Since I had three Black Tuesday variants from The Bruery, I thought it appropriate to have instead of just my line opinion, three total. So, here goes…
Guest reviewers Jennie and Richard and I cracked open the Vanilla double barrel and the initial reaction was not good. Overly sweet and masking the bourbon barrel of the original while being 1.2% higher in ABV. I found it unbalanced and overly sweet.
The Maple double barrel got better though still mixed reviews probably due to the fact that the maple was less pronounced and was in better balance with the base beer. It too was 1.1% higher in ABV. I liked it better than the vanilla getting a pancakes and syrup vibe.
The Port Barrel variant was the most complex. Different adjectives flowed which was a good sign. Considered overall a sitting by the fire with a snifter beer. I thought it showed off the barrel better and had Belgian and cider characteristics.
Not great was the main takeaway with Maple and Vanilla a distant 2nd and 3rd overall and the Port version winning mostly because it wasn’t as sweet as the other two.