The Bruery 5 Golden Rings
5 Golden Rings is the 5th verse in our ’12 Days of Christmas’ winter seasonal ale series. This is the only golden ale in the bunch but it definitely packs a holiday punch. We spiced up this 11.5% ABV ode to Winter with cinnamon, allspice and ginger along with some delicious sweet and tangy pineapple.
3.4
272 reviews
Placentia, United States
Community reviews
750 ml bottle shared by Tmoney99 from notes. Pours a hazy dark golden color with a medium sized off white head. The aroma and flavor have a bunch of fruits, citrus, tropical notes favoring pineapple, cinnamon, ginger, tons of sweetness that probably offsets the alcohol a bit, holiday spice, nice to try but I wouldn’t drink a bunch of this by myself.
Bottle opened during the Christmas Movie Marathon on 12/20/14. Clear amber in color with a medium off-white head. Aroma of candy, Belgian esters, malt, pineapple and slight herbs. Malty and candyish sweet flavor with pineapple accents before a peppery yeast finish.
750ml bottle. Poured a golden color with an averaged sized head. Pineapple juice, fruity, caramel, and spices.
Had in cellar for two years.....can really smell the pineapple. Little to no head, and no lacing at all. Picking up a lot of citrus and pin able in the taste....very interesting beer. Glad I had it.
Poured from a 750ml bottle. I thought for sure this would be an oxidized mess. It is fantastic. The aroma is sweet, some cooking spices, fruity. The flavor is slightly tart, cinnamon, ginger, soft bready malt character. There are signs of oxidation, light cardboard, mustiness. I would drink this sooner then later.
Draft at craft ale house. Pours clear golden with minimal head. The aroma has honey and orange zest. The taste is fairly sweet orange juice, light pineapple, a bit cloying.
(750ml bottle) golden body, fine white bubbles. Nose of stonefruit, sweet, graham crackers, pineapple, apricot, peach, complex as hell. Taste of sweet fruit, peach, apricot, cotton candy, quite sweet but a really nice beer.
"Probably my least favorite so far (of the 4 I’ve had) but they’re all close. This will have better potential for aging than I thought before trying it. 3 & 4 have actually improved with age! The combo of pineapple and spicy/bubble-gummy belgian yeast is pleasant for sure, but a little too in your face to be as enjoyed as the last few Bruery holiday releases. Reminiscent of a stronger Mana Wheat. This’ll be interesting in 2013/2014."
Tap, orange pour, off white head, nose is caramel and cinnamon, taste is boozy, more caramel, nice.
So swe3eeeeeeeeeeeeet. Sugary.’adj kHz d ft hdd ssh hdd ssh hdd he’s yet hat hdd dad Hz
(bottle) murky orange colour with a frothy off-white head. aroma of cinnamon, vanilla, caramel and alcohol, with a hint of nettles and cheesecake. flavour is mostly caramel and grape juice, with a heavy sweetness, lots of alcohol, some lemons and brown sugar. medium- to heavy-bodied with average carbonation.
Light orange lots of fruit and pineapple aroma. Smells like a fruit salad. Boozy finish. Lots of fruit juice. Pineapple and apple and clove. This is solid. Abv is decently hidden.
750 ml bottle RS purchase. Color is a mostly clear orange with a tiny ring of head. Aroma is a metric ton of pineapple with light cinnamon.
Flavor is a lot of pineapple, an array of spices (cinnamon, nutmeg and Ginger)
I really don’t enjoy ginger root and I have that flavor here. The body is medium the a sweet fruity finish. The ABV is pretty well hidden of course I can only taste pineapple and spice. I’m about to compare right against the Bourbon Barrel version. I hope the BBA gives this a better complexity.
Draft. Hazy golden color, small white edge head. Aroma of boozy pineapple. Taste is boozy pineapple. Too big for me.
How: Bottle.
Where: Drankencentrale de Hopduvel, Belgium.
Appearance: Golden colour with an off-white head.
Aroma: Citrus, caramel, grapefruit, ginger, spices, floral.
Body: Full body, medium carbonation.
Flavour: Spices, raisin, ginger, herbal, floral.
Very nice BSA that had all of the good characteristics of the style with a winter twinge to it and the good thing, no Cardamom! Pineapple balances the spice with a bit of acidic sweetness.
Bottle split among friends. Aroma is like fruit juice and booze. Pour is cloudy orange with a white head that dies immediately. Taste is like the leftover juice in a can of fruit. Syrup. Sweet. With some booze. A lot of booze.
Pours a hazy pale orange color, minimal head. Very fruity aroma, banana, pineapple, citrus, sweet, caramel malt. Very sweet, tons of pineapple, juicey, fruity, malty, more pineapple.
Split bottle at WOB. Pours a cloudy orange. Aroma of pineapple and spices. Reminds me of holiday clove and spice. Taste is pineapple, lots of spice. A bit wierd, can’t drink a lot.
Appearance: deep honey-colored pour, little soapy white bubbles. Aroma: honey, pineapple, mango, peach, clove, yeast. Taste: honey, booze, mango, peach, fuji apple juice, rum, clove, nutmeg, ginger. Finish: lingering sickeningly sweet pineapple booze. Notes: Dreck. Sickly, syrupy, overly sweet, gimmicky dreck.
