Grandma's Coffee Cake Imperial Porter
Maui Brewing Co.

2020 Rare Beer Club release; opened 11/25/23.
Opened raw, bitter, bit harsh @ 40F. Softened as it warmed and as sipped.
Second 2/3’ds of beer really opened up nicely.
Dark walnut brown. Nice creamy smooth head/decent retention; Very thin tan halo with some lacing. Nose emerged as beer warmed. Nice; coffee cake complexity with prominent vanilla, cinnamon, sugar. Taste significantly improved with warming and air. Taste mirrored scent with some bitter chocolate and coffee. Harshness disappeared. Body smooth; silky…matched malts/abv not noticeable
Overall as advertised. Initially concerning but became nicely memorable after beer opened and warmed.

Pours black with a dark crema colored head. Aroma is strongly coffee and a whiff of cinnamon. The coffee profile is quite pronounced. Taste is dark malt, coffee and chocolate. The taste is a bit sweet and brown sugar can be detected at the end.

 

 

A porter lover to heart, but adding coffee cake just took this one out of my taste zone. If you like dessert beers, this one might be to your liking. Actually well done, is what it says, but not a taste that leaves me wanting for more.

Bottle from Rare Beer of the Month Club (Dec 2020). Pours black with two fingers of light tan foamy head that sticks around, nice lacing, smell is big earthy cinnamon, chocolate, and coffee, hints of macadamia, almond, vanilla, smokey booze and tobacco, taste is Hershey’s syrup from the can, sweet creamy coffee, chocolate milk, vanilla, and mild cinnamon, hints of charcoal, burnt marshmallow, and roasted almonds, got some tart berry/green coffee fruit going on as well, feel is medium bodied, soft and creamy carbonation. This beer nails the coffee cake, takes me back to my HS days at my boy Jacob’s house where his mon always had some fresh coffee cake at the ready for us post a night out at Campo and skinny dipping. Sweet cinnamony coffee goodness! Yam-yams!

 

Poured from 750 mL bottle into snifter.
A: Pours a brown hue with 1/4 inch tan head with decent retention.
S: Strong dark roast coffee hits first, followed by cinnamon, milk chocolate, vanilla, and a hint of caramel. Love the coffee here!
T: Strong dark roast coffee, cinnamon, milk chocolate, vanilla, wood char, brown sugar, and some nutty malt notes. Again, love the coffee note!
M: Medium-heavy body. Thick and coating feel with darkly sweet notes. Coffee adds a touch of bitterness. Cinnamon emerges even stronger in the aftertaste. Lingers beautifully on the palate. ABV is basically nonexistent.
D: Wow! What a pleasant surprise and one of the best coffee beers I’ve had in a long time. Extremely well balanced and all notes meld perfectly together. Seek it out!