Grey Monday - The Bruery

Alieniloquium

Florida

3.75/5  rDev -18.3%
look: 2 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

750 mL bottle poured into a snifter.

Appearance - Not quite black. Transparent at the edges. Deep brown but never black. No head.

Smell - Caramel. Lots of bourbon. Some oak but it's a mild barrel character. Tons of sugar.

Taste - Sweet, sugary, bourbon. Just a hint of hazelnut. Not the level of artificial coffee creamer, but a lot of hazelnut. Caramel and some roast, but not much. The more I drink it the more I like it.

Mouthfeel - A bucket of sugar. Sweetness is pretty overwhelming. Just like Black Tuesday.

Overall - It barely tastes like a stout, like Black Tuesday. Sugary but a good sugar.

Serving type: bottle

05-21-2013 02:56:40 | More by Alieniloquium

rudzud

Massachusetts

4.4/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Oh yeah....split with JLindros thanks to last years reserve society.

A - Poured into a Kate the Great tulip a deep dark black bye with a quarter inch head that faded to legs....octopus legs haunt my glass. Gah.

S - Gaahhhh...aromas of rich chocolate, bourbon, alcohol, tons of barrel and vanilla. Not getting much hazelnut though but still my goodness is this good.

T - Taste is tons of sweet malts, loads of chocolate and vanilla...my God is there alot of chocolate and vanilla and bourbon and oak. This is plainly amped up black Tuesday with sweeter chocolate malts. The hazelnut ..its almost a dairy creamer type flavour. Damn tasty if I may say so...like an almond joy melted in my mouth.

M - Mouthfeel is damn good for the ABV. Lowly carbonated, thick, lightly boozy....this is a sipper for sure.

O - Overall this was a good beer, wish the hazelnut was more prominent. Tons of chocolate, bourbon, vanilla, super faint hazelnut....solid black Tuesday variant.

Serving type: bottle

04-23-2013 23:16:45 | More by rudzud

ehammond1

California

4.48/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Bottle (2012)

The Bruery
Placentia, CA

Black, heavy, and viscous throughout. Very, very small film of minimal carbonation. Leaves the glass oily on the way down. Appropriate, and pretty enough, though this beer's appearance is not what makes it special.

Exceptionally rich aroma: vanilla and very sweet chocolates, lots of barrel (coconut, stinging bourbon, Mounds bars), and a distinct, integrated, lovely, and sweet hazelnut addition. The base beer (Black Tuesday) is quite present, obviously, but the addition of hazelnuts is a welcome one that works.

As with Black Tuesday, this is sweet, rich, chocolate, and barrel-forward. This does seem a bit more subdued though and slightly less raw and aggressive than regular Black Tuesday, with distinct, authentic, flavorful hazelnut present, especially on the swallow and lingering finish. Some alcohol heat, but not quite as strong as regular Black Tuesday.

Full in body with low, creamy, silky carbonation.

Fantastic Black Tuesday variant.

Additionally, the wax smells of hazelnuts.

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2013 16:45:56 | More by ehammond1

ngeunit1

California

4.44/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - Dark black with a bit of reddish-brown around the edges and a thin finger of khaki-chocolate colored head. Fades fairly quickly.

S - Roasted chocolate and dark caramel malts, Bourbon, oak, vanilla, hazelnuts, black licorice, coffee, dark fruits, and some booze.

T - Roasted chocolate and dark caramel malts, hazelnuts, Bourbon, vanilla, oak, black licorice, molasses, dark fruits, coffee, and booze.

M - Full bodied with moderate carbonation. Smooth with a warming, sweet, and nutty finish.

D - Super bold and complex, and the hazelnuts add some great character.

Serving type: bottle

04-05-2013 04:21:59 | More by ngeunit1

illidurit

California

4.28/5  rDev -6.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Bottle shared at the March tasting in Santa Cruz. Pours brown with a light tan head. Big rich brownie aroma with some apparent heat. Flavor is a concentrated maple syrup blast, with port grapes, deep chocolate notes, and not nearly as much booziness as the aroma would suggest. Also much milder than plain ol’ Black Tuesday. Not a whole lot of nuttiness to me, but it is somewhat creamy and smooth compared to BT. Nice beer.

Serving type: bottle

04-01-2013 05:33:31 | More by illidurit

kevanb

Illinois

3.91/5  rDev -14.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4

750ml bottle poured into a Hair of the Dog stemmed tasting glass. Reviewed from notes.

