Friendly Heads Up
Cycle Brewing

Friendly Heads UpFriendly Heads Up
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From:
Cycle Brewing
 
Florida, United States
Style:
American Imperial Stout
ABV:
11%
Score:
95
Avg:
4.34 | pDev: 8.99%
Reviews:
6
Ratings:
42
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jan 17, 2020
Added:
May 30, 2017
Wants:
  3
Gots:
  6
Collaboration with Angry Chair Brewing

Friendly Heads Up is a collaborative Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout with Coconut and Cocoa Nibs brewed with Angry Chair Brewing. Released Tuesday, 6/6/17.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by szmnnl99:
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Rated by szmnnl99 from Michigan

4.6/5  rDev +6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Aug 19, 2017
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4 by jschott75 from Illinois

Jan 17, 2020
Photo of superspak
Reviewed by superspak from North Carolina

4.17/5  rDev -3.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
22 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled in 5/2017. Pours dense opaque pitch black color with a small dense tan head with poor retention, that reduces to nothing pretty quickly. No glass lacing, some clinging bubbles and coconut floaties on the glass. Good appearance. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, coconut, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, roasted nuts, biscuit, and dark/brown bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, molasses, raisin, prune, fig, date, smoke, char, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness. Slight booze in the aromas as it warms, but not overwhelming. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malts, coconut, cocoa nibs, light-moderate bourbon barrels, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop notes; with big strength. Taste of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, coconut, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, roasted nuts, biscuit, and dark/brown bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, molasses, raisin, prune, fig, date, smoke, char, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness. Mild herbal, grassy, roast, char bitterness; and bourbon/oak tannin spiciness after the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, coconut, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, roasted nuts, biscuit, dark/brown bread/crust, licorice, molasses, dark fruit, light smoke/char, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, coconut, cocoa nibs, light-moderate bourbon barrels, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with a great roast/hop bitter/sweet and bourbon/oak spiciness balance; with no cloying/acric/astringent flavors after the finish. Light-medium carbonation and very full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/velvety/bready, fairly slick/syrupy, and lightly sticky/chalky/tannic mouthfeel that is great, Mild increasing warmth of 11%, with minimal lingering barrel booze after the finish. Overall this is an outstanding Barrel aged flavored imperial stout. All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, coconut, cocoa nibs, light-moderate bourbon barrels, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV, with the mildly bitter/charred/tannic/drying finish. Great soft feel for the ABV. Fantastic balance of rich malts, cocoa nibs, and coconut flavors; with solid bourbon barrel presence/integration. Mild hops/fruity yeast. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. A highly enjoyable offering, and outstanding style example as expected. Not as much barrel presence as expected, but still really well made.
Sep 04, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by user785335 from Florida

Jul 09, 2019
 
Rated: 4.5 by rdoggg from Pennsylvania

Apr 16, 2019
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Reviewed by Buck89 from Tennessee

3.99/5  rDev -8.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured into a snifter. An opaque dark chocolate color with a thin tan head. There was a faint toasted coconut aroma and a nice cocoa and bourbon nose. The taste followed. A rich, slightly sweet beer with a nice chocolate and barrel presence. The coconut was there but has faded a bit. Overall a nice beer but drink fresh
Apr 03, 2019
 
Rated: 4.63 by elvisdoc from Florida

May 05, 2018
 
Rated: 4.49 by cmukid87 from Michigan

Apr 23, 2018
 
Rated: 4.75 by peterpunk15 from Massachusetts

Apr 08, 2018
 
Rated: 4.5 by YalovaIA from Iowa

Mar 29, 2018
 
Rated: 4.62 by BeerBeak81 from New York

Jan 12, 2018
 
Rated: 4.44 by lupercmda from North Carolina

Jan 08, 2018
Photo of Jeffo
Reviewed by Jeffo from Netherlands

4.19/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Got this one from desp a while back. Cheers!

From a bomber into a snifter
Bourbon barre-aged imperial stout with cocoa nibs and coconut
Collaboration with Angry Chair Brewing

APPEARANCE: Clear black pour yields a 3 finger, medium looking, fizzy, slightly foamy, dark tan head with half-decent retention. This one is really fizzy. Black body with no real carbonation evident. Head fizzes down to a full wisp and leaves some good touches of lacing on the glass. Slight wisp and ring remain until the end leaving touches of lacing down the glass as it empties. Lousy head but good color.

SMELL: Big bourbon barrel nose with toffee, butterscotch and oak in there. Definite coconut and vanilla cream aromas as well as some well measured cacao under it all. A bit of booze too, but this is pretty well put together for sure.

TASTE: Cacao and milk chocolate, with some definite bourbon, oak and vanilla cream up front. More bourbon, oak and booze at the swallow, leading into a bold and lingering finish of coconut and sweet vanilla, milk chocolate, cocoa, butterscotch, toffee, as well as a nice hit of bourbon and oak. This Is flavorful stuff.

PALATE: Medium-fuller body and slightly lower levels of carbonation. Creamy enough on the palate, plenty of weight, goes down fine with a burn and finishes somewhat sticky on the palate. Some good heat lingers.

OVERALL: Again, Cycle at its best. This is the second or third barrel aged coconut of theirs I’ve had and they’ve all been great. The head was a little lack luster on this one, as for some reason a lot of these Cycle imperial stouts have been pretty fizzy and noisy lately, but this is a minor complaint, all things considered. The nose and flavor are spot on here and the experience is top class. Thanks
Jan 06, 2018
Photo of yesterdayfaraway
Reviewed by yesterdayfaraway from Missouri

4.21/5  rDev -3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
L: pours thick, black with no head
S: sweet bourbon and chocolate with slight coconut
T: slight chocolate and bourbon, the coconut only brings a coconut cream flavor, not toasted coconut.
F: medium to thick feel with some alcohol burn. Big sticky feel, coats me teeth.
Jan 06, 2018
 
Rated: 4.31 by DVMin98 from North Carolina

Nov 30, 2017
 
Rated: 3.95 by chippo33 from Vermont

Nov 28, 2017
 
Rated: 4.42 by pagesofphotographs from Colorado

Nov 16, 2017
 
Rated: 4.52 by rcjennings from Ohio

Nov 09, 2017
 
Rated: 4.44 by Luscious_Malfoy from Illinois

Nov 09, 2017
 
Rated: 4.44 by countrypeddler8 from Illinois

Nov 09, 2017
Friendly Heads Up from Cycle Brewing
Beer rating: 95 out of 100 with 42 ratings