Black Tuesday - The Bruery

Displayed for educational use only; do not reuse.

BA SCORE
100
world-class
-
1,407 Ratings

rAvg: 4.53
pDev: 11.92%
Reviews: 482
Hads: 925

Ratings Help

Brewed by:
The Bruery

California, United States

Style | ABV
American Double / Imperial Stout | 19.20% ABV

Availability: Fall. bottle (421), on-tap (58), cask (3).

Notes:
2009: 19.5% ABV
2010: 18.2% ABV
2011: 18.3% ABV
2012: 19.2% ABV

View: Beers (69) | Reviews (50) | Events (0)

Reviews

Sort by: Latest | High | Low | Top Reviewers | Show Hads:

« first ‹ prev | 1-25 | 26-50 | 51-75 | next › last »

Reviews by nhindian:

nhindian

Pennsylvania

4.3/5 rDev -5.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

750ml poured into a tulip. Split with russwbeck and tasted side-by-side with Chocolate Rain. Epic.

A - Living up to its name, Black Tuesday is black. Shiny, glossy, foreboding black. A surprising amount of carbonation and bubbles can be seen slowly rising up the sides of the glass, continuously feeding and resupplying the tan head, which peaks at around a finger in height but slowly receding to about a half-finger cap that lasts forever. It is surprisingly noticeably darker than Chocolate Rain, which takes on a ruddy brown color in comparison.

S - In comparison to Chocolate Rain and going back and forth, Black Tuesday actually comes across as significantly less bold and in your face. The chocolate and roast are still key components here, though the chocolate is less sweet, but with the less ostentatious aroma comes a little bit more mellow aroma in terms of anise and alcohol. It's hard to say which one is actually 'better' as they are two different beasts.

T - The minute this liquid hits my lips, it's memorable. This instantly rockets to the top of my list of sweetest stouts, fighting neck and neck with Three Floyds' Dark Lord. I don't really get as much bourbon as I thought I would in the front, but there is some in the finish and underneath everything. A little bit of char and liquid smoke, and exceptionally malty. Slight bits of anise, and a surprising amount of dark fruits to add to it. Like sugar-coated, alcohol-soaked fruit. To wrap everything up is a warming alcohol that is always on the mind, but not constantly nagging with its astringency.

M - Mouthfeel is heavy-bodied with decent carbonation. Thick and offensively bold, Black Tuesday invades the palate and infests it with a syrupy feel that weighs heavily on the palate.

D/O - Drinkability is moderate. The sweetness and alcohol heat keeps it from being on par with Chocolate Rain, but it is still very much up there in terms of imperial stouts. Probably doesn't come across as much as the ABV would suggest, but it is noticeable. Although I am drinking half a bottle of this and half a bottle of Chocolate Rain side-by-side, I couldn't imagine drinking a whole bottle of this alone, but Chocolate Rain would probably be feasible.

Serving type: bottle

11-22-2011 06:02:54 | More by nhindian

More User Reviews:

soldat329x

Illinois

4.75/5 rDev +4.9%

06-19-2013 00:47:02 | More by soldat329x

taylor714914

Pennsylvania

3.75/5 rDev -17.2%

06-18-2013 23:05:22 | More by taylor714914

nrs207

Pennsylvania

4/5 rDev -11.7%

06-16-2013 18:00:22 | More by nrs207

Stevedore

Wisconsin

4.63/5 rDev +2.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

750ml bottle from 2012, about 6oz poured into a snifter at Dustin's birthday tasting yesterday, 6.15.2013.

Aroma: Lots of bourbon and heat, which dominates the nose. But there are marshmallows and tons of chocolate, very sweet. It basically smelled like bourbon smores. Interesting! I thought the heat was really off-putting, but altogether this beer has a really, sweet and complex nose. (4.25)

Colour: Pitch black, like a black hole. Not much of a head at all, which is not surprising for a high gravity beer like this. There isn't even a collar, and there isn't any lacing at all when I swirl it around. Its black, that's all I can expect from a beer called Black Tuesday. (4.25)

Flavour: Really, really sweet. Like mentioned before, it tastes like a crap ton of chocolate, bourbon and a little vanilla sweetness. There's a lot going on here, but the best way to put it is hot, hot bourbon smores. It all comes together well, not all that cloying. Deliciously bourbony and malty! (4.75)

Mouthfeel: Full bodied, super thick. Actually quite well carbonated for a giant stout like this. Aftertaste is mostly all the malty sweetness that I experienced while swishing this beer along my palate. Its pretty much dessert. Really, the biggest problem with this beer is that it's so damn boozy. I know its a 19.2% beer, but it was just a beer that took a long time to finish. Still, so black and thick... gotta say this is a hell of a mouthfeel. (4.75)

Overall: Delicious. It's like drinking whiskey and port together. Thick thick beer that is very sweet but not cloyingly so. As mentioned above, the problem is that its got too much alcohol in it- I can smell it in the nose immediately as its being poured, and it definitely gets hotter as it gets warmer. I think its a deliciously sweet barrel-aged big stout but for the $36 it costs per bottle, I'll take 6 bottles of BCBS. It's not a very good value IMO (which does not detract from the overall scoring in this review), but I'm glad to have at least tried it. (4.75)

Serving type: bottle

06-16-2013 13:48:08 | More by Stevedore