The beer pours a deep, jet black color, very inky and sludge-like out of the bottle, a trace of caramel brown film appears on top of the beer but is gone immediately, no lacing to speak of. The aroma is intensely sweet, lots of milk chocolate, hazelnut, brown sugar, marshmallow with a pungent bourbon alcohol heat at the finish. The flavors are in line, massively sweet and borderline cloying. Lots of chocolate, brown sugar, marshmallow and a good amount of hazelnut character. It's really hard to tell that this was even aged in bourbon as it has almost zero noticeable barrel character and lacks any decent richness and complexity. Vanilla was the only detectable barrel note which was a huge loss for me. The body on this beer is nearly perfect, luscious, silky, rich, any adjective you can find for smooth and creamy but finishes a bit harshly because of the high alcohol content.

Verdict: An ambitious stout from the Bruery. I like the creativity with the hazelnut addition but the fact that this beer is so one dimensionally sweet and intensely rich makes it really hard to drink more than just a few ounces. I struggled to finish only 3oz.

Serving type: bottle

03-18-2013 15:33:39 | More by kevanb

oline73

Maryland

4.19/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from the bottle into a snifter.

Pours almost black with very little tan head.
The smell is quite sweet and a bit hot with roast and some dark fruit. The nose doesn't quite live up to the wax. The taste is also rather sweet. I'm getting some chocolate, dark fruit, and the hazelnut shows up here. The alcohol is quite hot. Nice after dinner beer.

Serving type: bottle

03-17-2013 04:54:33 | More by oline73

siege06nd

Virginia

4.84/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 5

A. Pours a deep, dark, tarry black. A half finger of light brown, loose head emerges and fades rapidly to a few bubbles. Big oily legs remain on the glass. Good.

S. Vanilla, chocolate, ripe dark fruit, lots of hazelnut, some fusile alcohol notes. This is really really nice.

T. Wow. This is so mellow considering the heat. Thick fudge, brownie batter, prominent vanilla, mild hazelnut, mild bourbon, overripe fruit. Amazing.

M. Cloying, coating. Low carbonation, excellent balance, sits nicely on the palate.

O. Wow. We had a Black Tuesday before this and it didn't do much for me but this is so shockingly different I can barely believe it is the same base beer. I don't get a ton of hazelnut, just some subtle notes in the background that even it out. Whatever was done differently here really balanced this out. Drinks like a liquid Heath bar. One of the best things I have had, albeit extremely sweet.

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2013 01:04:58 | More by siege06nd

kawilliams81

Illinois

4.44/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Reviewed from notes. Poured from a 750 ml bottle into a Half Acre snifter.

A- pours black with a 1 finger tan head. No lacing.

S- Super sweet fudge, chocolate, light coffee.

T- Crazy sweet diabetic coma!!! Some nuttiness (almost a Peanut Butter note), chocolate, fudge, and bourbon.

M- Full body and low carbonation. Syrupy and viscous.

O- very, very sweet but still very good. The chocolate and bourbon blend very well.

Serving type: bottle

03-06-2013 21:00:49 | More by kawilliams81

tectactoe

Michigan

4.83/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.75

Wow, Grey fuckin' Monday. Big thanks to Ron, Tim, and Mike for letting me partake in this craziness, even though I think I would've been contempt just sitting there smelling the wax. This one pours nearly black with a very small and menacing tan head that is reduced to a ring pretty quickly. Seemingly low carbonation, this one looks very thick and syrupy on the pour - I would expect nothing less from this 19.5% ABV beast.

And whoof... the aroma washes over my senses like a goddamn tidal wave. Chocolate, both dark and milky, smooth bourbon, sweet vanilla, roasted hazelnuts. Much like it's counterpart, Chocolate Rain, this beer has such an intoxicating and powerful aroma that demands attention. One thing I like about Grey Monday, however, is that it seems slightly less sweet and and abrasive than Chocolate Rain. But don't get me wrong - the sweetness is still there on the nose. Brown sugar, thick molasses, melted fudge. Another thing I love about Grey Monday is that the bourbon aroma is so smooth; not harsh or burning the nostrils at all. This is an amazingly crafted beer, and I haven't even brought the thing to my lips yet.

