What Our Panel Thought
Aroma: “Maple and big, roasty coffee up front, with sweet molasses and a hint of smoke. The flavors of the coffee and maple both shine. It’s very fruity, with banana, cherry, caramel, and vanilla.”
Flavor: “The rich coffee and maple syrup blend nicely with an obviously big sweeter stout. The roast and chocolate notes from the base beer show up in the mid-palate, and the bitter roast and coffee offer a bracing finish. This beer is like eating a piece of coffee candy and a maple cookie at the same time, despite the aggressively bitter foundation. The finish is sweet yet dry.”
Overall: “Maple was everywhere, and the stronger roasty flavors were a requirement to balance. Some might find the bitterness to be a bit much, but it works really well to keep the high ABV and high sweetness in balance.”
What the Brewers Say
“An imperial stout brewed with an obscene amount of chocolate malts, oatmeal, and crystal malts to lend a sweet, caramel-malt backbone. We boil for more than six hours to achieve the rich, chewy, thick mouthfeel and add multiple maple syrup additions and a huge addition of freshly roasted coffee.”
