Friday (2021)
Cycle Brewing

 

 

 

Coconut floaties in a dark black body. Hazelnut sweetness, toasted coconut, dark chocolate fudge, medium whiskey warmth and not boozy. Nice balance overall. Cinnamon adds perhaps a touch of spice and astringency, not overbearing. Med-full body, low carb.

Bottle at share. yay! Let's kickoff the weekend. Typical pour, not much different from the rest of the week. Aroma fills the nose with lush chocolate, coconut and cinnamon, sweet. Taste adds hazelnuts to the mix, recalling a chocolate candy out of the assorted box, all sweet and bursting with gooey deadence. Maybe through a cordial chocolate in there too. This is what you work all week for.

Pours out dark brown. No foam formation. To be expected. Some coconut pieces come out at the beginning.

Nose is hazelnut, cinnamon, coconut, chocolate, roasted malt. This is my fourth hazelnut stout in the past two weeks. This one really comes through with the hazelnut and I'm so glad that it does. This illicits images of Macaroons and Nutella and baked goods. Great stuff.

Taste is similar. Cinnamon, hazelnuts, chocolate all come together to create a bakery like a decadence. Like a spiced cookie with a little more brightness to it. The coconut shows up less in the taste.

Mouthfeel is full bodied with very mild carbonation. Sweet and cloying with some drying on the back end.

Overall a fantastic tasting stout. Not much nuance, but that's typical for these types of brews. It does what it's supposed to do and it does it well.

Damn good beer. Seems to be hazelnut forward, and I’m normally not a big fan of beers where that’s the most prevalent adjunct. But the coconut and cinnamon are strong enough to balance the hazelnut. There’s also notes if chocolate and vanilla there, and the barrel, while not super strong, asserts itself well against the other flavors. The top of the beer has an oily sheen and there are bits of big coconut flakes present, so it’s definitely a unique looking beer. Medium bodied, a bit oily, boozy. I really enjoyed this.

Is it just me or does cycle seem to do their best ba stout work with nuts? This one emphatically argues, "yes!" Viscous pitch black pour with a brown head and some coconut floaties. Big hazelnut and cinnamon leading the nose, bourbon coconut, oak, vanilla, molasses, fudge and lightly roasted malt support with that order of intensity. Taste has the oak, coconut and fudge up front with big bourbon bridging to the second half of the sip that is heavy on the lush hazelnut, more coconut, vanilla, and especially cinnamon with a touch of earth and roast. Feel is thick yet only medium-heavy bodied, warm with booze and has plenty of cinnamon spice texture but the nuttiness is subdued, rich overall.

 

Tar black body with virtually no head; bits of floating coagulated sugar on top of the beer. A monstrous smell, rich with roasted grains and coffee-like elements; charred coconut. Huge flavor, rich and malty with charred coconut and an underlying earthy spiciness; heavy sweetness, rich bitter chocolate and cocoa; fire-roasted nut aspect. Heavy body, chewy and oily; very sludgy; residual sugar body to spare; heavy, earthy sweetness yet has a balancing dryness presence.

What a beautiful beer overall. The overall depth of this beer phenomenal. The ABV isn't way out front and probably accounts for providing a bold dryness to counterbalance the immense sweetness in the beer. This is a dark, chewy brute of a beer.

Poured at 54 °F