Winter Spiced French Toast
Decadent Ales
- From:
- Decadent Ales
- New York, United States
- Style:
- Hazy Imperial IPA
- ABV:
- 8.6%
- Score:
- 88
- Avg:
- 3.92 | pDev: 13.52%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 15
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Oct 03, 2025
- Added:
- Jan 10, 2019
- Wants:
- 1
- Gots:
- 0
SCORE
88
Very Good
88
Very Good
Spiced Double India Pale Ale with Maple Syrup, Allspice, and Madagascar Vanilla Bean added
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by ichorNet:
Reviewed by ichorNet from Massachusetts
4.4/5 rDev +12.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.4/5 rDev +12.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
I really enjoyed (and was bewildered by) Decadent's original French Toast DIPA, so of course I had to grab a can of the version with Madagascar vanilla and allspice added. Cuz if you're not going all-in, what are you even doing?
Pours a hazy, cloudy orange color with a thin ring of bone-white head. Just quickly comparing with my notes from my review of French Toast, I'd say this is slightly worse looking overall. No lace or legs to speak of, and the entire body is suffused with intense suspended solid matter. As I recall, regular FT was pretty much an opaque haze of orange, but this has a much more granular and, er... ugly appearance. Personally, I miss when IPAs looked like this instead of having the rather-ubiquitous uniform haze made popular by NEIPAs these days, but in the interest of remaining mostly-objective, I think this is probably going to come off as a bit more unappealing to most people. I still dig it, though.
The scent is initially not too impressive, likely due to temperature. This is really a sweet and spicy beer, so straight from the fridge it just doesn't have a lot of impact to my senses. Allowing it to acclimate to room temperature for about 10-15 minutes lets it really come to fruition. It has some fruity esters redolent of apricot jam and plum, which, when mixed with the intense maple element really get it into next-level territory. And it somehow still smells pretty hoppy. Slight spruce/grassiness with herbal and spice notes (obviously). Less chive and onion than regular FT, and much more vanilla/maple, but it's really just surprisingly well-done and cohesive. Again, this is a beer you have to actually let sit out, which might not jive with the "IPA" aspect, but it's worth it. My review for FT makes it clear I was confused by the nose of that beer, and maybe it's the fact that I knew slightly more about what I was getting into here, but this one just feels more cohesive.
The flavor profile is, well, bonkers! Maple and cinnamon spice upfront with a bit of nutmeg and vanilla in the mid-palate. Grainy and chewy, almost oat-like in its complexity and feel... less like French Toast Crunch cereal and more like a fluffy stack of French toast _actually_... it's pure front-loaded impression, but it's the kind I really appreciate and love a brewer achieving with aplomb. Slick with spicy, piney and herbal hops melding with the allspice (which gives off a rather-intense clove-like phenolic note here and there), rounded out by a slight ethanol hit toward the finish, taken in stride with even more maple syrup (warning: you must love maple to enjoy this beer even remotely... it's that intense), this is just a flavor sensation. It feels like pure wizardry to me.
The feel, as mentioned above is excellent for what is going on here. It never feels like too-heavy a beer despite the density of the flavor approach combined with the high-ish 8.6% ABV, and despite it being a sipper, I never really felt like it was difficult to drink. Challenging, sure... if only due to the weird and spectacular approach to adjuncts, but not something I would ever turn down. This is just magnificent. Hopefully I can get more. I recall Decadent being a bit hit-or-miss when they first started showing up in my area, but they seem to have fine-tuned their craft over time. Most of their recent ouevre has been quite great. They're likely to have a hiccup or two eventually, once again, just statistically speaking considering their experimental nature, but I'm happy to report that this is not that hiccup.
Jan 23, 2019Pours a hazy, cloudy orange color with a thin ring of bone-white head. Just quickly comparing with my notes from my review of French Toast, I'd say this is slightly worse looking overall. No lace or legs to speak of, and the entire body is suffused with intense suspended solid matter. As I recall, regular FT was pretty much an opaque haze of orange, but this has a much more granular and, er... ugly appearance. Personally, I miss when IPAs looked like this instead of having the rather-ubiquitous uniform haze made popular by NEIPAs these days, but in the interest of remaining mostly-objective, I think this is probably going to come off as a bit more unappealing to most people. I still dig it, though.
