Cuvée - Just Cocoa Nibs
Cycle Brewing

 

 

 

Skinny 22 oz. bottle with the best things: stout, chocolate, barrel. Split with my wife.

Black with minimal signs of alien life & an aroma that is a barbaric yawp of “cocoa!” in an echoing canyon with a touch of barrel.

Cuvee – Just Cocoa Nibs delivers the impossible: makes whiskey + chocolate + stout seem a touch boring. Cocoa nibs right up front bordered by harsh whiskey (I have no problem with harsh!) over a mildly sweet stout with just a touch of roast. Full & rich & slightly rough, half a bomber will be plenty for me.

Nothing wrong here just a plain old solid barrel aged stout.

Thank you bl00 for this
22 oz bottle poured into a tulip

A- Black with a small mocha head.

S- Cocoa nibs, chocolate, some roasted malts, bourbon, oak, touch of dark fruits.

T- Bourbon, cocoa nibs, chocolate, some roasted coffee, oak, molasses.

M- Smooth, full body.

O- Bourbon is a little heavy but the cocoa nibs are great in this.

 

**
10/23/20: Cocoa, Coconut, Maple
11/12/20: Vanilla, Coffee, Cinnamon
Sampled all 6 Cycle Cuvee beers over two sittings with DC.

All were similar in that they started off as the same base, but some flavors were incorporated better than others.
LOOK: Super thick and dark black, zero visible carbontation, motor oil with a small brown head.
FEEL: Full body, very thick, flat, syrupy.

#1: Cocoa(4.19)
strong cocoa/chocolate aromas and flavors, very tasty. Excellent base to start mixing in other flavors.


#2 Coconut(4.19)
Aroma is not as strong as the coca, but the coconut flavor is there and sweet noneleless.
Mouthfeel is a touch lighter, but still no carbonation.
Coconut actually has some coconut flakes floating.

#3 Cinnamon(4.09)
Cinnamon is well intgrated in taste and aroma. very pleasant. This one surprised me the most in a good way.

#4 Maple(4.04)
Maple is somewhat subtle, but nice. A little sticky on the mouth feel, but not overly so.


#5 Coffee (3.98)
Coffee flavor is a littel bitter, but well balanced with the base.


#6 Vanilla (3.89)
Vanilla aroma is nice, but tasting seems a little overly sharp; even a touch fake.

Did some mixing but not enough time or tolerance to really test a bunch of fun mixes.
My best blend would be: Cocoa 40%, Coconut: 20%, Cinnamon, 20%, Maple 15%, Coffee 5%. Leaving out the Vanilla.


**

 

 

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours nearly black, appearing opaque black in the glass with a thin dark brown head that dissipates to patches with light lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, rich dark and milk chocolate, molasses, whiskey; a bit boozy. Flavor follows, with dark toasted malt, dark chocolate and cocoa, whiskey, molasses, a little caramel, vanilla and oak. Hot whiskey finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. Looks dense right from the bottle, and the malt is full bodied as is the chocolate flavor. Great silky mouth feel. Whiskey is somewhat forward, but the other lush flavors support it well. This is probably a prime candidate for aging at least a year which would likely smooth out the whiskey barrel character, but after waiting for years to try something from Cycle, I had to crack it open. Honestly, good even young. These guys have a great reputation for their big stouts and it's well deserved. Rich and well barreled.