Double Stack
Great Notion Brewing

A Tavour Treat. Pours a dark brown color with a minimal head that disappears quickly. Aroma is maple syrup and roasted malts. Taste is sweet coffee, maple, vanilla and cinnamon. Smooth and creamy.

 

Look - Black with a great than head and great sticky lacing and rimming
Smell & Taste - Maple forward followed by chocolate and coffee with a rosted malt as well.
Feel - full body creamy lighter carb
Overall - really taste like liquid panackes with maple syrup and some coffee

 

Double Stack from Great Notion. 16 fl oz can from @snaotheus in NBW BIF 17. Reviewed 14/05/23 (Review 3101). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Top rim of can stamped “STICKY STACKS 03.06.23”. Stored at 34 degrees at home. Served at 46.2 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 54.5 degrees F.
Appearance – 4.25
First pour – Amber Brown (SRM 18), clear.
Body – Black (SRM 40), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear lite, opaque with light penetration at the edges – ruby.
Head: Average (Maximum 1.1 cm, aggressive center pour), tan, high density, quickly diminishing, reducing to a 0.2 cm crown constantly renewed by carbonation, and a thin partial cap.
Lacing – Poor. Thin line of near-microscopic bubbles.
Aroma – 4.5 – When the tab is popped, instant aroma of coffee and maple syrup! Weak roasted malt, no hops, no yeast. No ethanol (11 % ABV as marked on the label).
Flavor – 3.5 – Moderately bitter coffee with maple syrup flavor as backing. Bitterness enhanced by the char flavor. No malt, no yeast, no hops. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Slight gastric warming.
Palate – 4 – Medium; watery short of syrupy/creamy; soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4 Without the char bitterness, I would have rated the flavor 4.5; for my taste buds, the char nearly ruined the maple/coffee combo. Otherwise, this is a very good coffee stout. And that “natural flavor and caramel color” screams “Unnecessary crap added”.

Canned 3/6/23. "Sticky stacks" stamped on the side of the can

It's finally time to try this classic from Great Notion thanks to Tavour. It's their most reviewed beer on BA and their only one to have entered the top 250. This should be their magnum opus. Will it be? Let's crack it open and find out

Pours a very dark brown with 2 fingers of creamy dark tan head that slowly fades to a ring and leaves minimal lacing

This is absolutely a maple bomb in the nose, but the coffee plays a nice supporting role as well. I'm picking up on aromas of maple syrup, milk chocolate, burnt caramel, medium roast coffee, vanilla, brown sugar, and straight up pancakes

It's surprisingly much more bitter in taste compared to the nose, not to say that it's super bitter but it has a nice bite. On the front end of the sip I'm tasting raw maple, dark roast coffee, charred malt, vanilla, cocoa powder, molasses, light raisin, and brown sugar. The swallow brings notes of maple syrup, dark roast coffee, cacao nibs, burnt caramel, charred malt, dark toast, and light molasses

A medium full body pairs with gentle tingling carbonation, resulting in a sweet beer with a bite. Finishes a tad sticky but nothing that hurts the drinkability

It's not reinventing the wheel of maple adjuncted Stouts, but it's damn good nonetheless

Very dark brown color. Aroma is very maple forward with a lot of vanilla, pastry, and coffee notes. Flavor is amazing, so sweet and so much going on— again with the coffee, vanilla, and maple… also toffee and caramel notes. Low bitterness. Very full body with some astringency. Holy crap, would get again, it’s so good! Taking lactase enzyme preemptively with this one because I am concerned.

 

 

 

On tap at The Brass Tap, Cedar Falls, IA. Served in a 5-ounce snifter. Pitch black in color, with a thin tan head. Absolutely huge aromas and flavors of maple syrup, dark roast coffee, pancakes, and char. Lots of roasty malt bitterness, without much attendant sweetness. Slightly boozy, with a syrupy mouthfeel. Notes of bitterness and char linger on the palate long after the finish. Overall, well crafted and highly recommended.

Aroma gives off a strong, alluring waft of maple and chocolatey malt. Taking a drink feels like getting a huge bite out of a big, fluffy, delicious Belgian waffle coated in maple syrup, followed by a roasty bite of coffee. Nothing I've ever had comes so close to the maple taste, every sip is a breakfast meal in one. Top tier!

 

 

Can poured into a Mountain Rambler Brewery snifter

A: Pours basically black with a frothy tan brown head that settles to a thin layer and leaves some thin lacing.