The scent is initially not too impressive, likely due to temperature. This is really a sweet and spicy beer, so straight from the fridge it just doesn't have a lot of impact to my senses. Allowing it to acclimate to room temperature for about 10-15 minutes lets it really come to fruition. It has some fruity esters redolent of apricot jam and plum, which, when mixed with the intense maple element really get it into next-level territory. And it somehow still smells pretty hoppy. Slight spruce/grassiness with herbal and spice notes (obviously). Less chive and onion than regular FT, and much more vanilla/maple, but it's really just surprisingly well-done and cohesive. Again, this is a beer you have to actually let sit out, which might not jive with the "IPA" aspect, but it's worth it. My review for FT makes it clear I was confused by the nose of that beer, and maybe it's the fact that I knew slightly more about what I was getting into here, but this one just feels more cohesive.
The flavor profile is, well, bonkers! Maple and cinnamon spice upfront with a bit of nutmeg and vanilla in the mid-palate. Grainy and chewy, almost oat-like in its complexity and feel... less like French Toast Crunch cereal and more like a fluffy stack of French toast _actually_... it's pure front-loaded impression, but it's the kind I really appreciate and love a brewer achieving with aplomb. Slick with spicy, piney and herbal hops melding with the allspice (which gives off a rather-intense clove-like phenolic note here and there), rounded out by a slight ethanol hit toward the finish, taken in stride with even more maple syrup (warning: you must love maple to enjoy this beer even remotely... it's that intense), this is just a flavor sensation. It feels like pure wizardry to me.
The feel, as mentioned above is excellent for what is going on here. It never feels like too-heavy a beer despite the density of the flavor approach combined with the high-ish 8.6% ABV, and despite it being a sipper, I never really felt like it was difficult to drink. Challenging, sure... if only due to the weird and spectacular approach to adjuncts, but not something I would ever turn down. This is just magnificent. Hopefully I can get more. I recall Decadent being a bit hit-or-miss when they first started showing up in my area, but they seem to have fine-tuned their craft over time. Most of their recent ouevre has been quite great. They're likely to have a hiccup or two eventually, once again, just statistically speaking considering their experimental nature, but I'm happy to report that this is not that hiccup.
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by DraftMonger from Denmark
3.25/5 rDev -17.1%
look: 2 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.25
3.25/5 rDev -17.1%
look: 2 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.25
Copenhagen 9/7 2019. 47,3 cl can from Mikkeller Web-shop. Toast with a head sporting a Christmas cap leaning on a fork holding a cup of coffee.
Pours hazy orange with a small white head. Settles as thin layer of foam struggling to cover the surface of the beer.
Aroma is intense and sweet and sour at same time. Pastry sweet, vanilla, brown sugar, lactose, syrup, Christmas spices. Sour citrus peeking cautiously in. Like a too sweet Honey cake stuffed into can.
Light carbonation. Medium thick, viscous, sticky, soft, almost flat texture.
Flavor is heavy sweet followed by a moderate but notable rough bitterness. Aftertaste is sweet with a lighter bitter undercurrent.
Another pastry beer from Decadent Ales. Not my thing. But I got to give it that is does seems pretty decadent.
Oct 03, 2025Pours hazy orange with a small white head. Settles as thin layer of foam struggling to cover the surface of the beer.
Aroma is intense and sweet and sour at same time. Pastry sweet, vanilla, brown sugar, lactose, syrup, Christmas spices. Sour citrus peeking cautiously in. Like a too sweet Honey cake stuffed into can.
Light carbonation. Medium thick, viscous, sticky, soft, almost flat texture.
Flavor is heavy sweet followed by a moderate but notable rough bitterness. Aftertaste is sweet with a lighter bitter undercurrent.
