. a more mellow beer with a big, complex cheese. Although that doesn't mean you have to chose a cheese without flavor. Overall there are no hard-and-fast rules: the only rule is what you like. But here are some guidelines for you beer and cheese lovers:

Young, fresh cheeses (Chevre, Mozzarella) go best with lighter beers

Sharp cheeses (Cheddar, Colby) go best with highly hopped, bitter beers

Aged, nutty cheeses (Asiago, Gruyere) demand malty beers

Blue cheeses (Roquefort, Stilton), which go well with sweet wines, also require sweet beers

But it can’t be summed up in four bullet points, which is why we’ve provided an extensive chart of more specific pairings for our beers that are often found on the shelves.

Orchard White – Zesty Wit! Fresh cheeses like Burrata, Chevre, Creszenza, Mozzarella, Teleme. Something that has little to no salt and has a moist milky flavor. Our Orchard White also has a lot of Lavender character so drizzling some plain or lavender honey makes for a nice extra sweet kick.

Saison Rue – This isn't your typical saison. Saison Rue had a more malty, spicy kick, with a little more heat. You can either pull the earthy qualities from the beer with an aged gruyere or soft taleggio, or you can pull the more sweet character with a parmigiano or gouda. There are a lot of styles that will pair well with this beer so don't be afraid to experiment!

Mischief – Belgian strong ale with hops! Try Cheddar and English style farmstead cheeses or Washed rind “stinky cheeses.” Its the wash in a brine of salt, liquor or beer that give the washed rind cheese its ultimate flavor. Also feel free to pair with a tart cheese like Sheeps milk Manchego, which will play of the citrus quality in the hops.

Rugbrød - Robust brown ale! This style ale gives way to many different types of cheeses but it pairs particularly well with Gouda, Gruyere, Nutty sheeps milk, Swiss style mountain cheeses like emmetal or comte. You want to bring out those nutty and earthy characters.

Hottenroth Berliner Weisse – Sour and tart! Our temptation is to pair with a fresh or aged goats milk cheese or a fresh cows milk cheese or brie but I wouldn't hesitate to try a light cheddar as well.

Loakal Red – Oak aged American Red ale with a good hoppy body! Pair this style with a nice nutty aged sheep's milk cheese or an aged cows like parmigiano or Pecorino. The aged cheeses will work to bring out that oak.

Humulus Series – Series based on Hops! There are a lot of different ideas of what pairs best with a hoppy beer. Overall what we have tasted is either a nice sharp or tangy cheddar that brings out the citrus or a blue cheese that is salty-sweet where the hops can come through fresh and enlightened.

Saison de Lente - Saisons are earthy and relatively light, and a delicate touch is required to match them with cheese. Their farmhouse character calls out for cheese with a certain level of funkiness. I find Saison matches well with musty, earthy leaf-wrapped cheeses and washed-rind cheeses on the firmer side.

Black Tuesday – Imperial Stout aged in Bourbon barrels! This is a very special beer for us and pairing it with a cheese that will fit perfectly can be intimidating so I would suggest to try not to over power but get something that can live up to it. Aged crumbly or blue veined. Feta, Stilton, Gorgonzola, aged cheddar!

Italian Wine Flight

2011-02-07T08:33:00.001-08:00

new beers

2011-02-04T11:01:00.001-08:00

We've got limited supplies of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, Cantillon Grand Cru and Cantillon Fou'Foune

Cuádruple

2011-02-01T13:59:00.000-08:00

Today we're releasing our newest Provisions Series beer, Cuádruple! It's a Belgian-style quadruple brewed with dark agave nectar. Come on by to grab a bottle!

Valentine's Day!

2011-01-31T12:46:00.001-08:00

Christmas in February!

2011-01-31T12:41:00.000-08:00

HOPS!

2011-01-27T13:34:00.000-08:00

We've got Sierra Nevada's Hoptimum as well as Firestone's Double Jack and Ballast Point's Sculpin on shelves right now. It's a hop party!

Sorry, but we've got a 1 bottle limit on the Hoptimum due to it's popularity and rarity. Trying to spread the love.

New Cheeseboard!

2011-01-25T15:14:00.001-08:00

New Beers

2011-01-19T16:47:00.001-08:00

We're very excited this week as we got our first order from Upright Brewing in stock. Upright Brewing is one of the breweries that our parent company, The Bruery, is often compared to. From Portland, Oregon, Upright strives to make interesting and delicious Belgian and French Style ales with slight Northwest US twists.

