Tuesday (2018)
Cycle Brewing

 

Bomber form Darrell. Pours out black like an oil slick. Aroma is sweet and maple, cinnamon, chocolate, woody notes. Taste is like a sticky sweet breakfast roll, smooth and mellow, with a gentle alcohol warmth throughout. Really tasty.

Thanks to Sandis for handing me this 22 oz. bottle in a frigid asphalt parking lot…though they’ve all been frigid for two months solid now. Split with my wife.

Comes out dark & motionless, & only a big, hard pour leaves any head at all. The nose is intense nuts, sweet malt, & something on top I’m imagining is maple. Not bad.

Cycle Tuesday is the antithesis of shy. Massive amounts of hazelnut. Massive. I can hear the acorns out in the backyard under two feet of snow crying for their slain comrades. And it makes up about 88% of the taste profile. Another 9% if the cinnamon, which leans towards allspice & an almost rye-like profile. Bits of chocolate & a finishing sweetness (maple or malt?) round out the profile. Half a bottle is about right.

I sought out other recent reviews to verify that this hasn’t fallen off a cliff, or morphed, but alas, I believe it’s just me not reacting well to the Kong-volume hazelnuts. Good beer that fell well short of my hopes & dreams.

 

 

 

Got this one from desp a while back. Cheers!

From a bomber into a snifter
Maple barrel aged cinnamon hazelnut imperial stout

APPEARANCE: Clear black pour yields a 1+ finger, thinner looking, fizzy and foamy tan head with lousier retention. Black body with no carbonation evident. Head crackles down to a faint wisp and ring. A slight ring remains until the end but leaves no real lacing on the glass. Good body but lousy head.

SMELL: Lovely stuff. Big and bold. Definite maple barrel, hazelnut, cookies and cream, vanilla, milk chocolate and butterscotch on the nose. You would guess this one had caramel or toffee in it, with perhaps a bit of espresso. Slightly roasted aromas with hints of cinnamon, but it’s restrained compared to the hazelnut, maple and cookies and cream character. Super enticing.

TASTE: Hazelnut, maple, bourbon character, milk chocolate, vanilla and cinnamon up front. Really flavorful stuff with a bit of bourbon and booze at the swallow. Bold, flavorful and persistent finish of bourbon, maple syrup, hazelnut, milk chocolate, cookies, vanilla cream, butterscotch, a bit of cinnamon and some alcohol linger on the palate. A bit boozy and super decadent. Lovely.

PALATE: Medium body with medium levels of carbonation. Creamy and silky on the palate, goes down smooth with a bit of a burn and finishes sticky on the palate. A bit of heat lingers.

OVERALL: This is a real treat. The look is a little lack-luster and the feel a bit boozier than others in the weekday series, but overall, the nose and flavor here are to write home about. It might even be worth jumping ship and swimming back to shore. The maple-bourbon barrels are great and the hazelnut addition is fantastic, as it always is with Cycle. All that, combined with the decadent butterscotch, milk chocolate, vanilla cream character makes this one super addictive. Cycle never disappoints. Thanks again, desp!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sad to say, but now a solid 10 years into my beer "career" I've become a jaded vet. I no longer chase the tick...trading relationships have all but moved on...aside from this one. Greg...my man...I can't quit you baby!!! And THIS beer. THIS one...TUESDAY (and I'm drinking it on a Tuesday mind you)...ah yes...this Tuesday...In all your maple barrel-aged cinnamon hazelnuttiness, you. OH how I love you. You are so good that I have to share my love...yes, THAT good.

Lush like cycle ought to and used to be. The body on this brings me back to the good ol peg's days. this one is KILLER.

 

Absolutely outstanding. Very well balanced of maple, cinnamon, and hazelnuts. Nose is fantastic and preludes the great taste and full thick bodied stout.