Imperial Stout with Coffee
Cycle Brewing

Received recently as part of a package deal & the one I wasn’t sure was worth the postage. 22 oz. bottle split with my wife.

Black coffee pour, no head, even with a vigorous shaking. The nose is roast. Full stop.

Imperial Coffee Stout is just that. The base is big, rich, malty, with a hefty dose of roast & a swizzle stick of cocoa. Creamy, both in the sense of mouthfeel & a hint of Land O’ Lakes. No perceptible alcohol & easy peasy to sip.

I wasn’t going to review this if it turned out to be lousy, or over the hill, due to its age – but it’s neither of those things. I have no doubt it’s changed but it’s also still going strong. Very good beer.

Got this one from desp59 a while back. Cheers!

From a bomber into a snifter
This is also known as “Sunday”

APPEARANCE: Clear black pour yields a large, 3+ finger, medium looking, creamy, frothy tan head with great retention. Jet black body with no carbonation evident. Head slowly fades to a thick, foamy cap and leaves lots of clingy lacing on the glass. Splotchy wisp and ring remain leaving some nice lacing down the glass. Good looking beer for sure.

SMELL: Big coffee right away off the pour. Sweet cream, vanilla and coffee for sure. Roasted barley and some nice dark chocolate work well with the coffee beans. Slight nutty notes too. Very nice and plenty bold.

TASTE: Plenty of cacao powder, vanilla notes, cream and roasted coffee beans up front. Sweet molasses flavors as well, with touches of soy sauce. Bold coffee finish with a big and lasting finish of roasted coffee beans, sweet cream, vanilla, dark chocolate bitterness and a touch of coconut. Really forthcoming and plenty enjoyable, while the molasses sweetness adds a nice counterweight. Well done.

PALATE: Medium-fuller body with medium carbonation. Plenty of weight on the palate, creamy and slick, goes down smooth and finishes rather sticky. Some coffee bitterness lingers but no heat. Right up my alley. Lovely.

OVERALL: I love Florida stout beer and Florida stout beer loves me. Excellent, with all the right pieces in all the right places. This is something I’d drink on a regular basis and proves again that Cycle deserves all the recognition it gets in the big stout beer category. Lots of lovely coffee flavors with some lovely cream and molasses sweetness to make it all so heavenly. Fantastic feel and look as well. Give this is a shot if you get the chance. Thanks again desp59! Lovely stuff.

 

Bomber into a snifter. I believe this one is also referred to as "Sunday" in the weekly series of 2017.

The brew appears black in color with a mocha head that retains well leaving patchy lace as it fades.

Aroma is earthen with coffee, roasty to the nose and really not much else is going on. Not that its a bad thing just pretty linear and to the point.

It tastes sweet with chocolate then earthy roasted coffee ever so slightly bitter to ashy.

This is medium to richer in body with modest carbonation. A fantastic coffee stout that I would definitely drink again if the opportunity presented itself.

 

 

 

Great body, nice and thick. Coffee is kind weak honestly given the hype of the brewery. The flavor is pretty clean, but something funny on the back. Overall pretty good

 

 

Sunday from Cycle poured out thick and viscous. You could smell the chocolate and coffee wafting through the air almost immediately upon opening the bottle so I knew good things were about to happen. This is the first non barrel-aged stout from Cycle I have ever tried and the first one they bottle. This was a chocolate fudge coffee bomb. Hershey's milk chocolate bars with a nice malty roast. A nice thick viscosity, not motor oil but certainly chewy and it coated the lips with stickiness. The alcohol was dangerously well-hidden as I downed this way too quickly and the only bad thing I can say is that I drank it way too fast but this is excellence.