The Bruery Vindictive
What the brewers say
“This Black Tuesday varietal is blended and fermented with must from 75% destemmed and 25% whole cluster Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre grapes from Sans Liege. After nearly a year in oak, this release vanquishes the boundaries between wine and beer.”
What our panel thought
Aroma: “Some dark fruits of plums, grapes, and prunes. Malt notes come through with chocolate, toast, a bit of roast. A little caramel and vanilla, too.”
Flavor: “The flavor of this beer dances between roast character with some malt sweetness and fruit sweetness. The roast is a bit of coffee, leather, and chocolate. Fruits are plum and prune with some sweet grapes coming through, grappa-like. Stout character gets a bit lost in the mix.”
Overall: “The complexity of this beer is its strong suit—an interesting blend of sweetness and maltiness in a very unique context—but I am not sure the grapes added to this stout. It’s begging for a silkier body, and the grapes seem to thin it out (almost to dark barleywine territory). The flavors work—this beer has legs.”