And just like Chocolate Rain, Grey Monday hits the palate and injects an intense sweetness throughout your entire nervous system. But just as the aroma indicated, tasting has confirmed - the sweetness of Grey Monday is controlled so much better than it was in Chocolate Rain. It's the "super sweet but still manageable" sweetness, and it's perfect. The flavors explode like a fucking bomb on my palate: vanilla, hazelnut, light cocoa, bourbon, oak and wood. Chocolate Rain felt like 19.5% ABV. Grey Monday does not. It's got that heavy warmth - but the bourbon is so smooth and even "soft", and it goes down like a dream. There's no way this thing is almost 20% ABV.

I love the hazelnut addition - not only because I love hazelnuts, but because it was done masterfully. It was subtle enough as to not wash any other flavors out (see: Frangelic Mountain Brown), but at the same time - it was noticeable and appreciated with each and every sip. As this bad boy warms up, more flavors emerge and the present ones just get stronger. Big coffee and roasted malts join the party. Nutty, smooth, boozy, and sweet all at once. There is a certain harmony between all of these things - a detailed system of checks and balances. The aftertaste is a collection of hazelnut, nuts, cocoa, vanilla, bourbon, and brown sugar sweetness. Nice, creamy body with a slick mouth feel, surprisingly not as sticky as you'd expect.

Jesus, I didn't want this one to end. I liked Chocolate Rain a lot. But Grey Monday takes two of my biggest "peeves" about CR (too much sweetness and a little too boozy) and fixes them elegantly. The sweetness is toned down and controlled better, and the bourbon is as smooth as you could imagine. Plus, the addition of hazelnut was nearly perfect. Sounds crazy, but I think I could finish the entire bottle of this without getting sick of it. Oh yeah, don't forget to smell the fucking wax. Thanks again to Tim, Ron, and Mike - I'm forever in debt.

Serving type: bottle

03-03-2013 17:22:36 | More by tectactoe

4DAloveofSTOUT

Illinois

4.58/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

Huge thanks to duff27 for the bottle share! Thanks Duffy!

poured into snifter glass.

reviewed from notes taken on 02/23/2013.

Appearance: black bodied with thin white cap. When the cap fades away the beer has a bit of an oily film on the top of the beer and no head.

Smell: Hazelnuts and peanut butter. Some faint coffee. Boozey nose, but not distracting and you gotta expect that from a beer this big.

Taste: Sweet hazelnuts and cocoa. Nutty and roasty. Hint of bourbon and faint coffee. The flavors are so well balanced and integrated in this beer. Really just spectacular complexity.

Mouthfeel: full bodied beer with low end of moderate carbonation. This beer really hides its ABV. Yeah there is a little bit of heat, but nothing much when considering the almost 20% ABV of grey monday. How does the Bruery hide the ABV so flawlessly in these massive beers? Its gotta be thier calling card, I really cant think of any brewery that does this better.

Overall: Fantastic Black Friday varient. It really exceeded my expectations. I didnt think that I would like this beer more than Chocolate Rain, but I do and it did.

Serving type: bottle

02-26-2013 02:45:11 | More by 4DAloveofSTOUT

UCLABrewN84

California

4.23/5  rDev -7.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Bottle pour for the Bruery Initiation Celebration held at The Phoenix Club in Anaheim, CA.

Pours an almost opaque super dark brown with a foamy dark khaki head that settles to wisps of film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace slowly drip into the remaining beer on the drink down. Smell is of dark roasted malt, cocoa, bourbon, and a very slight hazelnut scent. Taste is much the same with a sweet cocoa flavor and an alcohol kick on the finish. There is a mild amount of roasty bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a very good beer but it's very sweet and strong.

Serving type: bottle

02-25-2013 17:46:43 | More by UCLABrewN84

Duff27

Illinois

4.54/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

Small collar. Nice alcohol legs. Doesn't seem as dark as Black Tuesday but its been awhile. Can see an "oil" floating on top...guessing from the hazelnutz somehow?

Faint coffee, hazelnuts. Boozy but not overdone, even for 18+%abv.

Follows the nose, sweet on the backend. Groupthink suggests "peanut butter". Dangerously drinkable.

Medium thick mouthfeel. Low but great mouthfeel.

Well, I put A LOT trading into for this bottle and right now it's paying off. In a tasting where we've already had Rare, FFF brandy vanilla DL, FFF PvW DL, etc, this stands up!

