Beer scoops are the best scoops, and I have a great one for you today. This is the first ever review of Brunneis, the newest beer from OEC Brewing, and it goes on sale at the brewery in Oxford tomorrow, from noon to 7p.m. We're also going to take a figurative look at two more beers: one from this coast that's hard to come by, and one from the North Coast out west which has been all over Connecticut lately. Craft beer's funny like that.
Brunneis is an Oud Bruin-style beer, and has been blended from batches of OEC's strong altbier, a heavy German ale, a brown Belgian-style strong ale, and a rauchbier, or "smoked beer." These beers are then aged in barrels which variously and formerly held whiskeys, zinfandel and fortified wine. Blended together, they result in a double fermented, bottle conditioned, 9%abv ale that presents like a Flemish red, but darker.
The bottles ($13) are 1 pint, 9.4oz., and sport labels which tell their blend number (currently number one), suggested serving temperature and glassware (52º F, snifter), and date of blending (9/29/14 on mine). The baroque artwork on each is (outside as well as in) the work of brewmaster Ben Neidhart.