Barrel Aged Cuppa - Breakfast
Maplewood Brewery & Distillery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16oz can poured into Crooked Stave snifter.

Appearance: Black body with 3 fingers of dark mocha head. Head drops down to nothing. Thick legs on the side of the glass after each sip.

Smell: Well balanced maple syrup and coffee. Hint of dry oak & bourbon.

Taste: Starting off with maple and chocolate sweetness; perfectly balanced fresh coffee. Really nice mellow bourbon barrel finish. After this beer has warmed up, the bourbon has a finish that just keeps going on for ever and then... out of left field that vanilla pudding & marshmallow note hits hard with a hint of tobacco and leather. What a way to finish an incredible stout.

Mouthfeel: full bodied stout. low and adequate carbonation level. Thick, sticky sweet, & oily. No booze burn; yet very warming in the best possible way.

Overall: All the components of this barrel aged stout come together very nicely to check all the right boxes! The sum of all the parts make this beer even better than expected. The market is saturated with maple and coffee stouts, but this one still finds itself in high regards despite me feeling slightly burnt out from maple and coffee barrel aged stouts. The highlights are: adjuncts are extremely well balanced and all taste authentic, smooth barrel aging is well balanced with the base stout and adjuncts, and a fantastic mouthfeel. This beer drinks best at room temperature without a shadow of a doubt.

Of the three releases of FOBAB weekend at Maplewood here is my preference:

1. BA Cuppa Breakfast
2. Cuppa Brulee
3. BA Cinamon Coconut.

As for direct comparison of the barrel aged varients: Breakfast won over Cinnamon Coconut because it had significantly bigger barrel presence, it was just a little bit thicker / has a better mouthfeel, and the balance was the best in BA Cuppa Breakfast. I actually though that I would like the BA Cinnamon Coconut more than the BA Cuppa Breakfast. Turns out that the BA Cuppa Breakfast was the best of the bunch.

Either way, the BA Cuppa's are pretty nice stouts. I was also surprised that the Cuppa Brulee was better in my opinion that the BA Cuppa Cinnamon Coconut.