Barrel Aged Cuppa - Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Almond
Maplewood Brewery & Distillery

Pours like motor oil and sets in glass pitch black. Produces a half finger of dark mocha, reddish tinted head that dissipates immediately and leaves nothing behind. Huge alcohol legs. A menacing looking brew.

Aroma gives off a big bourbon barrel character (oak, bourbon spirit, slight vanillin), along with cocoa powder, dark chocolate bar, caramel, some coffee, some vanilla, toasted almond, some roasted malt, and slight black cherry. Not a huge nose, but what's there is inviting.

Taste follows the aroma nicely, bringing dark chocolate syrup and fudge, cocoa powder, some toasted almond, some salinity, molasses, some caramel, vanilla, some dark roast coffee, some star anise, and big barrel qualities. The barrel offers oak tannin, bourbon spirit, and some vanillin.

Full body. Dense, creamy, oily. Still a little heat from the barrel despite almost 2 years in the can. Much drier than expected, which is welcomed.

This certainly isn't the best BA Cuppa I've had by these guys, but I heard the '21 release just wasn't up to par from the previous year, which I was able to land cans of and was blown away by. It's aged nicely at almost 2 years. The barrel presence is the show on this one. Quality stuff.

fobab 2021.

 

 

Had on tap. Brownish black pour with brown cap. Huge almond aromas dominate dark chocolate, bourbon, and light maple and coffee support. Taste is surprisingly muted, almond and chocolate are up front with coffee, barrel is faint beyond warmth, salt finish snaps though. Feel is viscous, very warm verging on hot, again not much texture to it yet the salt precludes it from being smooth. Meh, and I love the cuppa series

 

 

Totally get the chocolate and almond in abundance. Sticky, sweet feel. But there is no hint of barrel anywhere here.

Last but not least we bring out the Dark Chocolate, Almond, and Sea Salt. Not by a large margin, but I think this was the best iteration of this year’s BA Cuppa Series. You get a lot more bourbon and also a lot more carbonation. It is a rich, elegant, and composed treat of a beer. There are also heavy notes of marzipan and salt on the back of the taste buds. I think this was a huge success.

 

Dull matte black with a very short tan head dying to a spotty film and the thinnest chain.

Almost extracty, it's an absolute almond overload the likes of which I'm not sure I've tasted in a beer, with viscous chocolate coming in a distant second.

While fairly thick, it's also slightly hot, but then it slowly lies down into a blanket of calming numbness. Barrel? Aside from the booze...nah.