Bourbon Barrel Coffee Black Maple
Jackie O's Taproom & Brewery

 

 

 

Guess they've re-released this one since it's stated retired, '18 bottle.
Never had original Black Maple so cant compare.

Appearance is black with dark brown hues. Off white small cap of head. Falls off quickly to an outer ring of light foam around the outer edge. Some watery slightly sticky soapy lacing.

Nose is mellow bourbon, slight maple sweetness. Followed by roasted coffee.
In that order.

Taste is coffee soaked bourbon with a maple sweetness. Dark roasted coffee mingles nicely with the maple. Bourbon is constant as well.

Body is light to medium. After taste is slight alcohol burn yet still nicley balanced. Light carbonation. Everything meshed really well with this brew. Always enjoy Jackie O's.

 

 

An imperial porter on tap at Jackie O’s Production Facility & Taproom in Athens.
Essentially black body with a good beige head. Minimal lacing is left sticking to the glass.
Enticing and complex aroma that's good enough to make one's mouth water. Coffee, maple, dark malts and bourbon are evident.
Flavor: lightly boozy, with a moderate level of bourbon and light wood from the BBA. There are hints of maple syrup, chocolate and dark bread. Coffee appears towards the finish and onward. Appropriately (lightly) sweet.
Full, smooth body with light carbonation.
Overall: truly exxcellent!

 

 

This even looks like a glass of black coffee with little head and a red-brown edge.

A smoky, roasty coffee really helps tamp down the booze and heat of base. As I never really detected too much maple before, I'm not mad it's being smothered here. I also get walnuts and a little waxy oak, but there's just tons of coffee.

One reviewer noted how the coffee dominates this variant, and I don't disagree--except, to my palate, it's actually what vastly improves this beer over its base. I found that it took the punishing bourbon heat of the base and mellowed it out with an earthy, almost luscious roundness that made it immensely more drinkable.

 

Tried on draft from the production taproom. BBA Black Maple is virtually the only maple porter or stout that I've been highly impressed by; the maple is just not generally my scene. After recently trying the 2017 release of CBS, I was intrigued to try a coffee Black Maple variant. However, this one really missed the mark for me, personally. The choice of coffee, or perhaps its intensity, is really throwing the balance of the beer off, as the dark roast and earthy coffee notes dominate the whole beer. I lose the subtlety of the maple and the complex contributions of the bourbon and oak barrel, as the whole endeavor moves much closer to the coffee-forward, in-your-face quality of a Big Bad Baptist. Not that BBB isn't quality, and this is otherwise made to Jackie O's usual standards, with a silky smooth mouthfeel and full body, so it might be just what some folks are hoping for in a maple breakfast beer, but it's not nuanced.