This evening I stopped off at Brewery Vivant, aside from the hipster overload, I was impressed. Their food smelled great, and their brews were top notch. It's a brewery with a french/belgian cloister theme. Set in an old church they have Belgian and French-style beer and food. Their bar service was very good considering how busy their were. When I did find a table I found their wait staff a little unresponsive. As a result I made my own 'Belgian' fries when I arrived home from the brewery. Had I had the opportunity, I would have ordered one of their many scrumptious looking entrees.My first brew was their Farmhouse ale, a very clear blonde ale, despite the menu description of a 'cloudy' beer, it was what a farmhouse ale should be, it had a light maltiness and a barely detectable hop character. Typical of a Belgian Farmhouse - you have to get pretty imaginative to describe it 'fruity in the aroma and flavor' 'earthy yeast tones' 'mild to moderate tartness'. The truth is, that I have been drinking beer so long, I can tell you if something is brewed right, but I think all that descriptive stuff is hogwash. It tastes like a Belgian farmhouse ale, if you don't know what that is, drink more beer. The fact is Jason Spaulding knows what he is doing, this is not his first attempt at making a great brewery.
My second ale was their Sgt. Peppercorn Rye, it had a very distinctive malt character, not the sweet malt flavor of a German beer, but the dusty roasted taste of malt running through the grain mill. It was amber in color with no hop aroma or taste, very drinkable like a session beer.
One thing that stuck me as unique, as if having your brewery in an old mortuary in not unique enough, was their bright tanks. They are horizontal storage tanks that have been, according to their website "repurposed from dairy tanks" that "give our French style "biere de garde" the extra time it needs to develop".
I give it a thumbs up. From the time I stepped in and was greeted at the door I thought it was a great place. Their bathroom sinks are a one of kind, check them out when you're there. So aside from my deep concern that the hipsters, those young folks who are so confused about who they are they have to be just like everyone else who pretends to be 'different' watering down the craft brewing movement by making people think we drink good beer to be cool - we don't - we like good beer - it was great. And to all those hipsters out there, just be yourself. You look like a bunch of immature posers. Take it from someone who is their-self, it's better to just relax, not worry and have a homebrew.
