Black Tuesday - Stacks Reserve - Red Berry
The Bruery

12.7 ounce bottle, 2023 vintage, bottled 09/18/23. Served in a chalice, the beer pours dark brown/black with about an inch or so tan head. Head retention and lacing are both decent enough. Aroma is nice, the brew smells mostly like raspberries, strawberries and a general red berriness, along with some vanilla, maple, dark chocolate and bourbon. I think the taste is pretty much like the aroma, but there's also some oak, coffee, burnt/charred malt and dark bready flavors noticeable too. I do think the red berries stand out in both the aroma and taste, but without overpowering everything else in the brew. Mouthfeel/body is full, it's coating and rich with a moderate amount of carbonation. I liked this one a lot, but then The Bruery tends to do a great job with their bigger imperial stouts and brews in general. Certainly worth a try for sure!

 

Review: 2445
Name: Black Tuesday Stacks Reserve Red Steel
Brewery: The Bruery
Location: Placentia, CA
Style: Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
ABV: 18.9%
Canned: 2024
Date: 03 July 2025
It was a great day; I enjoyed spending time with my kids and doing pre-4th of July celebration activities. I am using a tulip glass and serving the beer at a temperature of 50 degrees. The pour created a frothy, foamy, one-fingered head with poor retention. The quick dissipation left no lacing on the glass. The color is dark brown, nearly black, with an SRM of 34, and opaque. Generally, The Bruery, regardless of ABV, has some head retention; therefore, the appearance is average.
My first whiff of the beer reveals notes of whiskey, berries, maple, vanilla, bread, char, and wood. Nosing the glass again, I detect notes of dark chocolate, dark-roasted coffee, earthiness, caramel, toffee, raisins, anise, floral notes, light pine resin, and a subtle Maillard aroma.
The first sip of Red Steel, a whiskey, reveals flavors of char, light orange, vanilla, berries, maple, bread, and caramel that ooze throughout this beer. Sipping the beverage again, I taste toffee, raisins, anise, floral esters, pine resins, a skosh of Maillard, dark chocolate, espresso, earthiness, anise, date, cherries, and a faint note of leather.
The mouthfeel is chewy, finishing warm and dry. The body is heavy and has low carbonation.
Final Thought: Red Steel tastes like a maple pancake drizzled with berry syrup soaked in a barrel-aged imperial stout. The beer is surprisingly warmer than many of the The Bruery beers that I have tried. The flavors are delightful, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to try this beer.

Black Tuesday - Stacks Reserve - Red Berry pours an almost black color with a small, tan head. The aroma is filled with berry notes and sweet maple. The flavor is very sweet, maple blends in very well with he big berry flavors. Good, thick, big feel. Overall, a big stout, very sweet, maple mixes very well with the big berry flavors.

Courtesy to BIF '25 @Roguer, 2024 vintage:

Pours a deep black, minimal head and what was there is gone in a faint ring of bubbles. Nose is exceptionally fruity, strawberry and raspberry are standouts with undertones of maple. In fairness, there may be boysenberry there (listed) but considering I haven't seen, nor tasted, a boysenberry in perhaps a decade, hard to say for certain. Taste pretty much echos the nose... what you smell is what you taste. It's not cloying sweet but it is sweeter than I would have likely expected given the combination of strawberry and raspberry. Fortunately, tartness shows itself as it warms and it's very much appreciated. Moderately carbonated, somewhat thin mouthfeel, but slick overall. I'll echo what I said with the Blueberry Stack's Reserve and fruited stouts broadly (knives be damned), save the fruit for breakfast.

 

 

From the 12.7 fl oz bottle in a snifter thanks to Bluejacket74! This monster
of berry melange pours a coal black with dark tea highlights and a moderate
head of tan foam that settles to a thick ring, thin pooling layer, and sports some
faint lacing and nice legs. Nose of strawberry, raspberry, maple,and rich boozy
bourbon. Flavors nail the target with raspberry, strawberry, maple, blackberry
aka boysenberry, subtle maple, moderate boozy bourbon, and dark chocolate
with coffee hints. Mouth feel is full, smooth, rich, coating, light carbonation,
and a moderately dry and lightly tart finish.

Overall, another winner from a fantastic brewery!

Cheers