UPDATE: New rating, five years after the first.
Original bottle aged 7 years, fifth in the Bruery Christmas Vertical of 2019. Just as awful as the first time. By far the worst beer in the series.
750 ml bottle into tulip glass, bottled in late 2012. Pours lightly hazy bright orange color with a 1-2 finger dense off white head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big apricot, pear, pineapple, banana, apple, clove, honey, biscuit, candi sugar, cinnamon, ginger, herbal, light pepper, and yeast earthiness. Nice aromas with good balance and complexity pineapple, spices, and fruity/earthy yeast ester flavors; with good strength and a lot of sweetness. Taste of apricot, pear, pineapple, banana, apple, clove, honey, biscuit, candi sugar, cinnamon, ginger, herbal, light pepper, and yeast earthiness. Large amount of sweetness and some light fruity tartness present on the finish; with lingering notes of apricot, pear, pineapple, banana, apple, clove, honey, biscuit, candi sugar, cinnamon, ginger, herbal, light pepper, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a while. Nice balance and complexity of pineapple, spices, fruity/earthy yeast, and pale malt flavors; with huge robustness and minimal cloying sweetness on the finish. Medium carbonation and full bodied; with a moderately slick and lightly syrupy mouthfeel that is good. Alcohol is well hidden with only a slight warming present after the finish. Overall this was a nice and unique Belgian golden ale. Good balance, robustness, and complexity of pineapple, spices, fruity/earthy yeast, and pale malt flavors; and very smooth to sip on with the big ABV and sweetness. A nicely enjoyable offering.
Bottle shared at Schouskjelleren, december 3rd 2013. Clear golden body, big lasting white head. Peppery aroma with pineapple, yeast and sweet malt. Taste is sweet with raisins, pineapple, herbs, slight sour finish balancing the strong sweetness in a nice way. Light alcohol taste in aftertaste combined with fruit, spicy yeast and sweetness.
Bottle sampled at Classic City Brew Fest 2014. Pours a hazy golden brown with minimal bubbly white head. Aroma is big on the malty sweetness with a hint of spice, taste goes more toward the spice with just a hint of fruity sweetness. Lots of ginger and less of the cinnamon, very little sense of the booze. Definitely would love to do a vertical of these. Again sampled from the 2019 rebrew in the boxed set, less ginger and more fruitiness, nice.
I think this bottle was from the Rare Beer Club. I didn’t taste it fresh, but since it’s supposed to be able to age for seven years I felt confident laying this down for a couple years. It’s a rich orange color with medium carbonation, smells tart and fruity, definitely the pineapple comes through. Tastes sweet like pineapple juice and spicy, like pepper, cloves. The spiciness felt slightly overpowering at a colder temp, but it warmed up to a nice balance. Complex. Arguably a little too sweet, but I’m impressed.
Ins Glas ergießt sich ein trübes dunkeloranges Bier mit geringer Schaumkrone. Geruch sehr süß hefig, fruchtig, Karamell. Geschmack süß malzig, fruchtig, Karamell, alkoholisch, hefig.
Bottle thanks to Lee. Pours a cloudy orange with small white head. The aroma is pineapple, oak, cinnamon. Medium mouthfeel with strong fruit, booze, ginger and sweet finish. Very Good.
P: Dark golden apricot body with a decent crown of white creamy head that bubbles down to a thin silky layer. Wet lacing around the edges.
S: Overpowering pineapple booze, tropical bubblicious gum, powdery yeast, ginger, white grapes, hints of honey, black pepper, allspice and cinnamon. Banana esters appear once agitated.
T/M: Odd! Pineapple juice, lemon zest, a hefty dose of allspice, pickled ginger, clove and black pepper. Mouthfeel is amazingly smooth and creamy with just a pinch if stinging carbonation. Finish is semidry with cinnamon apple peels lingering in the back of the throat. Similar to drinking hot apple cider. Booze was not as abrupt as the smell and highlights the flavors.
O: 5 rings of oddness. At first I hated this beer. The first smell and taste almost caused me to grab something else. But it really opened up once it warmed and had a chance to breathe. The pineapple is the elephant in the room that actually works to an extent. This is an interesting take on the style and I can’t say I hate it. I would like to see how this one ages for the next 7 years. May have to hunt another one down. Cheers!
On bottle at Olympen. Golden color , good foam. Immediate intense aromas of pineapple. Medium body & complexity . On the sweet( sickening) side. Most was returned
Pours a hazy golden color with a small but well retained head and some lacing on the glass.
The aroma is inviting, it’s spicy with plenty of ginger & cinnamon, only lightly fruity with some cool funkiness that is akin to a damp towel that’s been chilln’ for a few days in an environment where it doesn’t dry out...
The flavor is really sweet, like some sort of spiced pineapple juice. It’s got some light bitterness, ginger, and booze. Just a lot going on, some of it I dig, some of it I don’t dig.
Probably not a shelf beer anymore.
bought this bottle in jacksonville i think, well, it had blood all over it so .. . pours a deep gold .. great spread out foam .. . quite sweet, and some mango to boot .. . an alright beer but the sweetness is just to much .. . . i own a cellphone. take that grandma!!