This 2024 vintage of Black Tuesday is incredibly full-bodied, with a nicely carbonated core keeping things easy to dig into. Following the aromatics, you'll find layer upon layer of milk and dark chocolates, pleasant roast, and sweet bourbon-barrel notes bringing along vanilla and almonds. We'd be hard-pressed to point to a more lush BA imperial stout: this is full of nougat, deep caramelization, roasted nuttiness, and endless depth. Spend some time with this one. A long-lasting finish with syrah-like vinous warmth, pleasant lingering spiciness from its barrel time and core hop additions, and persistently decadent figs and dark fruits. So plush.

Aging & Pairing Notes:

This Black Tuesday release is absolutely sturdy enough for some additional cellaring time. This should age gracefully for years to come. For pairings, we'd go with the heftiest fire-grilled steak, leg of lamb, or smoked brisket-or try a classic pairing like a pungent, salty Stilton cheese as an out-there counterpoint. Or dessert options like cherry-topped cheesecake and coconut ice cream.

12 Drummers Drumming (2024)

The Bruery – Placentia, California

• Style: Blend of Belgian-style Quadrupel Ale & Bourbon Barrel-aged Old Ale
• ABV: 12%
• Serving Temp: 46-54° F
• Suggested Glassware: Chalice, Tulip, Snifter, or Pinot Glass

This release of 12 Drummers Drumming, brings the Twelve Days of Christmas Collection full circle. Their first beer in the series, Partridge in a Pear Tree, was styled after a massive Belgian quadrupel, and the series has occasionally veered back to this particular style over the years, including a straight-up quad rendition with 7 Swans-a-Swimming back in 2014. This 12th beer combines a dense, Belgian-style quadrupel base with a smaller portion of The Bruery's bourbon-barrel-aged anniversary ale, at a ratio of 4-to-1. While the large proportion of quad firmly positions this beer in line with the Christmas series, that portion of anniversary ale highlights another project that The Bruery's had going on for just about as long: their ongoing series of solera-style old ales, in which a portion of each year's anniversary ale gets held and blended into the next year's batch of anniversary ale-creating an old ale of increasing complexity every year.

The Bruery's 12 Drummers Drumming pours a deep mahogany color with modest foam and reasonable lacing around the periphery of the glass. It looks dark, dense, intricately built. The rich aromatics of dark fruits land immediately, with quad-like elements of plums, raisins, and well-ripened figs. While generous from the get-go, give this beer a bit of time to warm from fridge temperature to get the full effect. There's a lot of complexity to dig into: from vibrant toffee and a hint of vanilla, to the deeply rich brown sugars and burnt caramel of the old ale.

We're particularly taken with how well this overall blend works together, as that first sip puts forth a generous combo of the Belgian-style quad and Solera-method old ale components. It is not a tiny result… Generous layers of dense, dark fruitiness, toffee and peppery yeast from the quad are met by the abundantly caramelized and Sherry-like depth of the old ale. Overall mouthfeel is quite robust, viscous, and generous on all fronts, with a modest impact of oaky tannins plus a lean current of warming, vinous alcohol providing plenty of lift to the texture overall. There are particularly bold notes of toffee and fig throughout, tuned to the holidays, leading up to a well-rounded finish of caramel and toastiness from the bourbon barrels.

Aging & Pairing Notes:

As with all of the beers in the 12 Days of Christmas series, 12 Drummers Drummings was brewed to be both ready to drink now and sturdy enough for some additional aging time. If you've been cellaring earlier releases from the series to drink with this one, we'd be inclined to do that sooner rather than later. Look to heartier fare on the pairings front: the dark fruit and caramelization have us considering brisket burnt ends or a spicy, peppery grilled steak.

9 Ladies Dancing (2024)

The Bruery – Placentia, California

• Style: Strong Ale w/ Cacao Nibs, Vanilla, Coffee & Lactose
• ABV: 11.3%
• Serving Temp: 48–55° F
• Suggested Glassware: Tulip, Snifter, Goblet, or Pinot Glass

The Bruery's 9 Ladies Dancing is one of our favorites and a consummate crowd pleaser. It's an 11.3%-ABV strong ale taking inspiration from the legendary Italian dessert, tiramisu. The special ingredients in the 9 Ladies Dancing release include cacao nibs and coffee, vanilla and lactose-but the result is a lively, fruit-forward brew that's hugely drinkable fresh, though built to age very gracefully.