Serving type: bottle

02-24-2013 02:24:15 | More by Duff27

jeonseh

Indiana

4.36/5  rDev -5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Bottle shared by nasty31 at a Black Tuesday and Variants tasting

A - Dark brown with small cocoa head that faded quickly. Lots of carbonation. Really a thick body that coats the glass. It looks a bit like syrup

S - Get hints of hazelnuts, slight oak and vanilla. There is a ton of sweet bourbon in it as well that makes up the main nose profile. It has sweet caramel and also a strong boozy presence

T - This is one sweet and boozy beer. There is sweet chocolate, vanilla, maple syrup, brown sugar, and cream. The hazelnuts make themselves known near the end with just a slight hazelnut presence. The bourbon and its booziness makes itself known in the taste as it did on the nose. This alcohol presence remains in the finish as well as a slight oak

MF - Thick, sticky and syrupy beer that coats the tongue. It also leaves a thick coating on the tongue in the finish. The finish is astrigent from the oak and the booziness.

O - Like Black Tuesday, this is a sweet beer. The hazelnuts add a slight twist with the nutty hazelnut presence. However, there isn't as much hazelnut as I'd like as it's just a small presence instead of making a strong presence. Out of this, CR and BT, I preferred this over BT but liked CR more.

Serving type: bottle

02-23-2013 23:28:52 | More by jeonseh

jvillefan

California

4.71/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

A: a very dark brown body with a white lacy head.

S: In the front, there is very strong chocolate. The aroma transitions to a sweet bourbon flavor at the end. Almost identical to the nose of Black Tuesday

T: while there are simalarities to Black Tuesday, this is a different beast. Bourbon and chocolate are up front but there is the hazelnut flavors that meld these flavors perfectly. There is an alcohol bite that comes up at the end.

M: Heavy heavy body with a suprising amount of carbonation given the ABV.

O: Amazing beer. Better then both Chocolate Rain and Black Tuesday.

Serving type: bottle

02-23-2013 21:06:01 | More by jvillefan

KevSal

California

4.63/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

Important note: while the listing says 19.5% the bottle states 18.6%

Big thanks to Hagedorn for this gem!

Opened tonight, well just because. Nice start to beer week.
The lady and I have split choco rain, and blak Tuesday twice, we'll see I we can handle this.

Split into 2 bruery snifters. Bottle bubbled up a little bit, funny enough a bottle of bt 11 at a tasting last weekend bubbled up huge (but still tasted great!)

A- well this is very much like its brothers. Just as expected, super dark with a thin dark head

S- upon opening it was huge! Frangelico liquor immediately comes to mind, which is t a bad thing per sa but not the direction I was hoping. Maybe this is going to be invariably sweet. In the glass it is actually quite muted at first, maybe the killer aroma was all in te bubbling up? However it slowly opens up and starts showing its splendor. Right up front more like CR than BT, chocolate sweetness upfront and mild alluring hazelnut all over. Its subtle and very nice. Part of the reason in cracking it is exactly for this.

T- big but this is expect. At first it was very very strong, I actually had thought that there was no way we'd get through this. Much more boxier than cr and bt...initially. Halfway down the glass and second glass it's a completely different story. Huge chocolate upfront and that great hazelnut flavor in the mix work very well together. Surprisingly not overly sweet as initial expecting (though it must be mentioned I do particularly like sweetness in beers). Chocolate with bits of hazelnut , the hazel is very subtle and not over bearing. I'm halfway through my second glass and in loving every sip.

M- surprisingly high carbonation for a beer this size. On the thicker side of course but if you've had bt and cr this is very much like em. At first the booze was overbearing and dissapointing but like I mentioned earlier that didn't last long. It's nicely integrated in the beer.

O- I'm lovin this stuff. Not as much hazelnut as I would have liked but it delivers in all departments. This feels like a variation of CR than a variation of Bt if that makes any sense. I'd love to try this side by side with em, and plan too some time in the future. I had bt and cr side by side last weekend and know for sure cr is my favorite. This one lands slightly behind cr.
Cr last week was fantastic even with some age and I have a strong feeling this one will be the same. I partly joined the rs this year for this beer and am glad it delivers.

However if your after on of these bad boys, while this one is great, go after a CR instead.

Serving type: bottle

02-02-2013 07:12:37 | More by KevSal

HopHead84

California

4.54/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

01/12/2013

Bottle into a Bruery snifter. Nice looking bottle.

