Black Tuesday 2010 Release Party Recap with Video and Pics
TheFullPint.com was on hand to take part in the 2010 Black Tuesday Imperial Stout Release Party at The Bruery in Placencia, CA.
Here is a recap of the event, along with a brief video and pictures.
The Scene
Rewind one year ago, and you’ll remember the amazing amount of buzz and chaos surrounding The Bruery’s newest, biggest beer, Black Tuesday. There was a 2 mile long line wrapping a cold dirty business parkway, just for folks to try their luck at buying up to 3 bottles of Black Tuesday. It was a milestone event for The Bruery, but was met with mixed reaction. The folks who got the beer were happy, those who waited hours to wind up empty handed were not. Even some who waited hours and got the beer were not thrilled with waiting so long.
This year, The Bruery corrected this issue by holding an online bottle and ticket sale a month prior to the event. I can tell you that this made last nights event smooth and successful. We arrived at The Bruery at 5:15 PM, and were in the tasting room, sipping on gigantic beer by 5:30 PM. The Bruery was decked out in gangster garb like last year, and were making sure everything flowed as best as possible in their tight quarters.
The Beer
If I recall correctly, last year I enjoyed Chocolate Rain on cask better than Black Tuesday on tap. After hearing The Bruery’s explanation for the method behind batch 1, it makes sense why I would have liked Chocolate Rain a bit better. Black Tuesday was really boozy and off the charts malty last year. Chocolate Rain seemed a bit more roasty with the addition of the cocoa nibs. This year, I gunned right for Cherry Chocolate Rain, a new twist on the cask conditioned Chocolate Rain with cherries in the cask. After a whiff and a sip, I was really overwhelmed. The only thing this beer was missing was a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The aroma was filled with cherry pie or cherry candy, and my mouth was filled with a cherry cordial candy. It was way to sweet for me, to the point that I didn’t think I could finish it without getting diabetes. All kidding aside, it was the sweetest beer I’ve ever had. After that, I went back to Chocolate Rain, and it too was too sweet for my liking.
After that, I tried Black Tuesday. I can tell you it was the best of the three, and better than last year’s batch. First of all, the carbonation helps along that massive malt bill, and carry’s the bourbon notes really well. The sweetness was dialed down a tad compared to the two versions of Chocolate Rain. It wasn’t as hot and boozy, and I think they nailed it this year. The quick video clip of Patrick will explain why that might be.
In Closing
No hassle, good people, good beer, good times. I wish some of the older craft breweries who host rare bottle releases would pay attention, and see how this 2 year old brewery can make a positive experience out of a big hype machine.
