The Bruery Black Tuesday
Happy New Year folks. There isn’t a better way to ring in the year with a review of the most wanted,the most hyped beer of 2009. How hyped was this beer? There were 100′s of pre trade wants months before this beer was even available for purchase. I got lucky when Michael from Thank Heaven from Beer offered to get me a bottle. Thank you my friend, you provided me with my number one wanted beer. So before I get started with the review, let’s ride the hype train and get some facts about the brew.
- Black Tuesday is a American Double/Imperial Stout aged in Bourbon barrels for a year.
- It comes in at a whopping 19.5% abv
- It’s released once a year. This was the first time it was ever released. October 27th 2009 to be exact. Bottles were 30 dollars a piece.
- It was a brewery only release. You can hear first hand how much of a pain in the ass this release was directly from the mouth of Michael. I felt bad for him after reading the article. About 75 people in the line did not get any.
So you can now see how gratful I was to even get a bottle of this stuff. It felt like Christmas Day when my box arrived. I just stared at the sexy black label and wax on the bottle wondering when the hell I was going to drink this baby. Two days ago I decided it would be New Years Eve………
As soon as I popped BT I knew I was in love. It pours black as night. Thick and rich. Really thick. A one finger mocha color head. Beautiful beer. I stepped back into the other room for something and I could smell the beer from about 6 feet away. The aroma is that strong. What you get most is the bourbon. It’s really big. Putting it up to your nose you then notice the chocolate, molasses, caramel, and brown sugar. It is such a big, complex smell. It’s just unbelieveable. The only other stouts that might even come close are Abyss and Bourbon County Stout. They come close but then they really don’t. Just huge aroma. Ok I think you get the point.
The first sip and everyone after will blow you away. The first sip though is more of a shock factor of just how much is going on with this 19.5% abv beer. At that percent in alcohol, you might think a alcohol taste might get in the way of everything else. While it’s noticeable and it burns your throat and stomach nicely, it doesn’t get in the way of anything and you wouldn’t think that this beer would be that strong. The mixture of ingredients in the taste are just amazing. So much is going on that you don’t know what you like more. Is it the bourbon which lasts nicely into the aftertaste. Is it the molasses, caramel, vanilla, chocolate, or how about the dark fruits, or the sweetness. Yeah that much is going on. What you end up liking is the mixture of everything. It’s just awesome. The mouthfeel of this brew just adds to it’s greatness. Thick, chewy, coats the mouth. The heat from the alcohol warms up the mouth and throat. Might be the best beer for a cold night. I made the mistake of trying to finish this beer by myself. I poured myself a glass and sipped it for a few hours. By the time I was done with the glass I was pretty damn buzzed. I had to hold off and finish the bottle later.
So my buddy Aaron asked me if it was the best stout I had ever had. At first I didn’t know. I mean there is so many good stouts out there. But I think I decided that yes this is the best, most badass stout I have ever had. If you want to get blasted by aroma and flavor then this is a beer you need to seek out. It’s top notch and I’m already thinking of what the hell I can do to get a bottle next year. Maybe it’s time to take another trip to California. As a parting gift I leave you a little video of Black Tuesday day. (Michael is somewhere in that line =)
Found: Beer Trade
Price: 30 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.thebruery.com/
What the company says: Our infamous Black Tuesday is an Imperial Stout aged in Bourbon barrels for over a year. Rich caramel, toasted malt, vanilla, burnt wood, anise are just a few of the many flavors of this rich, decadent imperial stout.
ABV%: 19.50%
Other beers to try from this brewery: The Bruery White Oak, The Bruery Two Turtle Doves
Other beers to try within the same style: Mikkeller Beek Geek Breakfast, Port Brewing Older Viscosity
Rating: A++ (If I could go any higher I would)
Glad you liked. I think I’ll try to get a bit next year.
I more than liked it man. It was fantastic. Thanks again.
Nice review, glad you got to try it. I sampled it at GABF and thought it was the most impressive beer I tried all weekend.
Wow, sounds like an awesome brew! Kudos for Micheal to put up w/ the ordeal of getting some of that too. Hopefully next time it will turn out to be a better event.
(Like the new theme too BTW!)
It is a truly awesome brew. Yes Michael was very kind to get me a bottle!
Oh and the theme. I wanted something different. Still not 100% sure about it yet. Still working on some stuff for it. Glad you like it.
Hey Dave;
First off love the new site. It really rocks the Southpark edginess. Seriously I like it a lot! You are truly lucky to have gotten a bottle. I just live a few hundred miles from the brewery and nothing from them ever so far in Idaho. I think that is a function of their wild overnight success and their need to rapidly expand. Glad you got a bottle sounds incredible. Hopefully next year they might actually have some to distribute.
Thanks Don, I’m still getting used to the site. I really needed something different. I liked the theme and I asked my friend to provide some graphics, She was cool enough to help me out.
The Bruery just hit VA mid to late last year. I feel lucky to have them here and yup I got really lucky to get a BT.