Aloha Friday
The Bruery

750 ml blue wax capped bottle, 2021 edition, 19.2% ABV, bottled 04/13/21. Served in a snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with about an inch tan head that didn't stay around for too long. Small amount of lacing. Aroma is nice, the brew smells like roasted malt, bourbon, dark chocolate, vanilla, coconut and nuttiness. For the most part I think the taste is similar to the aroma, but with the addition of some burnt/charred malt, dark fruit, oak and earthy flavors. All the flavors are balanced, with no one flavor overpowering the others. Mouthfeel/body is full, it's coating and a bit syrupy with a moderate amount of carbonation. It's a bit boozy, but nowhere near as much as I expected for being 19.2% ABV. I liked this brew a lot, but wish the coconut flavor had more of a kick but that's really not a complaint. Hope this one comes back at some point!

 

 

 

Black color. Thin, beige head. Chocolate, nuts, vanilla, and coconut in the aroma. Rich and balanced taste with light alcohol notes at the end. Warming finish.

Had a few (3?) bottles of this now, time to run a review of it, two on the same day, hey its Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday. Is this canned? Wild.

Pours black. Brown head, 1/3". Bourbon and roasted malt dominate the nose, but its not exclusive to those two. Light amounts of that vanilla coconut macadamia nut vibe throughout.

Taste really captures the base of Black Tuesday, not missing a beat with that huge bourbon amount. Mouthfeel and taste both bring nuance with the alternating dryness macadamia meets oily coconut and bourbon. Its impressive how something so big can still deal in nuance in execution, not just on paper. Already one of my favorite of the variants. The adjuncts even hold up years later. Haven't seen much difference fresh versus years later. As usual, the mouthfeel on the abv is nowhere as strong as the numbers on the label. I just wanna love somebody who won't leave a hole in my heart.

Review: 2365
Name: Aloha Friday
Brewery: The Bruery
Location: Placentia, CA
Style: Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
ABV: 21.1%
Canned: 2022
Date: 18 April 2025
I have several Bruery beers in my cellar; getting rid of them will take some time. I am using a tulip glass and serving the beer at 50 degrees. The pour created an airy, half-fingered, dark tan head with terrible retention. The fast dissipation left no lacing on the glass. The color is midnight black, dark mahogany hues, charting at SRM 38, and opaque. This beer's appearance is below average.
Nosing the glass, I smell molasses, nuttiness, dark roasted malts, coconut, toasted brown bread, oak, char, bourbon, leather, raisins, dates, toffee, caramel, dark chocolate, espresso, and earthiness. Smelling the glass again, I noticed vanilla, tobacco, floral, and grassy.
Sipping the beer, I taste toasted bread, coconut, toffee, anise, raisins, toffee, caramel, dark chocolate, soy sauce, Maillard, brown sugar, flower bouquet, grassy, light smokiness, oak, whiskey, vanilla, char, dark roasted malts, espresso, and earthiness.
The mouthfeel is smooth, with a warming finish. The body is heavy and low in carbonation.
The high abv does show some heat on the finish. The heavy barrel aging brings more char, Maillard, bourbon, and oak notes. I enjoy several Bruery beers; however, this year of Aloha Friday, I do not like as much. I have consumed a different year, and the adjuncts did not get lost in the barrel aging.

A: Poured into a snifter to a black beer with minimal head. Surprising as BT usually has a bit of head showing carbonation.
S: Smells of bourbon barrels, coconuts, and some macadamia nut.
T: Taste is roasted malts, chocolate, vanilla, coconut, macadamia nuts, and oak. Nice barrel notes throughout with some hints of molasses. On the finish there's more coconut, macadamia nut, oak, vanilla, and some coffee
M: This beer is surprisingly light in body for the style while also having a slightly oily feel. Carbonation is adequate for the style while the beer has a drying finish due to the ABV.
O: Overall this is a nice addition to the days of the week lineup. The adjunct additions play well with the base beer while not overpowering things making it a fun and enjoyable beer to drink.

Pitch black opaque body with a brown head. Coconut, macadamia nut, and vanilla with bourbon in nose. Taste is so boozy with the macadamia nuts probably the next biggest coconut not far behind though, brown sugar booze finishes. Feel is pretty hot, the sugars add up a little too. Seemed the nose was spot on but the taste and feel reveal this to be sipper with some leakage of sugary booze

Pours a thick opaque brown-black with a small white head. Smells tropical, fruity, malty, and of molassas. The taste is the same as the smell. Very warming. Full bodied and smooth.

Pours near black with garnet edges; comes out rather thin with a wispy, brief head; no lacing or retention. Nose is typical Black Tuesday variant - intensely roasted, almost savory malt, leather, molasses, salty licorice vanilla/bourbon/barrel. No way coconut or nuts are getting through all that. Taste is a lot light that expected - salty licorice and spicy, toasted grain up front, but pretty mellowed out from there. The slightest bit of coconut suggests itself before being burned off by big hits of bourbon and booze. Macadamia nuts? If you say so. Long, spicy, leathery finish that is pretty tannic. As with a lot of these day variants, none it's hard to a) taste the adjuncts through the noise of the base beer and b) see how it's an improvement on BT. Mouthfeel is noticeably thinner than BT, with small, prickly carbonation to boot. A fine beer, but does nothing to highlight or justify its additions.

 

 

 

 

12 oz bottle; Bottle date of 10/12/22. This batch’s ABV is listed at 21.1%.

Pours a syrupy black with deep ruby red highlights. No head to be found here whatsoever.

The nose is straight BT to me - boozy bourbon and very sweet. I’m not picking up any coconut whatsoever, which isn’t a promising sign for the taste.

The beginning of each sip is dominated by dark chocolate, roasted malt, and bourbon, and the coconut does make its presence known as the sip fades. VERY nice!! I’m not sure if the macadamia is what lends the creamy texture, but this is creamier than many if not all BT variants I’ve had.

Another reviewer mentions this beer’s balance, and that is spot on. This is a very well balanced sipper. And at 21%, I’m only gonna do half of this guy and put in the stopper to come back later!