French Toast Stout
903 Brewers

 

Appearance: Deep mahogany in color, with a dense, robust and persistent, fine-beaded tan head. The glass wall is coated in a sheet of fine and unbroken lacing. Interestingly, a sheet of fine bubbles covers the glass wall beneath the surface, as well.

Aroma: Maple syrup utterly dominates the aroma, with lesser notes of wood, vinous alcohol, caramel, and vanilla.

Taste: The taste begins with very strong notes of fermented maple. The maple taste is similiar to what I would associate with the "Dark" to "Very Dark" grades of maple syrup. Caramel, cinnamon and vanilla are also notable, but very much secondary to the maple flavors. Later in the taste, a distinct wood note is present, as well as aniseed flavors. The alcohol presents a gentle warmth and a mild undercurrent of sweetness. Finishes with a lingering note of maple, cinnamon and wood.

Mouth feel: Smooth, soft and full, a little dry.

Drinkability/notes: Really interesting, the maple syrup gives French Toast Stout a great deal of depth. It would be interesting to pair this with waffles or pancakes.

Presentation: Packaged in a standard twelve ounce aluminum can, served in a La Fin du Monde tulip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deep reddish brown, nearly black, with a tan head. Smells of maple and vanilla. Very sweet with a strong, phenolic, artificial maple-vanilla flavor that's just this side of objectionable. Once you get past the initial affront it's not so bad, with a rather nice roasted malt becoming more apparent in the aftertaste, but ultimately it's not rewarding enough.

Poured from a can into a pint glass

Appearance – The beer pours a cola brown color with a one finger head of tan colored foam. The head fades rather fast leaving a tin bit of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.

Smell – The aroma of the brew is of a lightly roasted malt smell mixed with aromas of cinnamon and a bit of caramel. There are some aromas of a cola aroma as well as a little bit of vanilla and some molasses. The aroma is rather sweet overall, although I am not getting a big French toast vibe from it…

Taste - The taste begins with a sweet flavor with lots of caramel and sweet roasted malt tastes. There is a rather strong maple syrup flavor upfront that grows slightly stronger as the taste advances. At the same time a cinnamon and nutmeg taste which is mostly absent upfront gets quite strong, almost to the point of overwhelming the roasted flavors. At the end a little bit of a milky flavor works it way onto the tongue and leaves one with a very sweet and heavily cinnamon spiced taste to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is rather thick and chewy with a carbonation level that is rather low. For the very sweet and dessert like tastes of the brew the feel is fairly well done and makes for a nice slow sipper.

Overall – Not really my favorite. There were some aspects that were French toast like (the maple syrup and spice), but otherwise it was just too sweet and spiced for my liking; lacking much balance. It might be worth a try, but I don’t ever foresee myself drinking this one again…