Friday (2021) - OG Friday 2021 aka Breakthrough Infection
Cycle Brewing

poured from a 22oz bomber into a perennial snifter. pours inky, oily black with basically no foam or head to speak of save for a fairly thick mocha brown collar around the rim of the glass. rich chocolate and bourbon with some faint vanilla on the nose. this bottle does have a couple years on it. no shortage of bourbon barrel
though. taste mostly follows with rich milk chocolate, faint vanilla (which basically just amplifies the chocolate), woody oak and bourbon. big time oak in the finish. almost to the point of dryness and grainy wood. thick, full mouthfeel. this was good and glad to have tried but wish i could have tried it fresh. the vanilla was there but would have liked to experience it when the vanilla was fresh.

Well shit, I had no idea I was part of an experiment. I can definitely say this one isn’t infected, and it’s definitely a vanilla stout bomb. Plenty of bourbon barrel presence too. Big bodied, boozy, a slight hint of oiliness. Cycles’s barrel aged stout day program is THE SHIT, and this is another example.

3.91/5: One of the most vanilla-forward anything I've had in a while; decadent, but lacks the depth to be an elite stout

 

Bottled 2021 (label is from 2020). Poured at 53°. Cycle’s Simple Stout BBA 2 years then aged with 2 lbs per barrel of a mix of Mexican, Ugandan, and Madagascar vanilla beans. Pours black with ruby edges; fairly fast fizzy dark tan head that quickly dissipated leaving a small island of a cap, a thin ring, and a few spots of lace; thick legs on swirl. Semi sweet chocolate malt and bourbon nose. Taste follows nose; vanilla middle; oak; cocoa nibs finish. Silky smooth feel; not at all adjuncty; full minus body; moderate minus carbonation. Overall, another outstanding BBA imperial stout; there’s some vanilla on backend, I would have liked more, and yet the flavor adds to the well balanced barrel and base notes.