They describe themselves as such:

"Upright Brewing specializes in farmhouse inspired beers rooted in France and Belgium but made with local ingredients and a Pacific Northwest twist. The name is a reference to Charles Mingus and his primary instrument. Mingus was a musician whose compositions defy categorization. At Upright we use a special saison yeast and open fermenters to produce beers that are a true hybrid style, sharing Mingus’ spirit of exercising creativity and craft."

Come on in to try their Four, Five, Six or Seven.

On top of that exciting news, we've also got the following new bottles in stock:

Fantome Hiver
Xbeeriment #44 (Smoked Stout)
De Molen Bommen & Granaten (English Barleywine)
De Molen Hel & Verdoemenis (Russian Imperial Stout)
De Molen Engels (English Bitter)
Dieu de Ciel! Aphrodite (Cocoa Stout)
Dieu de Ciel! Peche Mortel (Coffee Stout)

New Cheeses!

2011-01-10T08:40:00.000-08:00

Hello Present and Future Cheese Lovers!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! I know we are
really excited here at Provisions for this New Year and are hoping
some of you beer geeks will also start geeking out on our wonderful
cheeses! We’re starting off with a bang and brought in some really
amazing fromage that you need to come in and try. I’ll give you a
little description of them here in a second, but first I wanted to let
you in on some plans we have for the cheese counter. We have decided
to make it easier for you Present and Future Cheese Lovers by placing
a chalk board on top of the cheese cooler that will highlight some new
products we have in, as well as special new plates on the menu. If
you’re in a hurry, make sure to look to the chalk board to help give
you suggestions! We will also put out some signs in the cooler that
will let you know which cheeses our employees love best! Also coming
up very soon on The Bruery Provisions website will be a summary of
which type of cheeses pair best with our Bruery beers, so if you’re
planning ahead then use that to help you find out what you’ll need! I
hope this is a good start to help you all join us and get more
involved in the beer-and-cheese-pairing uprising. Hope to see you on
the other side of the counter!

Fondly,

Kendra, Bruery Cheesemonger

Charmoix: Super excited about this one! Le Charmoix is a plump
washed-rind cow's milk cheese. It is made using spring milk. When
young, the cheese has a savory aroma with a clean, milky flavor with
hints of nuts. We have the young version! This is that cheese that
when I watch people try it their eyes roll back in their head as they
moan with delight. Sounds good right?

Tomme de Crayeuse: Ohh Tomme Crayeuse you never stop amazing me. When
people come in they ask what my favorite cheese is and I cant really
ever answer this question unless this cheese is in stock. A heavenly
gift to cheese, Tomme Crayeuse, is complex: lactic, mushroomy, and
earthy blending into an elevated essence of buttered toast. The
stunning yellow-mottling on the rind develops naturally as a result of
cellulose in the cows' diet.

Huntsman: If you like sharp cheddar and sweet blue cheese you will bow
to the likes of this one. Huntsman is a combination of the English
cheeses, Stilton and double Gloucester. The two types of cheese are
combined in alternating layers. It is hand layered and is a very labor
intensive process.

Cotswold: Cotswold is a variation of double glouster to which chopped
onions and chives have been added. This is a full-flavored, creamy,
mild cheese, similar to cheddar. The onions and chives give a
distinctive, flavorful enrichment. Imagine a super fancy version of
sour cream chive dip!

Eclipse 50/50

2010-12-16T10:49:00.000-08:00

We've got all sorts of Eclipse 50/50 in this morning, but doubtful it will last horribly long. The prices range from $24 to $35 and there is a single bottle limit on them.

We've got Elijah Craig '09, Heaven Hill '09 & '10, Evan Williams '10 and Four Roses '10

We also got in a case of Midnight Sun Berserker. Also a one bottle limit on this beauty.

Cheers!

Style Tasting - Porters

2010-12-14T08:20:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, December 14th

4pm - 8pm

Come on in to learn a little bit about PORTERS!

We'll be tasting:

Alaskan Brewing's Smoked Porter

Bootlegger Brewing's Mint Chocolate Porter

Midnight Sun Brewing's Treat Pumpkin Porter

Maui Brewing's Coconut Porter

The Bruery's Provisions Series - The Workman's Friend Imperial Porter

Plus we'll be pairing them with cupcakes from our neighbor, The Perfect Circle Cupcakery!

Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

Spice Cake Cupcakes

Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes

Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

Some new ones...

2010-12-08T15:57:00.001-08:00

We got Rogue Yellow Snow and Sierra Nevada's 30th Anniversary Grand Cru in today!

We also have Midnight Sun's Cohoho, an IPA brewed with brown sugar and juniper berries, featured on our Fruit & Spice flight.

Oh ya, and a number of brews by Stillwater Artisan Ales, Liefman's, Brouwerij De Dochter Van De Korenaar, Brouwerij Contreras Valeir and several other beers that are hard to pronounce even when sober.

Bruery Art

2010-12-01T14:02:00.000-08:00

How cool are these water color prints of Bruery beers all dissected into their ingredients?!

A new found friend of The Bruery's, Alyson Thomas of www.drywellart.com, was originally inspired to break down our beers when she tasted our Melange No Sechs back in February at a San Francisco beer week event and once we saw it, we tracked her down and after consuming a few of our other beers, she was swayed to make more artwork for us!

Starting tomorrow, you can come on down to the store to pick up a 4pack of 5x7 prints that features our seasonal beers and we'll also have some single 5x7's of our 12 Days of Christmas series as well as some 8x10's of those. And if the demand is there, we'll get Alyson to make us even more paintings of even more beers!

Hello Cheese Lovers!

2010-11-29T08:32:00.000-08:00

Just dropping by to give you the low-down on all the wonderful new
beauties we are carrying at Provisions right now. I know Thanksgiving
just passed but you still have a lot of scrumptious plans for
Christmas and New Years, so I wanted to personally invite you over to
the cheese counter to talk to you about all those delicious cheeses
you'll be putting on your cheese platters for your friends and family.
Take a look around the store and grab some unique brews then let us
woo you with some pairing suggestions as well as some samplings of
cheeses you have in mind. Don't forget about the mouth watering olives
and the salty savory meats that we will slice up for you as well!

Hope to see you soon!

-Kendra, Bruery Cheesemonger

Drake's Family Farms, Artisan Farmstead Goat Cheese - This is creamery
located in Salt Lake County, Utah who produces cheeses that a free
from antibiotics, hormones, and any artificial flavor or colorings.
Luckily they recently opened a new location in Orange County, so now
we can enjoy these cheeses nice and fresh! We have spreads that are
perfect for bagels or creams, with flavors like Garlic and Herb, Herb
de Provance, and a personal favorite Apricot Honey. Come support this
humane, environment friendly creamery!

SUPER SPECIAL!! Rogue River Blue - These wheels are aged for up to a
year in special rooms which simulate ancient caves in Roquefort,
France. This aging process imparts into the cheese naturally occurring
molds that are considered to be the signature Rogue River Valley
Terroir. The flavors include hints of sweet woodsy pine, wild ripened
berries, hazelnuts, morels and pears. To preserve this cheese they
hand wrap each wheel in grape leaves that have been macerated in Clear
Creek’s Pear Brandy. The grape leaves add additional complexity to the
terroir driven flavors of the cheese and preserve its moist creamy
texture.

Miti Crema - From the Murcia region of Spain, this is pleasantly
creamy and tastes fantastic - with all the soft texture of a whipped
cream cheese but with wonderful fresh sheep's milk cheese that has a
hint of tang. Dollop this onto some fig or use it as a topping for a
breakfast scone. Its delicious and will go soon so stop by and grab
one!

Abbaye de Bellocq - Elegant, sweet, firm-but-creamy sheep's milk
'tomme de brebis" from the majestic Basque Country high in the French
Pyrenees. Need I say more?

Hudson Valley Camembert - The Old Chatham Shepherding Company's Hudson
Valley Camembert is a creamy, soft-ripened square made from the milk
of Old Chatham's herd of East Fresian sheep combined with hormone-free
cow's milk from a neighbor's farm. Meltingly smooth and buttery with
the texture of a triple-crème, this award-winning cheese pairs
beautifully with Champagne as well as Chardonnay, Riesling, and
Sauvignon Blanc.

Westfield Farm, Classic Blue - This unique, 4.5 oz, slightly aged goat
cheese log is one of a very few external blue chevres made in the
world. Served in a number of America's finest restaurants, the Classic
Blue is often seen as the focal point of a fine cheese board or as as
a medalion placed atop a filet or vegetable dish. The Roquefort rind
is a striking color that develops on the surface and slowly ripens
toward the center.

