7 Swans a Swimming

Review Date 12/8/2020  By John Staradumsky

  Style: Abbey Quad   Brewery: The Bruery   Country: USA   State: California   $ Per OZ: $.39 (B)   ABV: 11%

So there I was, opining on my bottle of the Bruery’s 6 Geese a Laying, way back in 2015. I had the following to say about the beer, and the series, that in retrospect seems a bit prophetic.

Well folks, here’s my problem with reviewing the Bruery’s Twelve Days of Christmas series: these beers are meant to be aged.  You may wonder why that might be a problem, but most beer geeks are curious to read reviews of beers when they are first offered for sale. Given that I am aging each beer in this series for the following Christmas season, by the time you read my review, you can’t buy the beer anymore.

I say this is prophetic because, well, here I am in 2020 to tell you about a bottle of The Bruery 7 Swans a Swimming that I enjoyed the other night while putting out Christmas lights. I bought the bottle in December of 2014, so, so much for drinking them with a year of age. I have bottles of 8 Maids a Milking, 9 Ladies Dancing, 10 Lords a Leaping, and either 11 Pipers Piping or 12 Drummers Drumming floating around somewhere. I never could find one of the latter two; I’m sure I don’t know which one it was. If you don’t know, The Bruery is starting all over again and released A Partridge in a Pear Tree in 2020. I have never tried this one, and have a bottle on the way from Craftshack.

The Bruery says about 7 Swans a Swimming:

7 Swans-A-Swimming is the 7th beer in our “12 Days of Christmas” series. For this verse of the story, we chose the path we don’t often take – we brewed to style. No bells, no whistles, just our best take on the Belgian Quadrupel style. Brewed with nothing but water, malt, yeast, hops and a bit of Belgian dark candi sugar, this beer may not be as out-of-the-box as some of our past winter brews, but it’s just as tasty. Rich and complex, this robust dark ale juggles notes of raisin bread, dried apricots, burnt caramel and roasted pecans. The sweet flavors provide a full body and the bright yeast wafts the sweet holiday notes out of the glass, into your life. 7 Swans-A-Swimming is a perfect holiday sipper. Delicious right now, but suitable for aging up to 5 years, upon the release of 12 Drummers Drumming.

The Bruery 7 Swans a Swimming has an alcohol content of 11% by volume and I paid $9.99 for it back in 2014. Not a bad price at all for 750 ML of a beer that has held up so well over the years.

The Bruery 7 Swans a Swimming pours to a dark brownish mahogany color with a medium creamy tan head and a lush raisin and plum nose. Taking a sip, the beer is a dark fruit bomb with the raisin and plums in the nose returning and being joined by fig, burnt caramel, and dark candi sugar notes. It’s funky yeasty, too, and finishes with a big alcohol warmth.

Just a wonderful beer! On the current schedule, it should be back in 2026. I’ll be back then to tell you how it is young.

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??