Another pastry beer from Decadent Ales. Not my thing. But I got to give it that is does seems pretty decadent.
Reviewed by cjeep from Pennsylvania
4.13/5 rDev +5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
4.13/5 rDev +5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
this is quite a beer but hard to see it as an IPA in my view.
L: pretty beer. hazy, gold with a nice head that lingers.
S; all kinds of stuff going on. vanilla sweetness. spices. maybe some citrus but not strong.
T: vanilla, maple syrup. spices and a bit of hops. it's sweet but it works
F: rich and syrupy. it fits.
O: you gotta be in the mood for a dessert beer, but it works.
Mar 10, 2020L: pretty beer. hazy, gold with a nice head that lingers.
S; all kinds of stuff going on. vanilla sweetness. spices. maybe some citrus but not strong.
T: vanilla, maple syrup. spices and a bit of hops. it's sweet but it works
F: rich and syrupy. it fits.
O: you gotta be in the mood for a dessert beer, but it works.
Reviewed by tigg924 from Massachusetts
4.81/5 rDev +22.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
4.81/5 rDev +22.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
Pours hazy, gold in color with one third inch head. Taste is big vanilla with citrus and white bread...French toast with a big helping of vanilla. Medium bodied, sweet, moderate carbonation. A wonderful dessert ipa. Hits all of the French toast notes with definite ipa taste. Will get this again.
Jan 01, 2020
Reviewed by avalon07 from South Carolina
4.41/5 rDev +12.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.41/5 rDev +12.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
L: Poured from a tallboy can to a snifter glass. Had a yellow-orange color and a very cloudy consistency. There was a half inch of foamy, fairly long-lasting head. Pretty good lacing.
S: A sweet and enticing aroma of maple syrup, vanilla, hops, malt, citrus fruit, and spices.
T: Tasted of a good amount of vanilla (more than expected), a bit of citrus fruit (grapefruit), lots of maple syrup (a very strong component), a moderate amount of hops, and some spices (allspice, nutmeg). An extremely sweet and delicious flavor. It's surprisingly complex, though the maple syrup does seem to dominate it. Quite tasty.
F: A good amount of carbonation with a slightly syrupy finish. Medium-bodied.
O: A well made, enjoyable, and offbeat beer. Drinkable.
Apr 03, 2019S: A sweet and enticing aroma of maple syrup, vanilla, hops, malt, citrus fruit, and spices.
T: Tasted of a good amount of vanilla (more than expected), a bit of citrus fruit (grapefruit), lots of maple syrup (a very strong component), a moderate amount of hops, and some spices (allspice, nutmeg). An extremely sweet and delicious flavor. It's surprisingly complex, though the maple syrup does seem to dominate it. Quite tasty.
F: A good amount of carbonation with a slightly syrupy finish. Medium-bodied.
O: A well made, enjoyable, and offbeat beer. Drinkable.
Reviewed by maximum12 from Minnesota
1.9/5 rDev -51.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 1
1.9/5 rDev -51.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 1
Picked up a 16 oz. single of this out of sheer, morbid curiosity, because all of these things should not be in a can together. Split with my skeptical wife.
The pour is opaque orange IPA, with a nose of maple syrup, spices, & some bitterness? If you had a scratch-and-smell dictionary, this would be under “odd”.
Winter Spiced French toast should be renamed Spice Spiced Spiced Spiced (little bit of beer).The allspice is overpowering everything. There’s a touch of sweetness that might be the syrup, maybe a touch of swampy hops. Sweetness grows & breeds with the spice & multiplies as it warms, making it undrinkable.
I was hoping for weirdly charming, or at least interestingly weird, but this is just bad. Bad. Three ounces & drain pour.
Mar 06, 2019The pour is opaque orange IPA, with a nose of maple syrup, spices, & some bitterness? If you had a scratch-and-smell dictionary, this would be under “odd”.
Winter Spiced French toast should be renamed Spice Spiced Spiced Spiced (little bit of beer).The allspice is overpowering everything. There’s a touch of sweetness that might be the syrup, maybe a touch of swampy hops. Sweetness grows & breeds with the spice & multiplies as it warms, making it undrinkable.
