As I mentioned previously, I interviewed the Bruery a while back.  When I went to interview them, I brought a bottle of Dark Lord and an extreme beer that I brewed.  We tried both of those and a ton of other beers in the Bruery’s line-up before I tried Black Tuesday and knew that it was good but I didn’t have the chance to really get a good feel for it.  So, when my thirtieth birthday hit, Dan, who went to Black Tuesday release with me, brought the bottle he had gotten.  It was very gracious of him and I’m glad to have such a sharing friend.  Anyway, we tried it first so that there would be no mistaking what it tasted like.  After the much anticipated waiting time and not so great experience in the waiting line for the beer, I tasted it and here is what I thought.

The Pour: I felt like I was sitting underneath the car changing my long overdue oil.  This baby is black, really black.  A nice dark tan head comes to the surface of this viscous bubbling caldron of a beer.  The beer likes to stick to the glass and could be said to have legs a whole torso.  It’s obviously a big beer with a thick body, you can tell by looking at it.

The Nose: Big!  Larger than life is the nose of the beer.  Sweet roasted malts came to the nose along with strong tones of vanilla a Bourbon.  In fact, all the typical bourbon tones came through; Caramel was certainly not the least of these.  It was sort of like smelling a good Bourbon ball chocolate.  I knew immediately that there would be a sweetness and thickness to the brew.  Barrel char and oaky qualities were certainly present among the chocolate aromas.  A thick does of molasses like aroma was yet another quality and the beer was also dripping with dried fruits. Figs and raisons come to mind.  Needless to say, the beer was pretty redolent.

The Taste: What can I say, there’s nothing small about this beer at all.  Nothing really subtle.  It’s an in your face sort of brew.  The pretty hot alcohol of the bourbon was immediately present in the mouth and even makes it’s way into the nose.  Vanillas and a hint of oak cinnamon spice were evident in the beer.  Huge amounts of maltiness and a fair amount of residual sweetness held the alcohol in check.  Dried fruits gave a touch of port quality to the brew, while touches of smoke and burnt coffee made themselves known.  The mouth-feel was pretty full but needed to be in order to check the thinness of Bourbon.  A big dose of molasses tastes came to the for in the middle to the end of the brew, while it dried up a bit at the end.  This is a big beer with a lot of roast, strength and alcohol.

Overall, I love the beer.  Then again, I love Bourbon.  Then again, I love some residual sweetness in a stout.  Then again, many of the aspects of the beer play into things that I love.  However, if you don’t like Bourbon, hotter alcohol, and sweetness, you won’t like this beer.  I can certainly see how one might criticize the beer for having too much bourbon, alcohol, hotness…whatever you might call it.  Depending on your view, you may be happy or unhappy that you never try the beer.  Not to sound elitist, but most people won’t even have a chance to try the brew but, if you do, don’t miss out.  Give it a swing…it’s better than a stock market crash any day of the week.

Mike’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction while remembering how much I love Bourbon Stouts: ★★★★★ 

Among Other Bourbon Stouts: ★★★★★ 

Among other ales while remembering that this beer is not for everyone but still very well done: ★★★★☆