5 Golden Rings

Review Date 12/23/2013  By John Staradumsky

  Style: Belgian Strong   Brewery: The Bruery   Country: USA   State: California   $ Per OZ: $.35 (B)   ABV: 11.5%

I feel cheated. Imagine, if you will, it’s Christmas. Somebody puts on some Christmas music: isn’t that always nice? “TheTwelve Days” of Christmas comes on, and you’re ready to sing along: but wait! Something’s wrong. Days one to four just aren’t mentioned, and the song begins with “5 Golden Rings”. No partridge in a pear tree, turtle doves, French hens, or calling birds.

That’s sort of how I felt when I cracked a bottle of Placenta, California based The Bruery’s 5 Golden Rings, a Belgian-style golden ale brewed with pineapple juice and spices. Actually, I bought this beer after Christmas in 2012 (when it was released), and saved it for this year. The Bruery says you can age it up to seven years (it would do well longer I am sure), but I settled for a year.

Anyway, my opening thoughts refer to the fact that I missed the first four installments in The Bruery’s 12 Days/Years of Christmas Series. For one thing, the Bruery’s beers have only been available in Georgia for a few years now. Here are the prior installments, in case you missed them too:

A Partridge in a Pear Tree, 2008: “Brewed in the style of a Belgian-style Dark Strong Ale, brewed with our brewery-made dark candi sugar, Munich and Vienna malts.” 11% ABV.

2 Turtle Doves, 2009: “the second in the 12 Days/Years of Christmas Series. We decided to take our inspiration from the name and base the beer on the "turtle" candy, brewing it with cocoa nibs, toasted pecans, caramelized sugar and a lot of caramel malts. Somewhere between a Belgian-style Dark Strong Ale and an Imperial Porter” 12% ABV.

3 French Hens, 2010: a portion of this beer had to be aged in French oak barrels. What we came out with is a bold and spicy Belgian Dark Strong Ale, 25% aged in oak. 10% ABV.

4 Calling Birds, 2011: Spiced Strong Dark Ale. We took inspiration from the traditional winter warmer for our fourth verse, integrating gingerbread spices into a robust dark ale. 11% ABV.

And that, of course, brings us to the beer I did get my hands on, 5 Golden Rings. Here’s what the Bruery says about this beer:

5 Golden Rings is the 5th verse in our ‘12 Days of Christmas’ winter seasonal ale series. The only golden ale in the bunch, we spiced up the natural pause in the classic song with cinnamon, allspice and ginger along with the delicious sweet and tangy flavor of pineapple. The resulting ale is a true holiday treat that can be enjoyed fresh or cellared until 2019, when 12 Drummers Drumming will be released.

In fact, The Bruery says you could age all of these beers for drinking with Twelve Drummers Drumming, which will be released in 2019 if on schedule. What an amazing tasting that would be, all 12 beers together. You would, of course, need lots of help from friends, preferably 11 of them, each singing a verse?

5 Golden Rings has a formidable alcohol content of 11.5% by volume. I paid $9.99 for my 750 ML bottle. Here we go.

The Bruery 5 Golden Rings pours to a beautiful bright golden color with a thick creamy head formation and a powerful nose of Belgian funk and tropical fruit. Taking a sip, this one has some light cotton candy yeastiness and malty overtones underneath with hints of spice (dry cinnamon and mace is what I get, The Bruery says cinnamon, allspice, and ginger). I’m not getting the ginger so much.

The most delightful thing here is the pineapple. Pineapple is a fruity ester you often get in Belgian goldens, strong ales, and tripels. At least I do. Here, its genuine form pineapple juice, and you get it in a big, big way. That makes the beer delightful in a tropical, Jimmy Buffet Christmas Island sort of way. More Christmas music for you, no extra charge. The beer has a big warm alcohol finish though is not really hoppy or bitter. Fruit, funk, and dry spice work together in perfect harmony here.

I absolutely enjoyed this beer during the Christmas season, and wish I had bought another bottle. As I type, 6 Geese a Laying has supposedly been released, a Belgian styled dark ale with gooseberries. I have not seen it yet, but not for lack of looking. If you happen to see it, buy it. I know I will.

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??