I was hoping for weirdly charming, or at least interestingly weird, but this is just bad. Bad. Three ounces & drain pour.
Reviewed by npolachek from New York
4.03/5 rDev +2.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4.03/5 rDev +2.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours golden. Smell is very mild. Tastes like an IPA with maple syrup, bitterness, and some vanilla. Definately good drinking and a solid sweet taste.
Feb 26, 2019
Reviewed by superspak from North Carolina
4.23/5 rDev +7.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4.23/5 rDev +7.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
12 ounce can into tulip glass, canned in 1/2019. Pours very hazy/cloudy deep golden/amber/light orange color with a 1-2 finger dense and creamy off white head with amazing retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Thick soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big tangerine, orange juice, red grapefruit, lemon, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, allspice, berries, citrus peel/zest, light peppercorn/pine, vanilla, cream, maple syrup, brown sugar, marshmallow, wheat, biscuit dough, light honey/toast, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/topical hops, maple syrup, allspice, vanilla, and bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of huge tangerine, orange juice, red grapefruit, lemon, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, allspice, berries, citrus peel/zest, light peppercorn/pine, vanilla, cream, maple syrup, brown sugar, marshmallow, wheat, biscuit dough, light honey/toast, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Mild pine, citrus peel/zest, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of tangerine, orange juice, red grapefruit, lemon, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, allspice, berries, citrus peel/zest, light peppercorn/pine, vanilla, cream, maple syrup, brown sugar, marshmallow, wheat, biscuit dough, light honey/toast, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/topical hops, maple syrup, allspice, vanilla, and bready malt flavors; with a solid malt/bitter/spiciness balance, and no cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering bitter/spiciness. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/bready, and lightly slick/sticky mouthfeel that is great. Mild increasing warmth of 8.6% after the finish. Overall this is a fantastic flavored milkshake DIPA! All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/topical hops, maple syrup, allspice, vanilla, and bready malt flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to drink with the mellowly bitte/spicy/drying finish. Great soft feel, not overwhelming on any aspect. Amazing balance of juicy Citra/Mosaic hops, maple syrup, vanilla, allspice, and wheat/oat/malts. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. A highly enjoyable offering, and spot on style example as expected. Just as impressive as the rest of their milkshake IPA variations, but a bit more drying from spice.
Feb 06, 2019
Reviewed by Wasatch from Colorado
4.25/5 rDev +8.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.25/5 rDev +8.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
16 oz. Can
Poured into a Tree House glass a pretty nice cloudy pale yellow/orangy color, pretty nice carbonation, with a pretty nice thick/creamy one-finger plus off-white head, which also leaves some pretty nice sticky lacing behind. The nose is hoppy, malty, with a pretty nice citrus complex (orange, tangerine, mango, peach), nice vanilla/maple notes, nice diesel like. The taste is pretty nice hoppy, malty, with a pretty nice citrus complex (orange, tangerine, mango, peach), nice touch of vanilla/maple, pretty nice diesel like, nice little sweetness. Medium body, ABV hidden very nicely, with a nice little dry/bitter finish. Overall, this is a pretty tasty brew. Orange Julius! Addictive! MilkShake!
Feb 05, 2019Poured into a Tree House glass a pretty nice cloudy pale yellow/orangy color, pretty nice carbonation, with a pretty nice thick/creamy one-finger plus off-white head, which also leaves some pretty nice sticky lacing behind. The nose is hoppy, malty, with a pretty nice citrus complex (orange, tangerine, mango, peach), nice vanilla/maple notes, nice diesel like. The taste is pretty nice hoppy, malty, with a pretty nice citrus complex (orange, tangerine, mango, peach), nice touch of vanilla/maple, pretty nice diesel like, nice little sweetness. Medium body, ABV hidden very nicely, with a nice little dry/bitter finish. Overall, this is a pretty tasty brew. Orange Julius! Addictive! MilkShake!
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