French Toast Brunch
Prairie Artisan Ales

Yet again we bring you another beer review from March Madness 2024. Pours black into the Marquette taster glass. Barely a whisp of brown head on the top, just to the edge, black hole in the middle.

Aroma of syrup, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, yeah this smells more like breakfast than it does beer. Insert beer for breakfast song/reference here. But I mean, its what its supposed to be right? I mean, I know there is a grip of roasted malt underneath this, but damned if I can smell it. It even dominates the barrel aging on it.

The taste is quite sweet. There's sippers and then there's sweet sippers. While I liked it, I liked it in small quantities. I couldn't imagine taking all 12 oz down by myself. The milk chocolate like sweetness even overcomes the barrel (bourbon? I couldn't tell), maybe it was one of those maple barrels that used to have bourbon or something. I'm not sure how this one doesn't fit the pastry stout category here, but Next Glass seems to know where their lesser entities exist.

 

 

 

 

The beer is black, the surface has an oily look to it. No head, no lace.
Aroma of chocolate, maple syrup, a little vanilla.
More cinnamon in the taste, in a good way. it doesn't take over. Chocolate, vanilla, faint bourbon,
Thick mouthfeel. Sweet but not cloying

Appearance: Draft pour into a room temperature glass. Very dark brown with a light, dirty reddish brown head. No lacing.

Taste & Aroma: French toast in all of its glory. Cinnamon, butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract, bread dough. No sense at all of the high alcohol content.

Feel: Moderate feel and carbonation.

Overall: If you want a beer that tastes like French toast, this is it. Go with a small pour if possible because the richness and sweetness.

An exceptional and close-to-dessert beer as you can get...

This was truly a joy to take three-hours to sip and just take it all in. From the almost black coloration, to it's perfectly blended scent - matching pretty much what was on the can art/description, you simply can't miss with this brew. Take it as a dessert beer, but you can also take it as not. Another incredible offering from one of my favorite brewers...

 

At Hops and Berry Taproom during Bundle day 2023

Bottled 2023/10/10, just two days past the 1 year anniversary
Pours thick inky black, sucking in light, black foamy head that fades semi quickly but starts on the thicker side, long legs as well

Nose brings lots of French Toast, cinnamon right out front, followed quickly by vanilla, an eggy eggnog like character which could just be my mind, some maple behind that, sweet vanilla candy, a bit of dark chocolate and cocoa, roasted malts, but the base beer is mostly drowned by the additives

Taste brings a lot more of the French toast, again cinnamon up front, and then more eggy like character, into layers of vanilla, vanilla spice, vanilla cookie, with fair maple syrup backing all that, fairly sweet in general and more into that pastry stout level, base beer again is barely there, some dark chocolate cocoa and roast, hint of cookie dough, lots of baking spices but mostly the cinnamon, sticky sweet finish

Mouth is fuller bod, thick and a bit syrupy, lighter carb, hint of warming smooth alcohol

Overall eh, def a pastry sweet stout, at least this one is drinkable and enjoyable, but barely any beer behind it. This gives me faint hints of Funky Buddha version but without the great base beer that FB had as well, this was loads of French toast with vanilla, maple syrup, and quite sweet with barely any base beer

Pours pure black with a mocha colored head that sizzles like bacon on a grill and evaporates in seconds. The nose is heavy on the cinnamon and maple syrup, with the barrel and vanilla also present. Drooling.

The cinnamon and maple allow room for the vanilla on the taste, and there’s also a bit of chocolate, with the bourbon at the back of the palate and lingering as a nice warming at the end of each sip. This is exceptionally well done, IMHO.

The mouthfeel is a bit softer than I’d like to see in a BA impy stout, but this is still a world class beer, IMHO.

**
09/22/24

bottle to snifter, 11 months old.

LOOK: dark black , thick, big tan head, good retention early, fades late.

AROMA: All the adjuncts except vanilla, barrel is light.
TASTE: vanilla is here, as is the cinnamon and maple. very sweet, a little too much so.
FEEL: thick and chewy, a little hot.

very good. maybe needs a little more age. good dessert beer (or Brunch also, I guess) .


**

The name of the beer said it all. Sweet and almost more like a liquor than a beer. Didn’t mean that I didn’t like it. One half of the bottle was enough. Glad I shared it with my son.

12oz can. Poured out an opaque, jet-black color with a small, light brown head of foam. It left sticky patches of lace on the glass. It smelled of cinnamon, vanilla, caramel and toffee. Sweet maple and toffee taste with cinnamon, vanilla, and booze.

Poured from a 12 ounce bottle dated 10-9-23 into a snifter.

Look- Black, opaque, dark brown sudsy head, below average head retention and lacing.

Smell- Cinnamon, vanilla, bourbon, maple syrup, medium strength of scent.

Taste- Cinnamon, maple syrup, bourbon, vanilla, slight coffee, highly boozy, moderately sweet, high strength of flavor.

Feel- Medium body, average carbonation, moderate mouth coating, moderately mouth warming, silky, highly boozy, moderately bitter.

Overall- This beer provided a really good drinking experience. Look was as expected, but less than average head retention and lacing. The bouquet was pleasant, but less intensity than expected. Flavor really delivered on the french toast promise. Feel was the best part of this well done beer. This brewery just doesn’t seem to miss.

 

12oz bottle. Date stamp on neck of bottle is 'FRENCHTOASTBRUNCH 10/09/2023 BBT1RC'.
Black colored body, with a very thin garnet red back lit edge. Thin brown head quickly fizzes away, leaving a very thin ring. No lacing.
Aroma of sweet maple syrup and vanilla, with cinnamon spice. Barrel aging is evident.
Taste has a heavy dose of maple syrup drenched cinnamon and added vanilla for additional sweetness. Rich bourbon barrel adds to the mix. Aftertaste continues sweet and mellow.
More than medium mouthfeel, but a little thin in the end. Coats the mouth, and the higher ABV% is well hidden, but warms the gullet. Quiet carbonation.
Tooth achingly sweet. Full of flavors and the cinnamon really pops.

 

Good beer. Definitely has the character of maple French toast stout as advertised. The character changed a lot as it warmed, with the maple becoming less noticeable and the booziness of the barrel and the cinnamon becoming stronger. Too much alcohol warming to be truly great, and the vanilla isn’t quite present enough while the cinnamon is a tad too much.