Friday (2017)
Cycle Brewing

 

 

Thanks to Phyl21ca

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Got this one from desp59 a while back. Cheers, man!

From a bomber into a snifter
Imperial stout aged in calvados barrels

APPEARANCE: Clear black pour yields a three finger, medium looking, fizzy dark tan head with good retention. Black body with a hint of carbonation evident. Head get pretty pot holed and foamy while it slowly crackles down to a decent wisp cap and leaves touches of lacing. Nice swirly wisp remains until the end leaving lots of nice lacing down the glass. A little fizzy at the beginning but looks good by the end.

SMELL: Definitely lots of calvados, vanilla and oak, milk chocolate, and hints of green apples. Slightly spicy with an almost wine-like character as well. Plenty bold with a decent amount of alcohol.

TASTE: Calvados, white wine, alcohol and green apples up front, combining with some oak, vanilla sweetness and milk chocolate at the swallow. A bolder and lingering finish has plenty of calvados and wine character, apples, pears, milk chocolate, sweet cream and vanilla, spicy notes and some booze. Definitely forthcoming and rather unique in the style.

PALATE: Medium body and medium carbonation. Creamy enough on the palate, goes down okay and finishes a touch mouth-coating. Some booze lingers.

OVERALL: Good stuff. I will admit that the calvados barrel is perhaps not my no.1 choice, but this one is well made and the flavors work well together. Though the head is a little fizzy at the beginning, the look and feel provide good support as well. Something worth checking out, especially if you’re a fan of this type of barrel treatment. In any case, Cycle always does barreled stouts really well, and this is another example of their craft. Cheers again, desp!

 

 

Aroma has cinnamon, humidor, dark dried fruits, fudge, dusty cocoa.