At no point does this one feel overly weighty, despite its dessert influences. That suggestion of tiramisu was actually most apparent in the aroma for us, with comforting notes of coffee-soaked wafers and hints of caramel landing above the fruitier tones. The robust, roasted and creamy elements of tiramisu(-ish) are underpinned by a robust red-fruit character that shows through and expands quite a bit in the flavor. Chocolate-covered cherries. Milk-chocolate-y strawberries. Nicely roasted coffee and toffee elements that line up beside ripe red berries. As this warms, the milk chocolate and strawberry notes come through more clearly. We all kept going back to the aroma in trying to wrap our heads around this beer: its clear tiramisu angle is most evident there, and always as just one element of a deeply developed strong ale.

9 Ladies Dancing was endearing from the moment we poured it, but at around 50 degrees or so this opens up into its full potential: generous, layered fresh-fruit character that's balanced by a subtle caramelization and secondary tiramisu notes: coffee, vanilla, cookie. It's tough for us to think of a more suitable holiday-beer profile off the top of our heads: this one offers a lean and well-hidden boost of alcohol, a vast range of flavor profiles, adding up to fruitiness plus chocolate, and nothing whatsoever spice-heavy. This one is instead led by fresh berries, careful amounts of its special ingredients, and tiramisu nudges that never feel overdone here.

Again, we kept going back to the aromatics to better understand all the things going on. This is absurdly generous, nicely integrated, with a perfect profile alongside holiday fare.

Aging & Pairing Notes:

The 9 Ladies Dancing is drinking exceecptionally well now and will mature gracefully for years to come. This beer paired with desserts such as its inspiration, tiramisu, or other cocoa, coffee, and red fruited desserts is a must, and can also be considered alongside dishes consisting of roasted Cornish hens, gorgoanzola, and charcuterie.

3 French Hens (2024)

The Bruery – Placentia, California

• Style: Oaked Belgian-style Dark Ale
• ABV: 10
• Serving Temp: 47-53° F
• Suggested Glassware: Chalice, Tulip, Snifter, or Goblet

The Twelve Days of Christmas series continues with 3 French Hens, featuring French oak as a main flavoring ingredient. The beer pours a dark brown color with mahogany hues, capped by a tight, sticky pale tan head. On the nose, it smells spot- on for the Belgian Strong Dark Ale style, featuring notes of dark bread and plenty of spiciness. Look for faint impressions of ginger and sweet Belgian candi sugar. It needs some time to warm up before its depths are revealed. Allow that to happen and suddenly, it smells like an oaky cabernet as the aroma goes quite vinous. This character is blended with an undercurrent of plum and notes of cocoa.

On the palate, however, this is no ordinary BSDA. First off, it's got a nice weight to it-moderate viscosity, quite mouth-filling-it's spicy and abundantly phenolic, with a backdrop of chocolate and pumpernickel, and even some rye-like spiciness (though there was no rye used in the recipe-the spiciness is all due to The Bruery's extremely active house yeast strain!) The spicy tang is accentuated by ample alcohol presence, quite apropos for the style. The influence of red wine is unmistakable, as the effects of fermentation in used French oak that held red wine give a distinct impression of a big, bold cabernet. Pretty intense, even though the beer is a blend of only 25% French oak fermented beer and 75% from stainless steel. As the first wave of flavors settles over the palate, another kicks up, dropping notes of candied orange peel, followed by a stodgy bitterness that holds on to the palate for quite a while before relenting and allowing some bready notes to return. Faint vanilla notes show up as well, with some tingly, spicy notes of young, fresh raw wood, and other woody elements that contribute creamy, smoky notes in the finish, with a tinge of acidity. Keep in mind that French Oak lends more subtle "oakiness" than American Oak, and that's the case here, though ginger-like tingling and fresh-woodiness offer up plenty of spice, especially in the finish.

Aging & Pairing Notes:

This bottle-conditioned beer will dry out as it ages, so check in on it every six monts or so, over the next few years. Paired with steak au poivre, beef bourguignon, or roasted turkey, it's sure to please.

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As always, if you have any questions or want something different from what we have listed above, please contact our Customer Service Team at 800-625-8238 and we will do what it takes to make it work.

Cheers!

Mitchell Glavas
Customer Service Manager