On paper, Avery Brewing Company has crafted one hell of a beer – an imperial stout aged in Gosling’s Bermuda rum barrels. Of course when I saw the beer hit my area I didn’t even think twice to grab one. Then I realized how much it cost: $8.59 for a 12 ounce bottle. OUCH! Well…I’ve never had any restraint when it comes to craft beer, so why start now. Here you have a very nice stout that does things just a touch different. Most folks today purchase old oak, wine, or bourbon barrels to age their beer in, but rum barrels is not something a lot of breweries are doing. So you have to give Avery credit for thinking outside the box here. Black Tot is part of their barrel-aged series and is number three in the lineup. Not to mention the fact that only 315 cases were produced. The appearance is rather traditional looking, the aromas are very nice which consist of (you guessed it) rum, dark roasted malts, and a touch of alcohol. On the palate, there is about the same experience. My head didn’t explode like I had hoped, but I’m happy with this beer nonetheless. The rum added a nice bit of sweetness without going over the top. My only advice here would be to buy two if you have the pocketbook to do so. I think this will be much nicer this time next year.
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This beer can be found in these states.
On the iPod: Say Hi To Your Mom
Brewery: Avery
Beer: Black Tot
Style: Imperial Stout
Location: Boulder, Colorado
ABV: 10.08%
Rating: 87/100
Posted by Jon Rogers on March 3, 2010 at 11:30 PM
Strange that they age it in rum barrels. Barrels for good rums are usually old whiskey barrels, used for the flavors left behind. The rum strips the barrels of most of the flavor they can impart, though obviously residuals from the rum are left in the barrels to pass along. My guess though is that they are using a dark rum barrel, which is a much more charred barrel that has not been used for whiskey. It would also explain why they don’t use the local Colorado Montanya barrels as they only make a silver and a gold. (And they both are delicious. Don’t mess them up with a mixer.)
Posted by thehopry on March 5, 2010 at 7:28 AM
I can tell you that I didn’t even pull out the faintest amount of bourbon or vanilla from this beer, which I thought to be both interesting and enjoyable. Not that it’s a bad thing, but I kind of get bored with the same old bourbon barrel taste in beer. I’m glad to see them coming up with new ways to add complexity to beers.
Posted by Dave on March 4, 2010 at 11:18 AM
I was lucky enough to get a bottle of this, however I did only get one. I guess it sounds like I should let is age a bit before opening.
Posted by thehopry on March 5, 2010 at 7:25 AM
Yeah, I would say at very least let it sit for six months.
Posted by Big Mike on March 4, 2010 at 4:02 PM
The rum barrels sounds interesting. I guess it was only a matter of time before someone thought of it. It definitely sounds like it could use some age on it according to your description. I don’t see much Avery around here. Although i haven’t really ever sought them out. If you paid $8.59, it’s probably $10-$12 around here if one can even find it.
Posted by Big Mike on March 4, 2010 at 4:08 PM
On a side note. The vimeo vids definitely load a lot faster and look better, The only reason i like the you-tube vids still is that sometimes i watch The Hopry on my iPhone and it doesn’t support the Vimeo format. Other then that they look great!
Posted by thehopry on March 5, 2010 at 7:23 AM
Good. I’ll try to post the videos on both sites for as long as I can, but it takes long enough to upload one let alone two.
Posted by Barleywhiner on March 5, 2010 at 8:25 AM
I didn’t get very much flavor from the barrel. Good stout, maybe a little hot. I really liked the Brabant from this series of beers, but that was totally different.
Posted by theReaper16 on May 9, 2010 at 11:19 PM
Have you read on Beer Advocate about the latent infection in some of the Black Tot out there? Any of the bottles we are cellaring might be entirely sour by this point. Adam Avery advised everyone to drink their Black Tot now in case the infection is in every bottle.
Posted by thehopry on May 10, 2010 at 6:50 AM
I actually heard about it a few days ago but then read about it on BA, too. I still have two bottles that I bought and am curious as to whether I should dump them (because I’m not going to drink them if they are ‘infected’) or keep them as collector items knowing that there will be very few bottles (sealed or open) soon.
Posted by Jimbo on June 5, 2010 at 2:20 PM
Your bottles are most likely infected, I had SIX of these in the cellar and all of them went sour. I was pretty pissed at first, but after trying them they weren’t drain pours. Definitely infected and definitely not the same beer I had on the day I bought the other 6, but they were interesting to say the least. Some acid-producing bacteria is at work in them, so if you wait much longer you’ll have fizzy vinegar…