New Beers

2010-11-24T08:48:00.000-08:00

We just got in two cases of Stone Lucky Bastard, a blend of Oaked Arrogant Bastard, Arrogant Bastard, and Double Arrogant Bastard.

We've also got:

Aecht Oak Smoke

Midnight Sun Monk's Mistress

Allagash Interlude

Drakes Jolly Roger

Avery IPA and Ellie's Brown (Cans)

Ballast Point Sculpin

Plus we're now featuring a Christmas beer flight with Affligem Nöel, St. Bernardus Christmas, Anchor Christmas 2010, Great Divide's Hibernation and Gouden Carolus Noel.

Haven & Provisions Beer Dinner TONIGHT!

2010-11-16T10:32:00.000-08:00

Haven Gastropub + The Bruery Provisions Team Up For Beer Dinner
Two Hot Spots in Old Towne Orange Host Joint Beer Dinner | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2010

Orange, CA (NOVEMBER 2010) – Both known for showcasing the finest in craft beer, Haven Gastropub and The Bruery Provisions, located in Old Towne Orange, have teamed up for a truly unique five-course beer dinner on Tuesday, November 16. Guests have the option of beginning their experience between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. at The Bruery Provisions (143 N. Glassell Avenue), a specialty market and tasting room where they will enjoy fine cheese and beer pairings. The dinner will continue with four courses at Haven Gastropub, where Managing Partner/Beverage Director, Wil Dee, will present four of The Bruery's craft beers alongside a menu by Chef Greg Daniels.

This dinner is priced at $75 per guest (excluding tax & gratuity) and reservations are required, as space is limited. The reservation times will be offered from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. only.
Guests may call (714) 221-0680 for more details or to make reservations.

HAVEN GASTROPUB + THE BRUERY PROVISIONS DINNER MENU

Beer & Cheese Appetizer course at The Bruery Provisions

Gunga Galunga w/ Cana De Oveja
Premiére w/ Mimolette 6 Months
Pinolambicus w/ Ubriaco Del Piave
Barrel Fermented Autumn Maple w/ Blue De Bufala
Workman's Friend Imperial Porter w/ Barely Buzzed

Dinner Courses at Haven

1st Course

Honeycrisp Apple Salad
Seven Grain Saison

2nd Course

BBQ Braised Kurobuta Short Ribs, Cheddar Cheese Grits, Cole Slaw
Loakal Red

3rd Course

Cassoulet
Saison Rue

4th Course

Beer Brownie, Bacon Ice Cream, Candied Pecans
Rugbrod

For more information on this beer dinner or to make reservations, please call (714) 221-0680. Haven Gastropub’s food and beer/wine menus can be found online at http://www.havengastropub.com.

An Interview with Stef

2010-11-15T10:01:00.000-08:00

Our good friend Claire stopped by the store just recently to check out the happenings and get some info from Stef on what exactly we are doing with this new retail shop. Check out the video below and visit Claire's website www.thekitchykitchen.com for a huge array of incredible recipes for both food and cocktails (and even a lesson on homebrewing!)

New Beers + Brewery of the Month!

2010-11-04T14:50:00.000-07:00

November marks our first real Brewery of the Month since last month we sort of copped out and claimed that we were our own Brewery of the Month, but really, we're kind of the brewery of every month...

We are featuring San Diego's own Ballast Point Brewing for November and as our featured brewery, we have a dedicated flight just for them! We're serving up, for just $6, a tasting of Yellow Tail Pale Ale, Sculpin IPA, Ginger Big Eye IPA, Dorado Double IPA and Barrel Aged Victory At Sea. We've also got some of their fantastic beers to take home in bottles and even have some shirts and glasses!

On top of Ballast Point, we also have a whole bunch of new bottles in, including:

Stone Brewing - 2010 Double Bastard Ale
Stone Brewing - Vertical Epic 10.10.10
Nectar Ales - Black XanthusDogfish Head - Pangea
Dogish Head - Chicory Stout
Dogfish Head - Burton Baton
Revelation Cat American Oak
Anchor Steam - Christmas Beer 2010 in both 6 packs and Magnums
Lagunitas - Brown Shugga
Firestone Walker - Velvet Merlin
Haandryggeriet - Barrel Aged Porter
The Bruery's Loakal Red

New Cheeses!

