The Bruery (2021)

Yep same here!

 

This years BT Reserve was aged in grape brandy barrels. Not sure how I feel about that but I’m down to try it!

 

I assume more akin to BT GR 2019?

 

Which I was initially a little worried about, because I couldn't get into GR2019. Tried this Reserve today though and I dug it. I think the GR was a little too much for me but this is perfect, getting the grape brandy coming through with the bourbon.

 

https://mybeerbuzz.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-bruery-adding-half-time-shuffle.html?m=1

 

woahhh, talk about a epic sounding pastry stout.....

 

How often do RS allocated beers sell out before the end of the month? I want to get in on the BTR and the Portified, but I'm thinking I should wait to see if my sense of taste comes back post-COVID before I spring for any more beer.

 

Do the senses never come back for some people?

 

First off, best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Over the past year they've gotten pretty good at flagging beers with low quantities: Mai Zombie this month is a good example.

Also, judging by the 6 bottle Hoarder allocation limit on both Portified and Reserve it sounds like they made a lot. There's no guarantee, but I would be very surprised if you didn't see both of them in cellar sales later in the year.

 

Reporting back on the Portified Black Tuesday. This is fantastic, get your hands on a few bottles of this. Silky smooth mouthfeel, rich cocoa powder, vanilla and grape? wonderful concentrated Black Tuesday flavor. Incredibly complex and awesome. I only could handle about a 2-3 oz. pour, I see some pics of people pouring full glasses (crazy!). Sooooo goooodddd.....

 

It seems to be an open question: COVID-19 steals smell, taste. Some survivors may never regain them. (usatoday.com)

 

You should be alright waiting for a couple of weeks. I can only think of two beers that sold out in the past three years. The Bruery has put a lot of effort at making sure that everyone has a fair chance of getting "all of the beer" into peoples hands.

 

I was wondering what might justify this beer being, like, twice as expensive (by volume) as port BA Black Tuesday which was already great, but this post just might do it

 

I would imagine it's the three years this beer rested, vs. one, that justify the extra cost. I'd have to run the numbers, but in theory, it should be closer in cost to the double barrel Port BT from the Virtual Box.

 

Just opened Baked on the Bayou and it was a massive gusher. A third of the bottle erupted all over the table. Happen to anyone else or just me?

 

Mine gushed, but not as extreme as yours.

 

The canned Port BT was $1.67/oz not counting discount or tax and if you value the glassware at $0 and assume the maple and vanilla ones are same price.

Portified base price is $3.14/oz, which is by far the most expensive release so far (not counting historical releases with elevated prices).

I think it's the three years AND inclusion of grapes.

 

Having Samoa and Spicy Island tonight and they are amazing! I wish I had another box of the 2019 Black Tuesday variants, hope the new ones are at least close, I will be picking em up after Valentine’s Day!

 

Portified BT is indeed delightful! I wish I knew more about Port so I could comment more intelligently on how this differs from "regular" Port. My underinformed take, based on only having Port (which I presume was bottom shelf) a handful of times, is that there's tons of Port upfront with a BT finish. The Port is dominant but the BT isn't washed away like in some of the still wine hybrids.

Tons of great raisony flavors. Rich and very smooth and very mellow. It is sweet, but not nearly as overly sweet or cloying as I was worried it might be. I think I could enjoy the whole bottle in a night if I wanted... I just don't want to because I'm very excited to see how it does over the course of ~4 pours over the next week.

The price is steep... hard to justify for a "one sitting" beer, but if indeed it makes for a nice little treat over multiple nights I could see extra value there. I mean, it is super good, but is it literally twice as good as regular Port BT for example? Probably not, but might be close enough for the sake of variety and versatility...

 

One of the benefits of a small pour of Portified is I decided to open up the new Reserve afterwards.

I was going to skip BT Reserve this year entirety because I already have so many BT variants stocked up, but then I saw the Brandy barrel and thought that was intriguing.

It is, as expected, super delicious. The Brandy is very forward and I think complements well. Bit of an ethanol booziness but not harsh. Actually, my notes are very similar to the 19 Grand Reserve. On that one I had noted a very thin body though, which I would not apply to 21 Reserve. It's not thick but it is in line with the more full body of BT from last couple years. In that respect I think I might like this one more than the grand reserve!