Kentucky Maple Barrel Stout
Alltech's Lexington Brewing and Distilling Co.

 

 

 

 

3.08/5: Very sweet, without much in the way of depth or barrel presence

Kentucky Maple Barrel Stout from Alltech Lexington Brewing. Four-pack of 12 oz cans from Franklin Beer, Franklin, on 08/12/22. $18.50 (Including tax) = $ 0.385/oz. Reviewed 28/12/22. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Can bottom stamped “2022/10/10”. Served at 54.5 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 59.1 degrees.
Appearance – 3.5.
First pour – Deep Amber (SRM 15), clear.
Body – Ruby Brown (SRM 24), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, ruby, and translucent.
Head – Average (Maximum 2.9 cm, aggressive center pour), almond, high density with a few surface rocks, quickly diminishing to an undulating 0.15 – 0.2 cm crown fed sporadically by carbonation, with a thin partial cap.
Lacing – Poor. Many small circles and short line segments of very tiny bubbles are noted.
Aroma – 3.75 – Weak maple syrup, no hops, no yeast. On the exhale, bourbon is faintly evident.
Flavor – 3.5 – Flavor follows the nose – slightly sweet, maple, no hops, no yeast. Slightly salty! Definite ethanol (12 % ABV as marked on can) taste. Neither bourbon nor oakiness noted. Painful gastric burning occurs. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 4 – Medium, lightly syrupy, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.75 Again, when the palate is the best feature of a beer, look out! And this palate leaves my lips sticky. Not much aroma or taste – at least it’s cheap.

 

 

 

Poured from a refrigerated can. Looks, smells and tastes like a Munich dopplebock on steroids, or maybe a pumped-up Baltic porter. Are those appropriate characteristics for an imperial stout? Probably not. Purists might be appalled.
It's big and boozy, one can is more than enough. Vanilla predominates, and it goes down like velvet..

 

Poured from a 12 oz can bought in Louisville, KY into a snifter.

L - A dark beer, but certainly brown and not black. Lets some light through when held to a bright light. Tan head is foamy and thick on initial pour, but fades almost immediately to nothing but a thin ring and some clusters of tiny bubbles.

S - The aromas are all about malt and barrel character. The malt brings some light chocolate and brown sugar. The barrel notes are even stronger, with vanilla and oak, but also a strange soy sauce-like note.

T - The flavors are fresh and strongly representative of a barrel-aged stout. There is lots of chocolate from the malt, but no roasted grain or espresso notes that are common in the style. Vanilla and bourbon whiskey are there, as expected from the barrel aging, but there is also a very sweet, brown sugar note that is not typical, and I would assume that comes from the unique maple syrup barrels.

F - Medium body with low carbonation; sweetness lingers in the mouth after the swallow. Low hops bitterness. Alcohol is evident, but the beer is not as hot as I'd expect for 12% ABV.

O - This is a style that I enjoy and it can be expected to be big, boozy and unsubtle. This beer is all of those things, but I wouldn't call it a great example of the style. The use of maple syrup barrels is unusual, and that probably accounts for the unusual soy sauce character in the aroma and the excessively sweet flavor/mouthfeel.

 

Single can from Party Town.
Black, some light penetration. Finger thick mocha foam fizzes away immediately.
Bourbon aroma prevails with notes of maple.
Roasted malt with sweet bourbon would be my taste description.
The brown sugar comes through quite a bit, in a pleasant way.
Body is medium/full, actually lighter than expected.
Like the beer, for 12% it does not feel that boozy.

12oz can poured into a tulip

A- pours black in color with a one finger foamy khaki head that has good retention

S- buttery caramel and oak up front, followed by chocolate, char, bourbon and a hint of vanilla

T- sweet and malty up front with the maple adding to the sweetness. Notes of chocolate, caramel and toffee. Oaky bourbon at the mid-palate gives way to a buttery oak finish, lingers of chocolate and sweet maple

M- medium body with moderate carbonation leads to a foamy mouthfeel that continues into a slightly warming finish

O- this on comes across as more buttery than maple, not my favorite from their barrel aged lineup

 

 

 

 

12oz can stamped 2021/11/11 poured into a teku glass at 50° Fahrenheit 12% ABV. The beer pours nearly black in color with little light penetration and light tan head. The head recedes to a uneven ring and leaves a little lacing. The aroma is moderate in strength featuring maple syrup, chocolate, light bourbon, and caramel. The taste is semisweet plus with bourbon and maple notes. There's a touch of oak on the backend (no surprise after 18 months in a barrel) and moderate bitterness. Unfortunately, there's a rubbing alcohol note on the finish as well. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with less than medium carbonation and a semi dry finish. Overall, good. It's pretty sweet, lacks body and has the ethanol note that combine to drag the score down. Worth drinking once for $5 a can, but I wouldn't go searching for it.

A - Dark brown pour that comes off as black. Moderately dense, creamy, toffee colored lacing rests on top and carbonation is run ning on the lower side.

S - Light chocolate roast, Bourbon, vanilla, maple syrup, and light chocolate char.

