Tart Of Darkness
The Bruery

Tart Of DarknessTart Of Darkness
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From:
The Bruery
 
California, United States
Style:
Wild Ale
Ranked #228
ABV:
7.2%
Score:
94
Ranked #2,278
Avg:
4.23 | pDev: 10.87%
Reviews:
394
Ratings:
2,513
Status:
Active
Rated:
Dec 03, 2023
Added:
Jun 22, 2011
Wants:
  324
Gots:
  815
Tart of Darkness is a traditional stout that we aged in used oak barrels from The Bruery that had previously housed beers such as Cuivre™ or Black Tuesday®. We then brought them over to Bruery Terreux, added our special blend of souring bacterias and wild yeasts and watched nature take its course. The result is a perfectly tart yet awesomely dark and roasty, sour stout. Not a style you will see very often, and in our opinion, not a style seen often enough. This unique stout has notes of tart plums, roasted coffee, vanilla and oak.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Scalawags:
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Rated by Scalawags from Michigan

3.75/5  rDev -11.3%

Jul 16, 2014
More User Ratings:
Photo of drdiesel9483
Reviewed by drdiesel9483 from Ohio

4.24/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2012 in 2023
Look - Reddish purple brown nice rimming
Smell and taste - dark red fruit and woody, nice and tart
Feel - Medium body and carb
Overall - shocked how good it was for being 11 years old
Dec 03, 2023
Photo of MikeWard
Reviewed by MikeWard from Pennsylvania

3.85/5  rDev -9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
750ml bottle into a tulip. 2015 release, so 8 years old.

Black body with burgundy highlights. Head disappears almost immediately. Mixed aromas, sometimes dark chocolate, then cherry. Drink is VERY tart, base stout doesn't come through. Quite sour at times, some vanilla and butter notes. Cherry is pretty consistent. Finish is very drying.

Overall, a bit much for this palate. Maybe a few years ago this would have been better.
Aug 20, 2023
Photo of Falcon91Wolvrn03
Reviewed by Falcon91Wolvrn03 from California

4.35/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Look – A super dark, almost black clear ruby red color with a light head and good lacing.

Smell – Has a nice plumb scent.

Taste – Plumb flavor with a bit of sourness. I'm not really tasting the stout it says it is made from.

Feel – Nicely carbonated wild ale that goes down easy. A bit of a vinegary tartness.

Overall – Definitely one of the better wild ales I've had.
Sep 11, 2022
Photo of robotic_being
Rated by robotic_being from Illinois

4.24/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2016 vintage drank in 2022.
Apr 02, 2022
Photo of brewandbbq
Reviewed by brewandbbq from New Hampshire

3.8/5  rDev -10.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
750ml bottle from about 10 years ago.

Pours almost opaque dark brown with zero head or retention. Dark chocolate with faint balsamic in the nose. Medium bodied with a slickish, almost waxy mouthfeel. Light char with bakers chocolate and a lingering sourness on the palate. Finishes tart and char-like.
Mar 20, 2022
Photo of Gatch
Reviewed by Gatch from Massachusetts

4.37/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Bottled 6/22/15 and consumed early August 2021. Unique appearance for a sour but we know it’s a stout at heart. Lots of dark fruit and roasty funk but becomes a bit cloying at the end. An enjoyable, special beer.
Aug 11, 2021
Photo of Sigmund
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

4.03/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Shared 750 ml bottle, at Café Sara, Oslo. ABV was 7%. Black colour, low beige head. Lovely brett aroma, also oaky and roasty notes, brandied fruits, quite complex. Sour flavour, lemony notes, the roasty notes are quite subdued. Tart finish.
May 13, 2021
 
Rated: 4.68 by coda206 from Washington

Feb 13, 2021
 
Rated: 4.15 by desint from Belgium

Jan 29, 2021
 
Rated: 2.87 by EasternIsh from California

Jan 12, 2021
Photo of spinnylights
Reviewed by spinnylights from Pennsylvania

4.83/5  rDev +14.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5
2013 vintage. Poured into my cute Maredsous goblet. Jet black, little-to-no-head. Sharp, juicy nose with an assertive roast malt character—almost reminiscent of strawberry jam and butter on dark toast. Intensely sour up front, medium-to-light body, slight bitterness, something of a clover-and-flowers character but fairly dry. Roast malts are largely unapparent until just after swallowing, when they loom up out of the background and dominate the atmosphere for a second or too, followed by an impressively long berry-themed finish with hints of cream and sorrel. Truly lovely.
Jan 02, 2021
 
Rated: 4.19 by odenbr12 from New Jersey

Aug 28, 2020
Photo of BubbleBobble
Reviewed by BubbleBobble from New York

4.12/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
2016 vintage. Pours dark brown, hints of cherry as the light hits it with a thick ring of tan head. Nose is sour cherry juice, bit of malt, molasses as it warms. Still, though, not too much of the "stout" character of this comes through. Taste is pleasantly tart cherries, none too sweet, cranberries, underripe plums. Mouthfeel and carbonation pretty thin and refreshing. As a sour it's excellent, but missing out on those stout notes.
Aug 09, 2020
Photo of CraigDeMoss
Reviewed by CraigDeMoss from Kansas

4.23/5  rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
2017 bottle

Pours a near pitch-black cherry. Really cool, quickly dissipating, fizzy foam head. Dark fruits, plum and currant, dark malt, some whiskey as it warms. Rounded molasses bittersweetness of a typical stout backbone bridges the gap to dark stone fruit, fig, date that is balanced by a somewhat tinny, funky tartness. Tangy dryness after mid range fullness and carbonation. Extremely impressive, wish there were more of this style, especially a bba version!
Aug 09, 2020
 
Rated: 4.02 by BrewsOverHoes from Georgia

Jun 29, 2020
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Reviewed by StoutElk_92 from Massachusetts

4.54/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
2016 bottle

Pours dark near black with a dissipating tan frothy head. Smells a bit like red wine, cherries, plum, tart grapes, berries, roasted malt, rich chocolate, caramel, dark toffee, molasses, oak barrel, hints of sweet bourbon, a little wild funk, barnyardy notes, hay, with earthy grassy pine. Tastes like acidic red wine, sour vinegar, tart cherries, plum, vinous grapes, dark berries, roasted malt, chocolate, caramel, toasty toffee, molasses, mild bourbon, oak, hay, wild yeast, barnyardy funk, with dusty earthy grassy pine. Feels medium bodied, rounded and smooth, creamy with moderate carbonation and bracingly high acidity. Overall a nice oak barrel aged sour stout.
May 04, 2020
 
Rated: 5 by RiceOwls27 from Texas

Apr 03, 2020
 
Rated: 4.45 by taospowder from New Mexico

Jan 31, 2020
 
Rated: 4 by rare_bird from Michigan

Dec 03, 2019
Tart Of Darkness from The Bruery
Beer rating: 94 out of 100 with 2513 ratings