French Toast Temptress
Lakewood Brewing Company

 

Found this at an H-E-B Plus! in Texas as I never had anything from Lakewood before and this looked quite interesting when I saw it on the shelf. Thankfully, they sell single cans there and one of these was enough as it was a good beer, but a slow sipper because of the overt sweetness from start to finish.

No surprise that this had a dark pour to it as the liquid was a syrupy brown, without as much thickness as something I'd have at breakfast. A fair amount of tan head topped it off although the lacing left behind was nowhere to be seen. Tons of maple syrup, molasses, bourbon barrel, and french toast in the nose as this was strong, sticky, and booze on the palate in addition to those notes. A bit of cinnamon spice and wood came through once this warmed up, with this feeling much more potent than it was in actuality. Can't say that I've ever had a Sweet / Milk Stout like this as I didn't feel any lactose as this was nutty and boozy in the back; which only added to the confusion in attempting to pinpoint this.

Plenty of heat here as this was a bit tricky to fully enjoy on a muggy summer night. No date was printed on the bottom of the can although there wasn't any sediment to be seen in the liquid. This needs to be categorized differently on here and aged in bourbon barrels, as that would make this a fabulous beer unlike anything I've had before. As it was, this was fine to sip and savor, but only one can at a time as I would not have this for breakfast!

 

 

BOTTLE:

Not as sludgy or syrupy as I feared, but it's a bit weighed down by its additives and certainly ends up on the sweet side. Insulin spiking but not a dessert stout. The maple doesn't land as authentic as it could and lacks depth of flavour (this evokes more a maple sugar vibe than a maple syrup vibe). Vanilla doesn't come through much either, or at least authentic vanilla bean isn't evoked. Lactose sugar sweetness eclipses the sweetness of the malts, muting any depth of malt flavour.

More adjuncty and additive-driven than malty, to its detriment. Tastes like an artificially flavored beer for sure, and despite its additive focus it never actually accomplishes its goal of tasting like French toast per se.

ABV is well disguised and it's drinkable albeit rich and thick. Not a beer I'd knowingly buy another 4-pack of, and I do think OG Temptress is a better and certainly more balanced ale, but I guess I'm glad I got to try it. Would be better in 4-5oz servings...taking down a bottle is going to prove a bit of a chore.

C+ / ABOVE AVERAGE

 

 

 

 

Poured from a bottle into a tulip glass. Deep dark brown color with good initial ghead and lacing. Very strong maple syrup smell and taste. Smell and taste of cinnamon and vanilla as well. Some pecan and toasted malt. A decent imperial stout.

Appearance features a black body and brown head. Smell is french toast, well done, especially the maple/vanilla and cinnamon balance. Taste is nutty cinnamon with vanilla, maple, and milk chocolate notes supporting. Thin body but doesn't get watery thankfully. Malt forward with textures from cinnamon and maple. It's ok, but would imagine the ba version would be interesting

 

pours dark with firm head = creamy maple taste - great beer to enj

Ordered from Tavour, chilled, and poured the bottle into a goblet.

Look: Black, light tan head that dissipates and leaves a nice ring of foam and lacing as we drank.
Smell: roasted, almost burnt brown sugar, followed by sweet maple with roasty malt and vanilla
Taste: taste follows the smell... roasted and almost burnt brown sugar, followed by maple that lingers and hangs for a while, with some lingering vanilla, a bit of bitter and booze on the backend. The backend taste is vanilla extract, which is a bit off putting and odd.
Feel: medium to full with a syrupy character that is drying. Nice tickle of carbonation on the tongue.

Temptress in the DFW is a fun and creative group that create some fun dark brews. Our favorite is their thin mint and we had high expectations for this one. Bren really likes this one because of the maple notes that hang around for a while... for me, the vanilla extract is weird and a bit too much for me...

Cheers!

A: The beer is essentially jet black in color. It poured with a quarter finger high light beige head that quickly settled down, leaving a narrow collar around the edge of the glass and some small patches of bubbles on the surface.
S: Moderate aromas of maple syrup are present in the nose along with notes of vanilla and hints of cinnamon.
T: The taste follows the smell and starts off with lots of flavors of maple syrup and finishes with hints of cinnamon and maple syrup.
M: It feels medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: Drinking this stout is like having a liquid version of french toast. It does a very good job at hiding any traces of alcohol from the taste.

Serving type: bottle

Poured from a bottle into a snifter

Appearance – The beer pours a deep brown nearly black color with a one finger head of tan colored foam. The head has a good level of retention, slowly fading over time to leave a bit of spider-web lacing on the sides of the glass.

Smell – The aroma is huge of a maple syrup, caramel, and brown sugar aroma mixed with a rather strong showing of a roasty and toasty malt smell. Along with these aromas comes a decent showing of milk chocolate and a good hit of dark fruit, with both aromas of cherry and raisin being there. Overall, the aroma is of a carnalized maple syrup smell.

Taste – The taste begins with a nice roasted malt taste accompanied by lots of caramel, brown sugar, and maple syrup sweetness. At the same time there is a rather strong showing of milk chocolate, some crème, and a touch of coffee upfront. The later coffee flavor fades as the taste moves forward, all the while the maple syrup gets stronger and some more roastiness and a light level of char comes to the tongue. Toward the end, the maple syrup becomes the dominant sugary flavor of the brew, and a surge of cinnamon with more milkiness/crème, a touch of earthiness, and more toast, comes to the taste, leaving one with a maple syrup sweet and roasty taste to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is super thick and creamy with a carbonation level that is on the lower side. For the rich dark and roasted tastes of the brew, mixed with the sweeter maple and “sugary” flavors of the brew, the feel is spot on and makes for a very nice smooth slow sipper

Overall – A nice, sweet stout with a good deal of maple syrup flavor. A rather fun one to try if you get the chance.

12oz bottled on 2-12-21. Opened 3-26-21.
2 finger beige head, sudsy and with good retention.
Black stout with only the faintest hint of brown at the most southern edge. Spotty and splashy lacing.
Big maple, nutty pecan...picturing actual French toast in my head. Medium roast coffee, molasses.
Sweet maple and malt, one note.
Smooth/velvety mouthfeel, medium + body and low to medium carbonation.
Long, sweet and maple-y finish. As advertised.
Very Good.