The Bruery Black Tuesday

Black Tuesday
The Bruery
Placentia, CA
19.50% ABV
Style: Imperial Stout

C: WAYY TO DARK TO TELL
H: Honestly The Darkest Beer I Have Ever Had.....PITCH BLACK
N: Bourbon, Chocolate Malt, Caramel, Toffee

KirkDiggler:
-Cue up the music from Stanley Kubricks 2001: A Space Odyssey- Or at least that's what I imagine the EPICNESS surrounding this beer would be. So much hype, mystique, rarity, aggravation, and emotional appeal surrounding this beer. Not to mention this years tickets for this beer sold out in 6 minutes (myself included did not get a ticket - yeah I was one of "those" unfortunate few). So thanks to the Ferm for breaking this one out for GABF war planning party.
A: Poured black w/ a ruby colored bubbly head w/ quick dissipation. Ruby color retains around the edges of the beer.
A: Boozy bourbon, toffee, and caramel. No hop aromatics. No diacetyl or esthers.
F: Sweet Maple syrup, caramel, toffee, and warming to light chocolate notes. Light bourbon flavor in the finish.
M: Heavy body and mouth feel, low carbonation, w/ slight alcohol warmth. Not necessarily "burning" Drinks smooth and viscous - syrup like.
O: Really? That's It? You just reviewed one of the most EPIC beers ever in ~ 63 words? Yes I did and here is why. This beer tasted pretty straightforward to me: It's sweet and rightfully so for an 19% beer. Comparable to Dark Lord, if you removed the fruit and complex notes, I believe you would have Black Tuesday. Black Tuesday is boozy and sweet. Did the beer hype around this one blow my mind? Yes...The beer itself? Not so much. Tasty yes, drinkable yes, would I give my first born? No. I'm glad I can put to rest the aggravating ambitions of trying to secure one of these bottles for myself.
Score 4.40


The Ferm: Big Beer for a Big Day, this is the day before the Great American Beer Festival....or atleast for me it is. So how did I celebrate this years trip with some of the Beerigos? I broke out a bottle of Black Tuesday that was so graciously traded to me. Excited damn right I am, and not just for the trip....I have looked forward to opening this beer for the few weeks that it has been in my possession. On BeerAdvocate.com alone it has over 1,000 wants and only 80 gots! Rare....yep!
So how about the beer? Damn its dark! Honestly the darkest beer I have ever had, it is sooo dark it reflected my image taking the picture with NO FLASH! Needless to say I was ready for something big taste wise....well it was there but not anything that knocked my socks off. The Bourbon was up front and center....it was pleasant and not over powering. Had a good amount of syrup flavors to it....honestly some pancakes with Black Tuesday would be magical but a waste of beer. This was a real treat, but there are soo many other Imperial Stouts that I would rank higher. Dark Lord seems to be more complex, Marshall Zhukov Barrel Treatments are always amazing, and Hunahpu. Overall very solid though.
Score: 4.79

Overall: 4.595