A: Very dark, though not quite black. It seems black but there's some brownish red near the edges. The beige head is robust upon the initial hard pour, rising two fingers above the liquid. A swirl of the glass gives indication of the high ABV as there's a thick alcohol collar that devolves into a cascading string of pearls

S: This smells like Black Tuesday with the addition of hazelnuts, as you might have guessed, so if Black Tuesday isn't your thing you're not going to like this. It's super sweet and desert-like with tons of vanilla, hazelnut, maple, coconut, and bourbon. Mounds of diabetes inducing brown sugar and chocolate blend with alcohol, oak, and toffee. Dark fruit is restrained and redolent of grape and plum

T: Oak, bourbon, vanilla, hazelnuts, brown sugar, and maple. Very sugary and sweet, but you were expecting that. Alcohol provides much warming but little flavor. Dark chocolate is rich and pervasive and it blends with molasses and toffee. The finish is very rich.

M: Full body with upper low carbonation. The mouthfeel is silky, chewy, and sticky with much warming on the palate (palatial warming, henceforth).

Overall: Over the top in the sweetness category, but I was expecting this. I'm not doing a side by side with Black Tuesday at the moment, but this seems much more sugary sweet than Black Tuesday (if you can imagine that), to the point that 4oz would be an appropriate serving size. That being said, my fiance and I will be drinking this whole bottle and loving it. This is very nice, but I hope it doesn't interfere with my personal dreams of the Iced and Coffee Black Tuesday variants. Props to SR for a great idea.

Serving type: bottle

01-13-2013 04:06:36 | More by HopHead84

Psyko

California

4.33/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Grey Monday
On Tap at the Bruery Tasting Room
Served in a taster glass

Had this beer Tuesday October 30th at the Bruery Black Tuesday release party

A: Pours black as night, with only a slight brown head. Only minimal effervescence. Pronounced alcohol legs are visible. Unofficial ABV communicated by the tasting room staff was 19.5%. Yikes!

S: There is a strong boozy bourbon smell to this beer. Multiple smells presented vanilla and some nondescript nut aromas. 

T: Milk chocolate and bourbon are the dominate flavors of this big sweet stout. It might have been me but I did not taste the hazelnut flavors, but only a slight nuttiness. This could have been a result of the food I was eating at the time. Surprisingly there was no alcohol burn on the finish. Only a lingering milk chocolate aftertaste. With all of the flavor additions it is very evident that the base of this beer is Black Tuesday.

M: This beer has a different mouthfeel than the 2012 Black Tuesday which was tasted before this beer. While not quite as thick, Grey Monday coats the palate with a oily sheen. Not a bad effect, but would limit the amount of this beer one could tolerate in one sitting.

O: This beer did not taste how I had anticipated. I was expecting Black Tuesday with Nutella stirred in. While Grey Monday is a great variant of Black Tuesday there are others that I personally like better (Chocolate Rain). Overall, I would recommend trying this beer, you wont be let down.

Serving type: on-tap

11-04-2012 13:41:41 | More by Psyko

Hands22

Florida

4.8/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Served from a cask in 6oz pours at Beachwood BBQ (Seal Beach).

A- Deep, dark black color. No real head but has a small ring of tan bubbles along the edge of the glass. 

S- Has a strong port-like smell. Little bit of alcohol. Chocolate and hazelnuts. 

T- Port again. Some alcohol. Has a great hazelnut taste throughout, and with the chocolate is almost like nutella. Sweet and malty. 

M- Full bodies and delicious. No carbonation to speak of. Finishes very sweet. 

O- Amazing. The alcohol is well hidden and I liked that it was a cask served beer. Really smoothed things out and made for an easy drinking (despite the high ABV) desert-like beer. 

Serving type: cask

10-19-2011 04:08:47 | More by Hands22

Halcyondays

California

4.25/5  rDev -7.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

On cask at Beachwood I, 6 oz., I'm putting the ABV at 18.2% since I don't know what the ABV of 2011 Black Tuesday is yet, I'll change it if necessary, this is Black Tuesday with Hazelnuts,

A: Pours the deepest black with a minimal tan head, fair retention, no lace.

S: Dark chocolate, like an amaretto cream truffle, some roast.

T: Sweet hazelnut nectar and chocolate. The nuttiness is much more overt than I thought it would be, but it certainly works here. A nice take on Black Tuesday.

M: Beyond full-bodied as BT tends to be. Very smooth, minimal carbonation which suits it fine. Trace amounts of booze which is impressive in a beer this big.

O: For my palate, better than Chocolate Rain as a Black Tuesday variation. Apparently they had this at The Bruery Molecular Dinner at Beachwood and had some left over so the layman off the street got try some. Well worth the chance.

Serving type: cask

10-18-2011 21:50:43 | More by Halcyondays