2010-11-01T11:10:00.001-07:00

We finally got in our Cowgirl Creamery Cheeses!

Mt. Tam: North of the San Fran Bay, Mt. Tamalpais rises like a
monument to Northern CA natural beauty. In deference, Cowgirl Creamery
named its signature cheese Mt Tam. It's a smooth, creamy, elegant,
triple-cream - made with tasty organic milk. Mt Tam is firm, yet
buttery with a mellow, earthy flavor reminiscent of white mushrooms.

Red Hawk: Red Hawk, a triple-cream, washed-rind, fully-flavored cheese
made from organic cow milk. Aged four weeks and washed with a brine
solution that tints the rind a sunset red-orange. Its an award winning
stinky beauty.

Pierce Pt.: PIERCE PT is washed in a muscato wine and rolled in dried
herbs from the Tomales Bay coastal region. The result is a delicious
cheese, semi-firm yet creamy, complex yet never overpowering.

Also another fun addition to our case is a cheese called Barely Buzzed
which comes to us from Beehive Cheese Co, UT. This is a full bodied
cheese with a nutty flavor and smooth texture. The cheese is hand
rubbed with a Turkish grind of Colorado Legacy Coffee Company's (The
Cheesemakers brother) "Beehive Blend". The blend consists of a mix of
South American, Central American, and Indonesian beans roasted to
different styles. French Superior Lavendar buds are ground with the
coffee and the mixture is diluted with oil to suspend the dry
ingredients in the rub. The rub imparts notes of butterscotch and
caramel which are prevalent near the rind, but find their way to the
center of the cheese. Awards - 1st Place, Flavored Cheddar American
Cheese Society Annual Competition 2007, 2008 and 2009.

We're open and busy!

2010-10-13T10:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry about not updated the blog recently, its been crazy the past few weeks with getting the store prepped and open, but the good news is.... we're open!

Last night we celebrated LA beer week at the store by showcasing some of what Orange County has to offer. We were pouring a special flight of beers from only local breweries including Cismontane, Tustin Brewing, TAPS, Bootleggers and Pizza Port San Clemente. The founders of Cismontane as well as the brewmasters from TAPS and Tustin were on hand talking to all of the wonderful people who came out to participate, and of course our own Patrick Rue was there as well.

It was a pretty wild sight for us to see. After months of talking about opening a place and then more months of working on building the store, it was really cool to see a big group of Old Towne Orange locals coming out to enjoy themselves on a warm Tuesday night. As with opening any business, you have to believe that what you are doing is a great idea, but there is also that lingering thought in the back of your mind that things can go terribly wrong and nobody is going to show up. We've only been officially open for a week or so, but so far it looks like we are going to be here for the long haul.

Of course we have a lot of Bruery regulars and local beer geeks who want to come by and try the great things we have, but its really great to see locals stopping in as well. Its one of our primary goals with The Bruery Provisions to educate people who aren't familiar with the craft beer revolution about the options that exist out there. We almost have to treat it like a farmers market at times. Sure, we all eat lettuce and tomatoes, but it takes some convincing to get out and spend a few more cents on something locally or organically grown. Something that a person put a lot of care into creating for you. Hopefully, with time, people will realize that drinking craft beer and artisan wines and cheeses is tastier and simply more enjoyable.

So far, so good.

Here are a few photos from last night.

We're getting close

2010-09-17T10:43:00.000-07:00

We are getting really close to actually being ready, which is a crazy feeling. It's been a long couple of months with a whole lot of work going into getting the place ready. We had to build an entire new bathroom to comply with laws and had to move sinks and prep areas all over the place since every inch counts for health department approval.

We built up tables and counters, we label wallpapered the bathrooms, we build the coldbox and updated the furnishings that we had purchased from the previous tennants.

Now we have even begun to receive and organize our inventory! Boxes of beer are sprawled around the room and the shelves have begun to get organized. Wine is being placed in racks and we've even got some charcuterie and cheese on the way to go into the fridge (luckily most cheese comes vacuum sealed or in a thick rind so it can last a while before we open it...)

I don't think any of us are actually ready for the store to open, but we do have a bunch of new employees who are excited to get to work, so hopefully we'll be ready soon to at least do a soft opening. Look for a grand opening sometime in October most likely, but for now, if you are in the area, come by and look in the window and see what's happening. Hopefully we'll be able to open the doors up soon.

slowly coming along...

