The Bruery Black Tuesday Imperial Stout

Brewed by The Bruery
Style: Imperial Stout
Placentia, California USA

650ml bottle
Thanks to someone at a small tasting for sharing a bottle of this early in the night. As far as barrel aged imperial stouts go it is balanced enough to not be a total mess. On the other hand I don’t think it is quite up to par with some of the other world class offerings that are just as elusive. Were I to run across this again I would definitely consider buying one. However I would not go out of my way to do so.

Aroma / Appearance - Deep black and oily like all other heavy imperial stouts it takes on a life of its own outside the bottle. The chocolately head and vinous lacing give it more depth and show off the amount of alcohol this one hides. The nose is more bourbony than I like but is offset by the baseline of chocolate, vanilla, raspberries, and coffee that sparkle underneath the surface.

Flavor / Palate - The first sensation is the alcohol which tastes a bit like a nip of bourbon was poured into the bottle. Once things settle down chocolate, coffee beans, and a sweetnesss that borders on cloying transition to a smoky finish. Heavy and textured it is a great beer on its own merits but when compared to any number of other stouts falls a bit short of true greatness.

Sample at Black Friday tasteing. The wood and rich vanilla on the nose was great. Black body with tan head. Rich vanilla chcolate flavor with some some roast. Smooth on the palate. Sparky27 is to thank for this one I think.

Big thanks to kiefdog for sharing this beauty. Pours glass staining darkness with brown edges and short lived dark tan head. The aroma is pretty insane with rich notes of roast, caramel, Canadian maple syrup, bourbon booze heat and coconut. The taste is silky smooth and yet punishing my palate with pure yum right from the start. I get sweetness from maple syrup, creamy caramel candy and some milk chocolate. It then quickly moves into bourbon, coconut, vanilla and another surge of maple syrup. It ends with lingering blending smooth and silky notes of caramel, coconut, maple syrup and a bit of bourbon. Wow!

I purchsed a couple bottle from the brewery and handed them out as gifts. A great beer to share with friends.

Right up there with the Dark Horizon First Edition as one of my top Imperial Stouts. Very tasty Caramel, Molasses, Brown Sugar, Vanilla, Prune, Plum, and Oak mix. These same ingredients create a top notch and heavy aroma that is noticeable with each sampling. Thick body with slight Head. Overall it’s very good right now and see no reason to age here.

Bottle pours pitch black with tan head. Aroma is amazing. I detect subtle notes of bourbon, slight oxidation, dark roast, coffee, chocoate, and dark grain. This has a really pronounced dark grain aroma that just dominates. If you have ever brewed with dark grains that is what it smells like. Those black grains just stand out the most for me in the nose. Dense and viscous mouthfeel. Flavor has a touch of alcohol, bourbon, coffee, grains, and finishes somewhat chocolate sweet with a slight grain astringency. The sweet chocolate and grain astringency finish knock this beer down a bit for me. I don’t care for the sweetness or astringency. And that is what I’m left with as it finishes. It has all the layers of complexity that make it a remarkable if not one of the best beers on the planet. I just wish it finished better. Still a nice beer to try either way.

Black with brown edges and a small dark brown head that struggles for survival and eventually settles as a everlasting brown ring. Aroma is initally sweet with notes of brown sugar, vanilla, raw woody bourbon, cold coffe, molasses, brownie cookies and alcohol (alcohol in a fine spirit kind of way.) Flavour is big and genereous, takes a few sips to get the hang of it and the whole glass to collect all the flavours which amongst others are milky chocolate and dark chocolate, bourbon, caramell and toffe, a touch of vanilla, wood and dark fruit such as plums and raisins. Its warming as it goes down but still suprisingly balanced with very well integrated alcohol. Mouthfeel is quite chewy, a bit sticky and thick, thick enough to allow one to enjoy small sips without feeling cheated of something. The little carbonation present is perfect for the size of the beer and it would not have been the same without it. Didnt really expect to consider this beer balanced but to my suprise it was with a big sweetness balanced by a extreme amount of woody bourbon flavours. The Bruery really pulls of those big sweet beers, those that I often have a rather hard time with.

On tap @ the release, 10/27/09. Black with a small cinnamon head, fair retention. Lots of roast up front with some soy and chocolate--much roastier with more soy than the Chocolate Rain, which I had first. Oak and bourbon are noticeable, but far from dominating. Flavor is fairly sweet with tons of heat. Roasty soy finish, bitterness peaked at a 4. Light carbonation, very thick, heavy, syrupy, etc. Huge beer--a 750mL could and probably would go through eight people, unless one person wanted to give themselves diabetes. Despite its claims, I can’t see how it is 19.5%--way too much residual sugars. it isn’t ungodly underattenuated, but it is definitely sweeter than Dark Lord--more alcohol burn, too. Overrated and hyped a bit too much, IMO.