T - Cherry, Bourbon, vanilla, chocolate roast, caramel, some maple syrup, oak, and light chocolate char surfaces on the backside for the finish with some toasted caramel around the edges.

M - Full bodied with a little thinness around the edges and a velvety texture. There's some warming in the back of the throat but for 12% it's kept impressively at a minimum.

O - This one is nicely done and worth seeking out.

 

 

 

 

Poured from a 12 oz can into a snifter.
L: black, small amber cream head and light lacing
S: sweet and a bit boozy mostly cocoa and vanilla
T: vanilla, cocoa, maple, malt, oaky finish
F: smooth and fairly thick almost velvety feel plus a bit of alcohol heat.
O: really liked this one. Even though I reside in KY I’m not a bourbon fan. Maybe 2 or 3 sips a year mixed in egg nog. Generally I do not care for bourbon barrel beers. I want a beer kit a bourbon. Usually I find these too over the top. Without question this is the first bourbon barrel that I’ve enjoyed. Lexington Brewing has nailed it with this one. Very enjoyable and a great choice for a cool damp evening.

12 oz. can, bottled 1/20/21, sampled 5/22/21
Appearance: Black glass, holds a thin ring of tan foam but doesn't lace. Never really foamed. Shows some brown when back lit.

Aroma: Sweet, toffee, maple, bourbon barrel, all fairly firm.

Taste: Sweet dark malt, heavy toffee, the maple and bourbon notes are there but don't overpower, which is nice. Pancake syrup, super sweet, no hop notes.

Mouthfeel: A firm chew, heavy body, low carbonation, almost flat, clean almost dry finish.

Overall: Big sweet bourbon beer, I like it. It's possible it has a million flaws but you don't taste any of them under all the malt and bourbon. A bit too sweet for me, but it's a flaw I can live with.

Thanks Illudium!

Very dark, virtually headless. Interesting aroma, kind of like a maple perfume with coffee, dark chocolate & dark fruit. It’s tastes like a flat root beer soda with maple syrup added. Also some brown sugar flavor, caramel, bourbon & coffee. Mouthfeel is thin & flat, not stoutlike at all. Its 12% will sneak up on you just as the stomach heat implies. Needs more bubbles.

 

Canned 91/20/2012; Pours almost black color with a small tan head that faded on the faster side, leaving minimal spotty lacing. Smells of brown sugar, faint bourbon, vanilla, maple syrup, piney hops, metallic notes and sweet bread or more like bread pudding. Not overly boozy, but nice to inhale.

Taste is nice, with maple syrup, charred grains or smoked malt, brown sugar, faint bourbon, vanilla, piney hops, caramel, metallic notes, burnt coffee grinds, molasses, bread pudding, burnt wood or barrel notes, and dark chocolate in the finish. Seems like rye or some other spices linger in the aftertaste, and while this was enjoyable it just comes off as weak for 18 months of barrel aging. It’s very thin and watery too, not stout-like in that regard either. It does mask the ABV quite well.

 

 

 

Trendy but rooted in tradition, Lexington Brewing takes their bourbon barrel aging prowess to the "you bet'cha!" land by lacing an imperial stout with maple. Its bourbon and syrup influences were simply meant to be together.

Very dark brown, perhaps bleached by the extended bourbon barrel aging, Kentucky Maple Barrel Stout slowly releases a creamy, short-statured, sepia-stained froth. As a creamy-sweet scent of maple syrup, vanilla, coffee, chocolate and whisky roll off of the nose, its scent is bot modest and well-melded. Yet even sweeter in its early impressions, its bold malt taste is chocked full of caramel, honey, cream, candy, maple and nuanced butterscotch.

But as the sweeter Imperial Stout broadens out, the middle palate shows an extension of sweetness along with the savory flavors of maple wrapping around corn syrup and caramel for a savory balance that's sure to appease the sweet tooth. As the light char of the barrels rise, they bring the bold roasted coffee and bittersweet chocolate flavors to the forefront before trending slightly bitter with coffee-like earthiness and the pleasant char of oak.

Full bodied and pleasantly cloying, the beer's focus on malt sweetness and maple syrup keeps the balance simplistic and somewhat one-dimensional. Careful not to detract from the maple, the Stout finishes with a sweet roastiness with a long aftertaste of butter pecan and maple to beg for a breakfast pairing.

From the 12 oz can in a snifter. This monster brew from a
great local pours a nice brown tinged black, with a nice head of
khaki foam that subsides to a thick ring, thin clumping layer,
and sports some light lacing. Nose of subtleties; light bourbon,
faint oak, moderate maple, vanilla, subtle cream, dark chocolate,
light char, and sweet roasted malts. Flavors exceed the nose with
aplomb; dark malts dance about notes of dark coffee, dark cocoa,
balanced bourbon, vanilla, oak, and rich maple mingle with
char and roast. Nice mouth feel; medium full body, smooth,
lightly coating, lightly warming, well hidden booze, low
carbonation, and a lightly dry finish that is more
rewarding with warmth.

Overall-----WOW....excellent higher ABV version of the original!

Cheers