2010-08-16T15:10:00.000-07:00

work and work and work and bit by bit things start to happen. we've been working hard under Casey (Patrick's brother)'s command to get things done at Provisions and open as soon as we possibly can. We've broken down walls, built up walls, turned ugly things into nice looking things and revised plans over and over again in order to please the health department.

Recently we got the cold box set up, this is where the majority of beers will be held, particularly any hoppy beers that need to remain as fresh as possible. We also have a painter now who is starting to make things look nicer. This week we've got some of the biggest work taking place though. We have some legitimate contracts coming in (until now it has primarily been Patrick, Casey, Ben and Jonas) and they are going to completely rebuild the bathroom and add a second one as well as raise the roof in the back of the building since it's pretty hard not to hit your head on the way into the store from the back entrance right now.

Anyhow, we're getting close and we can feel it!

Delays and Kicking Walls

2010-08-04T11:32:00.000-07:00

As with pretty much anything that has ever been attempted at The Bruery, the store is being delayed due to unforeseeable and unavoidable incidents. What we thought was a 100% health code approved structure actually has some issues with it. Primarily, one of the prep sinks is in the wrong area and the bathroom has some ADA access issues.

Of course we want each and every person to be able to come in and enjoy our products, so we're somewhat glad to have found out about the ADA (wheelchair accessibility) issues, but this is also going to set us back about a month and of course won't come cheap either. This may be a bit of a blessing in disguise since it is putting us in a position to remodel a few things that we wouldn't have otherwise wanted to spend time and money remodeling and takes a little bit of stress off of us rushing to open before Labor Day weekend. Now we're hoping for mid september.

This is beginning to feel a lot like first years's worth of The Bruery's "origins of a brewery" blog when the date of the first release just kept getting pushed back further and further, but that story seems to have turned out well in the long run, so hopefully its the same for The Bruery Provisions.

Construction

2010-07-16T09:01:00.001-07:00

Things are finally starting to feel official as we've started spending these excrutiatingly hot days remodeling the location a bit. With the help of Patrick's brother Casey, woodworking has begun and we're hoping the store will start taking shape in the next couple of weeks.

Brewing Education

2010-06-25T08:27:00.001-07:00

Check out our Provisions managers learning to brew over on The Bruery's blog!

http://bruery.blogspot.com/2010/06/brewing-education.html

Designing the cheese counter

2010-06-23T15:27:00.000-07:00

Kendra, our cheese extraordinaire, has been working hard on figuring out our cheese and charcuterie list. Not only has she been sorting through distributor catalogues and exciting us with foreign names of cheeses that nobody besides her seem to know how to pronounce, but she has even come up with some interesting tasting plates to perhaps be served to those who want something to munch on while in the tasting area of the store. She's pretty good at coming up with pairing combinations, but we aren't too sure about her skills at creating clever names for the plates. While Point Reyes bleu, honeycomb, seasonal fruit and nuts sounds tasty, not so sure we're going to name that the Golden Glory.

Clearly, Kendra's true skills lie in her ability to draw a picture of the deli case layout. Sharing these awesome designs was the real purpose for this blog post. We thought they were rather humorous and perhaps it will be fun to compare her drawing with what ends up happening in reality. Either way, it will be awesome when we finally get to fill up those deli cases with cheese. and beer. and wine. The day is hopefully coming soon when we'll actually make some orders and start lining the shelves. We're beginning to take some things over to the new location this week, which is kind of cool. It's beginning to feel like Provisions might actually become a reality sometime soon. Can't wait.

Creating Lists.

2010-06-16T14:18:00.000-07:00

Creating lists is pretty much what we (and by "we", we mean Stef and Kendra) have been doing lately. Whether it is beers to have lining our shelves, cheese to fill our fridges with or olives to cure and tea to bag, getting the inventory lists down is taking quite a bit of work.

We are really trying to have the best possible products on our shelves as possible and that means we can't just call up a distributor and have them choose for us. Instead, we need to go through the lists of all of the beer distributors and hand select the beers that we think represent the best that the world has to offer (and are available for us to purchase in SoCal, of course).

