8 Year
Cycle Brewing
- From:
- Cycle Brewing
- Florida, United States
- Style:
- American Imperial Stout
- ABV:
- Not listed
- Score:
- 92
- Avg:
- 4.28 | pDev: 7.71%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 4
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Jul 19, 2025
- Added:
- Oct 14, 2021
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
SCORE
92
Outstanding
92
Outstanding
This whiskey barrel-aged “stambic” is our 8th year anniversary beer. It is a blend of 1, 2 and 3 year old stout. The barrels were Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection: Chocolate Malted Rye, Heaven Hill and Maker’s Mark.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by MJSFS:
Rated by MJSFS from Florida
4.7/5 rDev +9.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
Jan 08, 2022
4.7/5 rDev +9.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
Jan 08, 2022
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by mschrei from Illinois
4.61/5 rDev +7.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.75
4.61/5 rDev +7.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.75
This is what a barrel aged stout should be. No adjuncts, just dark roasted malt and bourbon, bourbon, bourbon. A bit smoky, which I like with this. Only issue for me is it’s a bit oily. Otherwise, pretty damn good.
Sep 04, 2022
Reviewed by REVZEB from Illinois
4.41/5 rDev +3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.41/5 rDev +3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
I have been loving the blended stouts, but I love this term even more, "stambic", thank you cycle. This stambic is complex and rewarding. Black body with a large tan ring. Big blends of bourbon with molasses, char, oak, dark chocolate, dark fruit and a hint of rye in the nose. Taste is full dark fruit galore, some marshmallow, bourbon and oak with big molasses, vanillin oak, char. Kind of reminds me of a more fruit forward version of mikerphone's stambic series. Feel is lush, heavy, thick, warm and smooth. Sip slowly and enjoy
Feb 01, 2022
Reviewed by beergoot from Colorado
4.31/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25
4.31/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25
Coal-black body capped with a thin, lasting, khaki hued head. Excellent aroma; cocoa and layers of dried oak; some boozy note to the nose. Incredible flavors; milk chocolate infused with subliminal bourbon tones; earthy sweetness countered with a low-key charred grain and hop bitterness. Heavy body; thick, silky, velvety; dense residual sugars coat the palate; dull sweetness to the mouthfeel with a faint trace of alcohol dryness poking through near the finish.
What a fantastic anniversary beer! Cycle is known for their huge dark beers, and this one is phenomenal. Rich and smooth, chock-full of heady yet restrained sweetness and well-hidden booziness.
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Late note from Cycle Brewing about the ABV (from an email response I got from them regarding the ABV):
It’s in the 11-12% range most likely, barrel aged beers require a very expensive and very specialized piece of equipment to measure true ABV since the aging time, volume in the barrel, and the amount of whiskey in each barrel can all have major impacts on that and 2 of those are total guesswork, so ABV can’t be measured via the much more accessible and common change in gravity.
Pouring temperature: 44 °F; bottling data: 2021
Jan 20, 2022What a fantastic anniversary beer! Cycle is known for their huge dark beers, and this one is phenomenal. Rich and smooth, chock-full of heady yet restrained sweetness and well-hidden booziness.
---------------
Late note from Cycle Brewing about the ABV (from an email response I got from them regarding the ABV):
It’s in the 11-12% range most likely, barrel aged beers require a very expensive and very specialized piece of equipment to measure true ABV since the aging time, volume in the barrel, and the amount of whiskey in each barrel can all have major impacts on that and 2 of those are total guesswork, so ABV can’t be measured via the much more accessible and common change in gravity.
Pouring temperature: 44 °F; bottling data: 2021
Reviewed by maximum12 from Minnesota
3.62/5 rDev -15.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.62/5 rDev -15.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Had several Cycle BA stouts over the past year & they’ve been all over the place from great to sub-mediocre. Here’s another 22 oz. bottle to add to the confusion.
The nose is all earthy bourbon. Full stop.
8 Year mimics the classics. Lots of malts, lots of bourbon, a soft slap from the wood, slow ride of chocolate with a touch of bitterness running through the finish. 2016 thick. Half the bomber is the correct proportion of beer to stomach.
Good beer but nothing unusual in the broken year of 2021.
Dec 31, 2021The nose is all earthy bourbon. Full stop.
8 Year mimics the classics. Lots of malts, lots of bourbon, a soft slap from the wood, slow ride of chocolate with a touch of bitterness running through the finish. 2016 thick. Half the bomber is the correct proportion of beer to stomach.
Good beer but nothing unusual in the broken year of 2021.
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