Wide Awake It's Morning
Funky Buddha Brewery

Viscous jet with not much in the way of head retention; maple syrup nose with some deeper wood; dark rock candy, tree bark, smoke, coffee bean; chewy yet dry and smooth.

3.75 4.25 4 4 4

Cigars! Something leafy and woody yet smoky, too…
After an intoxicating nose, this turns into a wrestling match between three big flavors: candy sweetness, oily bean, and wood smoke.
The maple is tree more so than syrup, the bacon is just smoke + salt rather than any mouth-watering savouriness, and the coffee’s just dropped out a bit.
In the end the big sweetness doesn’t hang together with a whack of tannins + a couple of threads of dark roastiness.

A lesson in not aging adjunct beers, but also not necessarily better than the regular strength version.

 

 

 

2017 vintage

Moving right along from the incredible Maple Bacon Coffee Porter I had last night, we now have the imperial version, with an extra 3.1% abv. Maybe the flavors will integrate even better in this beefier beer. Let’s crack it open and find out

Pours completely pitch black with a finger of light tan head that fades to ring and leaves minimal lacing

Yeah it really is similar to the base beer in the nose, just bolder. I’m picking up on aromas of sweet maple, medium roast coffee, dark chocolate, toffee, smoky bacon, and burnt caramel

It definitely tastes fuller, and in turn less abrasive than its base. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting sweet maple, light roast coffee, cocoa powder, black cherry, salty bacon, and light caramel. The swallow brings notes of maple syrup, smoky bacon, burnt caramel, medium roast coffee, tobacco, brown sugar, and light vanilla

A medium body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a slick beer. Finishes mostly dry with a balanced sweetness

This one is also really good, just edging out the base beer. Next up is the barrel aged version, Morning Wood, which I’m very excited to try