Midnight Bramble
The Bruery

 

 

375mL bottle (2024 vintage) into a tulip. Pours a dark blackish brown with a half-finger khaki head.

Aroma is roasty and bitter, with mostly notes of dark chocolate and coffee.

Taste leads off with a powerful fruity, slightly tart sweetness—presumably the boysenberries—layered on top of chocolatey dark malt. There’s a tug of war going on here between the sweet and the bitter and the sweet seems to be winning. Im not sure these flavors are complementing each other all that well and this beer is reminding me somewhat of these syrupy cordial cherries my grandma used to give me when I was a kid—not my favorite. I’m not really getting any bourbon or oak char as it seems to be hidden behind the berries.

Mouthfeel is medium-heavy and a bit sticky. The flavor lingers on the palate and leaves a warm, sticky sensation down the gullet.

Overall this is an interesting beer but maybe not one I’d choose to come back to.

 

Dark, dark pour at the Bruery…no head, lots of alcohol oils…boozy and berry-ish right out of the gates on the nose, strong boysenberry blended with boozy caramel and cacao on the palate…too strong to be super enjoyable for me, but reminiscent of other Bruery big stouts.

really heady offering here at the idaho location, at the outer limits of what is possible in the style, right up against the boundaries of what i love these guys for so often pushing, a huge imperial stout in bourbon barrels with boysenberries, and its right there at the max out point, like jazz, it takes a little intentional listening to fully hear and appreciate what is being offered, and this one is no casual sipper. obsidian black and high shine, short headed but not totally flat, viscous to a high degree, and i swear i can see some faint crayon purple through the black from the whole fruit in this. the nose is intense, tons of roasted grain in here, lots of alcohol too, notes of permanent marker and burnt coffee. the berries add an almost port wine fruitiness to this, the oak adds to that, somewhat medicinal with the alcohol, the bitterness, and the fruit at this level, but its real appealing and different too, good bourbon abounds, not super sweet which is unexpected, it really leans into that bitter dark grain character. the flavor is great, the berries are honest and bold in dosage, present the whole drink, at times tart like black currants and at other times sweet like blackberry or even huckleberry preserves, super cool on top of the intense dark malt, almost drinks like a spirit too, its really strong. the wood is pleasant in here, enriching and mellowing, the berries are real and juicy and they must have had to use a ton of them to get them to come through such a huge base beer, but the integration is a total success. long on the palate but not because its sugary. it also warms up really well, more fruit the longer it sits. a leader for me in the barrel aged fruited enormous stout space, exceedingly well done!