Breakfast Epiphanies
Free Will Brewing Co.

Thanks to Dan (@dim) for sending this can! Poured at fridge temp. Pours motor oil black with a solid 2 inches of brown head. Once the head dissipated, it looked rich and creamy. The nose is fantastic. Huge roasted malts, coffee, maple, and some vanilla.

The taste is insane. Huge coffee notes hit first. This is really good coffee, not the cheap shit. Following this is maple, vanilla, molasses, roasted malts, almonds, baking chocolate, biscuits, and slight tobacco.

The mouthfeel is super creamy. Overall, a fantastic stout!

Released 2/21/23; drank 4/26/23 @ the Yarchives.

Brown/black appearance.

A rough pour yielded a small, noisy tan head which quickly dissipated; minimal lace.

Dark roast coffee bean, dark chocolate, mild coconut & faint booze heat notes in the nose.

Sticky, medium thick mouthfeel.

Dark roast coffee bean, dark chocolate & mild bourbon heat flavors up front; faint coconut notes on the finish.

Sweet, sticky, roast-y and over the top; the small can size is for the best.

So much dark, roasty goodness here, intensely dark coffee plus some good old fashioned borderline charred malts. The maple syrup is thankfully relegated to the background along with a little vanilla. Gentle, oaky bourbon blankets everything. This is a wonderful treat that needs to come in a larger format.

8.4oz can purchased directly from the brewery online as a 4-pack for $24. No canned on date, but this has to be pretty fresh because it was just recently released.

Look: Pours a very dark brown color. There was a dark brown colored head but it dissipated very quickly even though it was an aggressive pour. Looks to be on the more viscous, thicker side. Seems to be minimally carbonated based on appearance alone.

Smell: Notes of dark chocolate brownies, bold coffee, sweet vanilla, maple syrup. The spirit/bourbon aroma seems to be well integrated, it's a fairly subtle note on the back end of the nose, doesn't seem to be hot. I am thinking of pancakes and coffee. There's an amaretto cherry flavor underneath it all that is very nice. A bit of soy sauce/umami also that is interesting. A bit of leather and charcoal (barrel char) on the nose also.

Taste: This is a tasty sipper. Up front, it's bourbon, chocolate, coffee, some vanilla. A bit sweet but everything is in balance. It is a bit hot on the back end, but hey it's a 12.6% maple bourbon barrel aged imperial stout. After the alcohol notes fade away, there is a rich chocolatey finish with a mild coffee bitterness.

Feel: Very nice mouthfeel. It's relatively thick, which is nice. And it has just the right amount of carbonation.

Overall: I think that the only other maple bourbon barrel aged imperial stout that I have had is Founder's Canadian Breakfast Stout (CBS); that was on draft many years ago and I did not review it. I think that this offering from Free Will is what one would hope to expect from such a style - it's rich, sweet but not cloying, decadent, and complex. There is no rush to drink this beer fast. Just take your time to enjoy it and savor the flavors in between each sip. Comparing this to other imperial stouts that I really like, I think that this is similar in many ways to Half Acre Big Hugs, which I love, even though Big Hugs is not aged in maple syrup bourbon barrels.

From the can (this version is different from the previous version as listed on BA):
Imperial Stout Aged in Bourbon Maple Syrup Barrels with Coffee - 12.6% ABV

 

Half a finger of chocolate mousse head quickly thins out to a thin, glossy sheen and, eventually, to little more than a ring. Body is cruddy motor oil black. I can just barley see through it at the bottom of the glass where its dimpled. It certainly looks the part of a big barrel-aged stout. Swirl it about and it has some alcohol legs. Smells as though it spent an awful long time in barrels as you're getting not just spirit but a good bit of char as well. Its really nice and plays well with the big, roasted imperial stout scents. I don't know that I'm picking up much maple syrup. Coffee either, but what's there is plenty enticing. Wow. Taste and you get maple on the finish in a big, big way. It lingers and it is glorious. Big sweetness right up front, too, before a drying alcohol middle from the barrels to balance things. Again, no real coffee; just kind of a vague imperial stout roast. I'm not complaining, though; this is incredibly tasty. Drinks silky-smooth; medium-bodied with (I assume) a barrel-born oiliness that cuts what would probably be a syrupy body without it. Man, it's been awhile since I've had a Founders CBS but I reckon this is right there in its league. I think I have one (CBS, that is) from a few years back and if I were younger I'd crack it open and do a side-by-side. Regardless, I'm going to have to ignore the steep price point ($20/500ml) and grab a couple more.

On tap at the brewery.

A - Dark brown pour that's borderline black and thin toffee colored lacing.

S - Strong coffee roast aroma, roasty chocolate, and light maple.

T - Nice coffee roast from start to finish, some dark chocolate roast, maple syrup presence but underneath giving it a nice backbone, and alcohol presence that doesn't detract from the beer. There is some warming from the alcohol on the way down.

M - Thick, viscous, and syrupy texture that's lip smacking sticky.

O - This is a fantastic beer and highly recommended.

Pours out dark brown. An aggressive pour yields a half a finger of dark khaki head that disappears pretty quickly.

Nose is coffee up front with bourbon and maple coming up behind. This smells great. It reminds me of CBS. Honestly if you were to put the two up next to each other, the similarity would be uncanny.

Taste goes down the same path. Roasty coffee and malt, bourbon, and maple syrup. There is actually a nice dryness to this. It's not too sweet. What separates this from CBS I think is the lack of chocolate. But this is still balanced on a razors edge. The coffee is in charge but doesn't dominate and leaves room for everything else to come through. The flavors mix spectacularly well.

Mouthfeel is a little short of full-bodied and a little oily. But the alcohol provides a mildly prevalent drying quality. This would be really cloying if it weren't for that. It also doesn't make it feel too heavy on the palate as well.

This is another fantastic brew by Free Will. If you put this up next to CBS in a blind tasting it would be extremely close no doubt. What makes this more drinkable is that dryness on the back end. The brew doesn't overstay its welcome and let's the coffee flavor linger afterwards. Well done. I must visit Free Will in the near future.

Pours dark black. Aroma is strong chocolate, maple & bourbon. Taste is big and follows nose with perfect balance of chocolate, bourbon, maple & coffee. Mouthfeel is a medium but wish it was fuller.

 

250 ml can

Pours black, thin tan head that fades quick. Huge wonderful aroma of coffee, dark chocolate, maple, bourbon. Similar taste, both big and bold flavors yet so well integrated and smooth. Not very boozy despite the high abv. Slick feel, a little oily.