Mixed Cuvées - Chocolate Coconut Cinnamon Roll
Cycle Brewing

 

 

Got this from the De Moersleutel webshop. Cheers!

From a bomber into a snifter
Barrel aged stout with cocoa nibs, coconut, cinnamon and vanilla

APPEARANCE: Pours out pitch black and shows a small, loose dark tan head that quickly fizzes away to an oily film and thin ring. Oily black body with medium carbonation evident around the ring. Looks mostly flat by the end.

SMELL: Strong barrel notes with oak, whisky and caramel aromas, definite coconut, milk chocolate, vanilla cream and butterscotch aromas on the nose. Bold and aromatic.

TASTE: Whisky and oak up front, with notes of milk chocolate and vanilla as well, then a hit of booze at the swallow. Bold finish of cocoa nibs, vanilla cream, toffee and butterscotch sweetness, coconut, oak flavors and some boozy whisky linger on the palate. Sweet with plenty of alcohol.

PALATE: Medium body and medium levels of carbonation. Oily yet prickly on the palate, does down somewhat harsh with a solid burn at the swallow. A decent amount of heat lingers.

OVERALL: Solid stuff, but not the lofty level Cycle often meets. The flavor and aroma is great, but the look doesn’t quite cut it and the feel is certainly pricklier and harsher than these brews usually turn out. There’s a more pronounced burn and heat character as well.

Good coconut & cinnamon on the nose. Definitely needs time to warm; closer to room temp you really get a great ratio of coconut, cinnamon, and barrel. Chocolate serves the base nicely. Falling off just slightly, but really well balanced. A tad too thin.

 

This one pours a fairly dark black color, with a small head and a little bit of lacing.

This smells like spicy oak, dark bitter chocolate, coconut, candied cinnamon, dark roast, dried fruit, and vanilla.

This has more barrel than the typical Cycle stout that I’ve been used to. There’s lots of oak and a pleasant caramel/boozy bourbon note. There’s also a good bit of cinnamon here. I usually dislike that - but Cycle tends to do cinnamon pretty well, usually. There’s some toasted coconut, actually toasted and kind of earthy, rather than being purely creamy and sweet. There’s some dark roast and dark chocolate, too, with only a little bit of vanilla.

This is overall much more balanced and less sweet than the Cycle I remember from a few years back. It’s less decadent but it’s a better barrel aged stout, in my mind. It’s thick, with a touch of booze, and a nice creaminess to it.

It’s nice to see that Cycle is maybe evolving and still making very tasty stouts.

 

 

Dessert in a bottle. If my wife tried to make cinnamon rolls and put chocolate frosting on them, I’d say I want something else for breakfast. But with a stout, it isn’t half bad. Dark, quickly dissipating head and non-existent lacing. Cinnamon, vanilla, and coconut push their way to the front on the nose, while roasty dark malt, chocolate, and bourbon barrel provide backup vocals. Taste is a sweet, sweet flavor bomb. Coconut and vanilla lead the way, cinnamon swirls around them, and rich chocolate holds everything together with a subtle barrel burn makes sure you know it’s there. If this beer has a weakness, it may be in the feel. Big bodied, full mouth feel, mouth watering, and boozy, my only complaint is the thick oiliness it has. The flavors on it really make this a tasty sweet treat.

 

Cool that they released the cuvee winner, and it is delicious. Viscous black pour, no head. Nose is boozier than the taste, all four adjuncts well represented, with subtle notes of marzipan, fudge and oak, very pleasant. Taste is wonderful but will not while all the flavors from the nose are there, I don’t get a cinnamon roll impression until very end of ends. Thankful barrel is allowed to have dramatic effect, though less than nose. Body is viscous almost syrupy but lighter in feel than it looks, medium warmth. Going to have to experiment with this year's "just" stouts to make a cuvee