French Kiss
The North Brewery

 

this is one of the best french toast beers I have ever had... well its one of 3 french toasts beers.... this is by far better than the wicked weed and funky budha...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day old growler poured at the brewery, which is a really awesome place.

Pours dark and hazy with a small brown head.

Smells of strong maple syrup, as syrupy as any beer I've ever had with the exception of Mornin' Delight. Very nice, not at all ersatz.

Tastes great--not nearly as intense as other maple-forward beers, but this allows for the maple to actually display some complexity. It is, basically a very malty, medium-heavy brown ale with syrup, and while that might not sound super Xtreme it's pulled off excellently.

 

 

On tap at EBF, alternated between sampling this and God Complex a few times. Was excited that The North didn't have a line, because GC blew my mind:

Appearance: muddy, dark brown, with a nice, thick mocha-colored head. The head sticks around for a long period of time.

Aroma: smells exactly like french toast, so much so that I could've identified the scent without even reading the beer description. Lots of maple syrup, lots of cinnamon and burnt sugar spice, a little lactose....really inviting.

Taste: follows the smell. I get bready malt at first, followed up by the sweetness of maple syrup, and a lot of spiciness, with vanilla, cinnamon, and burnt sugar. Finishes with a solid base of lactose sweetness, and really completes the French toast flavor. I loved this brew.

Feel: I think this would be even better if they bumped this up from a brown ale to a porter or stout, because it would really be a knockout hit with a touch more viscous body.

Overall: I loved this beer, and it's one of the few french toast beers that actually delivers on the flavors with an authentic taste. So many artificial-tasting renditions out there, but this beer tastes like homemade FT in a glass. With real maple syrup, not Aunt Jemima.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow... what an interesting beer!!! Called "French Kiss" rather than just "French Toast Brown"... though maybe this is a new name that was not used the last time they made this.

From a growler purchased a couple hours earlier, poured into a pint glass...

Looks like what you'd expect from a brown ale -though maybe a bit more hazy. The smell is all maple... I offered a sip to my daughter (without telling her the concept of French Toast) and as she raised the glass to her lips she stopped short and put on a quizzical look... then said "French Toast??". So clearly from the smell point of view they hit their target concept perfectly! The taste follows through with this concept... the maple taste couples with the taste of toast that sometimes is found in a brown ale and really gets at the French Toast idea. Really quite interesting! The feel is quite good... obviously not as chewy as real french toast but a decent thickness for the concept. is this a beer I'd drink all the time? No.... But for a once-in-awhile interesting concept it can't be beat!!!