The Bruery Black Tuesday Sees a Resurgence at Year 10—What the Ale!

Mostra coffee Black Tuesday, one of the many variants consumed at the Black Tuesday 10th-anniversary party. Photo by Greg Nagel

There was a time when I was a proud Bruery Reserve Society member. But, like many, I had begun to craft subrooms in my office out of Bruery boxes full of beer, so I didn’t renew. “If you only had a smaller-format bottle,” I once said to Bruery founder Patrick Rue. 

“Maybe if you had a Terreux-focused Reserve Society, I would join that,” I mentioned sometime later as my palate shifted from the big and boozy bourbon variants. 

And as a last-ditch effort, I remarked, “Perhaps if you canned Black Tuesday and other big beers, I would return.”

I must have rubbed the right genie lamp because, in 2019, all of these things are finally a reality.

It’s the 10th vintage of Black Tuesday—as well as the 90th anniversary of the real Black Tuesday, so everyone was gussied-up in ’20s gear. Photo by Greg Nagel

Even though I still have several cases of various vintages and treatments of Black Tuesday tucked away, when I recently scraped the black wax off the last of my 2010s, it tasted as though it cellared well. “Should I buy more?” I thought, checking my bank account.

Cask-served single-barrel Black Tuesday had a fun Easter chocolate vibe. Photo by Greg Nagel

Seeing the new cans of the 19-plus percent ABV, bourbon-barrel-aged stout somehow gives the beer a fresh perspective. “I could possibly dome a can on a weeknight and not cry to my friends, telling them I love them at 3 a.m.,” I thought. “I can possibly pack a picnic with a can, various cheeses and charcuterie, and have a lovely day on the beach.” Hell, I wouldn’t feel awkward with a can next to me while sitting on a chaise longue by a hotel pool.

Cheers to tent chandeliers! Photo by Greg Nagel

“We’ve definitely seen a resurgence of interest in the beer,” says the Bruery’s events coordinator, Ryan Dick, at the latest Black Tuesday release party. It’s still big and bold, beaming with notes of caramel, chocolate truffles, vanilla and, of course, plenty of chewy bourbon oak on the finish. Although bottles and cans are officially sold out, I’m sure the tasting rooms will be pouring it (and its variants) until it’s all gone.

Taste it at the Bruery or Bruery Terreux. And to guarantee your spot to buy some next year, check out reserve.thebruery.com.

The Bruery, 717 Dunn Way, Placentia, (714) 996-6258; also at Bruery Terreux, 1174 N. Grove, Anaheim, (714) 905-7361; www.thebruery.com.

 

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