But you guessed it, this isn't really THE WORST job out there. The only way to not only pick the best beers out there, but also to know exactly what they look, smell and taste like is to try them out ourselves. Sounds like something we are doing just because we love beer and want to drink as much as we can, but really it is to help our customers out. How many times have you been to a restaurant and asked about a particular dish and the waiter's answer is "hmm, i've actually never had that before, but it's quite popular." That is not the answer we want to give people. We want to be well informed on everything that we sell so that we can give you an accurate description of what you are about to take home. We think that is pretty important and hopefully it will be beneficial to our customers.

Here are a couple photos from our afternoon tasting sessions that have become a daily escape from our "real" work.

where will everything fit?

2010-06-08T13:56:00.000-07:00

we've got big ideas but only so much space. definitely one of the hardest things we have to deal with in designing the floor space for the new space (besides health codes, of course) is just how we can fit all of the beers and wines and cheeses and other stuff into the room that we have.

we are planning on buying a cold box to store the majority of the beer. the reason for this isn't so that our customers can come in and buy a beer to drink immediately, but it is because it will keep the beers fresher for longer. A big mistake that a lot of people make with their beers is keeping them at room temperature and often times in direct sunlight from windows. Sunlight is a pretty awful thing for beer and is the primary cause for what is known as "skunky" beer. Just imagine how that last bottle of mexican lager tastes after it has been sitting on a picnic table all day. Not too fresh and probably in need of more than one wedge of lime.

The other issue, as mentioned is simply the temperature. For the same reason that you wouldn't buy a head of lettuce and keep it on the kitchen counter for two weeks, you don't want to buy a delicious, freshly brewed west coast IPA and leave it out on an exposed shelf until the last bottle is sold. That piney, citrusy flavor that has become synonymous with some of the great California pale ales will dissipate fairly quickly if not stored at a proper temperature, and being lovers of that flavor, we want to keep our beers as fresh as possible.

So, today we were at the shop measuring out where we think a cold box would fit best and how big of a cold box we could fit, but still keep a nice flow to the store. We were originally deciding between an 18 foot fridge or a 20 foot fridge, but after measuring out some tape on the floor, it looks like 18 will have to do, unless we expect to squeeze kegs and cases through some tricky spaces.

Fun to be moving along...more updates to come as we build.

papering the windows

2010-06-03T16:21:00.001-07:00

well, you gotta start somewhere, right?

Today Ben and Stef went down to the new location, which used to be Frog's Breath Cheese & Wine shop (if you didn't already know that), and covered up the windows with paper and a pretty sweet "coming this summer" sign so that we could start getting some work done on the inside starting next week - we hope.

It's a pretty awesome space. It's big and bright and has plenty of storage room for all of the beer that we plan on keeping around.

AND it even has a cellar! and Stef looks pretty cool hanging out down there.

Turning this place into our own awesome beer store is going to be a huge challenge, but I think our staff is up for the challenge. It's going to be a fun ride this summer.

We've announced it to the world!

2010-06-02T15:34:00.001-07:00

Well, its a pretty cool day for us at The Bruery because we just got to announce The Bruery Provisions retail shop to everyone. It's been a really hectic few weeks around here just trying to get all of the plans in place and make sure we secure our lease and licenses and everything else involved in opening up the new spot. When it all comes down to the facts, this is really us opening up an entire new business, and opening up a new business takes a whole lot of work.

So far, all we've done is signed a lease and submitted some plans to the city for final approval, but seeing as Patrick has dealt with this type of work a few times now (even as recently as trying to get approved for a bar location that ended up being a scrapped idea), we think we've got it down.

It's also nice opening a business with a team, rather than by yourself. Stef, of Tasting Room fame, is going to be the GM for the new spot and she has been up to her bleached hair in work. She's kind of had a dream job for the moment, but I guess any job gets to you eventually. She's been shuffling through every single beer distributors product books and picking out all of the beers that we just have to have at our new store. And believe us, we have to have a lot of good stuff.

We've also got a new employee named Kendra who a few of you probably met at our Anniversary party behind the cheese station. She's our new culinary manager and she's been scouring catalogues, getting us awesome new equipment for cheeses and meats and olive and whatever other snacks we end up getting, as well as picking out some of the best quality cheeses around to pair with the beers and wines that we'll be selling. Speaking of wines, we should probably start picking some of those as well....

All in all, we are rushing as fast as we can to get this location open because we are really excited about it. It's going to give us a whole new way to interact with all of the beer fans out there and hopefully create some new beer fans as well.

Coming soon.

2010-05-24T11:32:00.001-07:00

we're working hard at making it happen. come back for announcements shortly.