S: Opening the can is like opening the door to a sugar shack as you're met with a wave of maple, followed by bold coffee, roasty malt, a little char, and faint smoke, light earthy notes, chocolate, vanilla, toffee, and slightly toasty biscuity bready pancake-y-ness.

T: Opens with a huge hit of maple syrup, followed by milk chocolate, vanilla, and a nice touch of coffee that leads into roasty malt, a little char, and a touch of smoke, with underlying mild earthy and slightly nutty notes, toffee, and toasty biscuity/bready malt very reminiscent indeed of a stack of pancakes.

M: Full body, somewhat mild carbonation, pretty smooth though somehow I would describe it as especially creamy, alcohol is rather well hidden giving just the slightest touch of warmth as it comes up to room temp.

O: I've had a couple cans of this sitting in the fridge for a few years now, just waiting for the right night to crack into my special liquid souvenirs from a great road trip. But as time passed and that night never came, I got on the lookout for a fresh can to purposely do the opposite with; to push to the front of the line as quickly as possible and try fresh. A lucky shipment of cans hit my area recently, so here we are, cracking into a can that's a little more than a month old.

This beer probably has the strongest maple presence of any beer I've ever had, including CBS. To their credit, you definitely get the sensation of taking a big bite of pancakes dripping with syrup after just taking a sip of your morning mocha. Unfortunately, that kinda leads into its downfall. While it is true to their own description of having an "extreme maple syrup flavor", it can come off as ungodly sweet up front. Not gonna lie, I'm also a little weary of the label saying "coffee, maple syrup, natural flavor, and caramel color", potentially meaning there's some kinda maple or 'pancake extract' in there. This one is fun to try, but could really benefit from some balance; upping the coffee, backing the maple down a notch, maybe even both would help make it less of a novelty and more of an enjoyable sipper you go back to. Maybe some age will do the trick. I'll definitely update when that right night comes along and I get into my vintage cans. For now, I'd say it's a cool one to try as a short pour, but it can get overwhelming in greater volumes.

 

A new beer into my top 5,maple,and chocolate decadence and smooth as all get out.I don't review much anymore but this is just too good to stay quiet about!

 

04/06/23 can @ home

Poured at fridge temp. Pours a rich creamy black with a small amount of brown head. The nose is crazy. Maple syrup, vanilla, caramel, chocolate, marshmallows, slight coffee.

The taste is fantastic. Burnt toffee, marshmallow, maple syrup, chocolate, coffee grounds, and some nice dark fruit.

Mouthfeel is thick and creamy. Aftertaste is charred wood and sweet toffee. Great stuff!

Canned 3/6/23. “Sticky Stacks”

Look - dark brownish black. Can’t see through. Just a millimeter or two of ram head.

Smell - upon popping the can, the maple punches you in the face. Get your nose in there and you can suck in the coffee aroma.

Taste - maple up front m, then the coffee stout on the back end. Coffee keeps it from being too sweet.

Feel - thick.

Overall - The name says it all. GN sure has a knack of making their stouts taste like whatever treat they are going for. Snickers? Check. French toast? Check. In this case, pancakes and coffee. I wouldn’t substitute this for breakfast, but would consider it for dinner.

 

 

February 2023. Athens. Just a touch sweet but that is my only negative comment. Very flavorful smooth good color excellent head. About eight dollars. I can sew a little pricey, but very enjoyable would definitely buy it again.

Pours a dark cola-colored brew that forms a nice centimeter-deep khaki/tan head that dissipates at a moderate pace to leave behind a creamy retention on the surface, with minimal lacing. Aromas of maple syrup, chocolate, burnt sugar, coffee, roasted malts. A serious nostalgia for pancakes with the aromas from this beer. The taste follows the nose: maple syrup, chocolate, coffee in the finish (lending some bitterness) and a nice roasted malt profile. Full-bodied with a thick feel. Not too sweet, perfect balance of bitter and sweet. Great imperial stout if you're looking for a change of pace from the bourbon-barrel aged RIS route.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Had on draft 11/15/22 @ the Hopleaf.

Black appearance.

Small tan head; minimal lace.

Maple syrup BOMB in the nose, with hints of medium roast coffee bean & chocolate syrup.

Medium thick, sticky mouthfeel.

Again, on the palate, a maple syrup BOMB, with hints of medium roast coffee bean & chocolate syrup.

Way over the top and not very beer-like; if nothing has ever been to sweet to you, this may be up your alley.

 

On tap @Seattle Georgetown location.