Grey Monday
The Bruery

 

Review: 2200
Name: Grey Monday
Brewery: The Bruery
Location: Placentia, CA
Style: Double Barrel Imperial Barrel Aged Stout
ABV: 20.8%
Canned: 2019
Date: 12 Sept 2024
I have reached 2200 reviews/beers. I never thought I would get over 1000 reviews when I started this. I am looking forward to the next 100 until it comes time for 5000 reviews. For this milestone, I chose a behemoth, Grey Monday, from 2019. The name 'Grey Monday' is a nod to the intense, complex flavors of this beer, which make it a perfect choice for a contemplative, rainy day. I was using a tulip glass and served the beer at 50 degrees. The pour created a frothy, airy, one-fingered, light tan head with poor retention. The semi-quick retention left no lacing on the glass. The color is inky black and opaque, charting at SRM 38. This beer is beautiful; I am okay with the quick dissipation because of the 20.8 ABV.
Bringing the glass to my nose, I'm greeted by a symphony of aromas. The massive oak barrel, the intense bourbon, the nutty, and chocolate notes all dance together. Nosing the glass again, I pick up on the subtler hints of coffee, tobacco, char, earthy tones, alcohol, molasses, raisins, figs, caramel, toffee, Maillard, burnt sugar, nutty, vanilla, light char, and oranges. This beer is a sensory adventure, with each aroma adding a new layer to its complexity.
The first sip of Grey Monday is a revelation. The flavors burst forth, starting with a massive nuttiness that's a perfect blend of chocolate, coffee, bourbon, char, and oak. It's like a delicious nut butter mixed with fine chocolate, reminiscent of Nutella but with a sophisticated twist. As the beer's flavor develop on the palate toffee, caramel, molasses, char, tobacco, vanilla, and earthy notes. The double barrel created a huge complex depth to the beer with oak, bourbon, char, and caramel notes. This beer is a unique experience, a journey of flavors that keeps you returning for more.
I was expecting this chewy mouthfeel, but it was more than that. The beer coats your tongue and palate, leaving a rich, dense finish that warms you from the inside. The body is heavy and has medium carbonation, adding to the overall luxurious mouthfeel.
I am grateful that Grey Monday wasn't overly heavy and chewy, as I had expected. The beer's high ABV didn't make it too hot, and I loved the expressive nuttiness. The barrel aging was just right, not overpowering the other flavors. I'm not sure how they achieved this balance, where I'm not only sipping on wood. This is truly an enjoyable Stout, especially on a chilly, damp Idaho evening.

750 ml bottle into a snifter. Bottled 5/7/21, had 6/22/24.

Pours near black and opaque, with a brief head and no lacing. Aromas of roasted malt, chocolate, vanilla, oak, some bourbon, some hazelnut when warmed. Flavors of bourbon- strong as it warms, roasted malt, chocolate, some oak, some hazelnut, light vanilla. Smooth, a very good full body, appropriately carbonated.

The Black Tuesday base is great. The hazelnuts show, but not as expected/desired. Maybe they’ve faded from age, but maybe not. Still, it’s pretty solid overall, and very enjoyable.

RFOB2018 0425

2024-08-04
750ml capped/waxed bottle served in a small Hoppin' Frog snulip. 2018 Edition, handed to me by @2beerdogs.


Pours dark brown, not as dark as I expected, nearly still, basically no head. Smell is mild alcohol up front, tons of chocolate, some coffee and vanilla.

Taste is not as boozy as I was afraid, though definitely boozy. I get vanilla and spice before chocolate and plums. Label says hazelnut, but I think that specific flavor is either lost to time or drowned out by the booze, vanilla, and char.

Mouthfeel is lighter than expected, only medium bodied, and has a bit of a dry texture which really surprises me. Overall, this is interesting and good, and will be very interesting as it warms up over the next couple hours while I sip on it.

 

 

 

 

Bottle pour - dark as night with short, quickly dissipating khaki head leaving a ring of tiny bubbles. Nose is sweet with cocoa and molasses, boozy barrel wood and hints of nuts. Taste follows more or less, definitely getting alcohol creep that lingers on the finish. A cold weather sipper.

 

 

 

2021 vintage

I’m an absolute sucker for hazelnuts in a Stout, and when I see that The Bruery has one, it’s an instant buy. Plus it’s also another top 250 list tick. This is a big ass bottle that I’ll likely be attacking all night so let’s stop wasting time and get right into it

Pours a very dark brown with 2 fingers of light tan head that quickly fades to a ring and leaves minimal lacing

Right off the jump, there isn’t much hazelnut present in the nose, but it’s still interesting nonetheless. I’m picking up on aromas of molasses, earthy bourbon, peat smoke, sea salt, cocoa powder, toasted hazelnut, dry oak, light vanilla, and raisin

The hazelnuts definitely express a bit more in taste, though they still aren’t exactly at the forefront. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting cocoa powder, earthy bourbon, toasted hazelnut, toasted oak, black cherry, burnt caramel, vanilla, sea salt, and smoky tobacco. The swallow brings notes of dark chocolate, earthy bourbon, toasted hazelnut, sea salt, peat smoke, sea salt, molasses, dry oak, burnt caramel, and light vanilla

A medium body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a slick beer. Finishes mostly dry and drinks significantly below its abv. Like literally less than half and that’s easily the most impressive part of this one

I struggle with this one. It’s definitely not top 250 material, and the adjunct isn’t really the star, but on the other hand it’s (dangerously) drinkable and pretty unique. Worth a shot for sure

750mL bottle, 2021 edition sent to new Society members under their new nationwide shipping policy. Very little difference from the base Black Tuesday, if I'm honest, having had regular BT many times but this being my first Grey Monday. That means it's excellent, but the hazelnut treatment is pretty muted at this point (if it was ever more prominent), yielding a slight generic nuttiness with a touch of additional sweetness. It's not Nutella, that's for sure. It also suffers the same shortcomings of the standard BT, being very thin on mouthfeel for the ultra-high ABV and pretty hot on bourbon heat once it warms up a bit.

 

 

Pours a very dark brown though with moderate light clarity on the edges. Fizzy cola head that quickly dissipates to a thin ring. Nose has a hint of hazelnuts right off the bat before giving way to big waves of whiskey and rum, molasses, dark soy sauce, barley, oyster sauce, and vanilla. Flavor is a little tough to place. Heat - both warming booze and sharp ethanol - pop right away. There's significant salinity that's different from Black Tuesday - less deep, blackstrap molasses, more brackish sea spray or even oysters. Malts, soy sauce, black licorice are there, but with less intensity than BT. The nuts come forward as it warms, and though it's hard to definitively place hazelnuts, they would be a guess along with peanuts and hazelnuts - definitely nothing too fatty like a walnut. Mouthfeel is remarkably thin for this kind of beer (I'd call it "moderate"), especially when compared to BT or a BCBS. That's not bad per se, but I think the feel contributes to the overall heat and sharpness. This was interesting - though I'm not sure I'd be keen to shell out for another bottle.