Double Barrel Black Maple
Jackie O's Taproom & Brewery

375ml bottle poured into stemless Rastal Lawrence glass.

vintage 2018.

Appearance: black bodied beer. Thick cap of a tan colored head that drops down to a thin ring around the glass that stays there for nearly the entire drink, but eventually drops down to no head at all. booze legs present.

Smell: chocolate, vanilla, maple, oak, and caramel / toffee forward bourbon notes are well balanced on the nose; all easily identifiable & authentic in aroma.

Taste: You really couldn't smell much cinnamon in the aroma, but it's a big player in the flavor of this stout. Distinctly cinnamon red hots. Some sweetness emerges in the middle with hints of vanilla nougat, caramel, and maple chews. Hint of oak & spicy / peppery bourbon as well. The finish is lightly bitter from the building cinnamon flavors of the stout with a deep earthy oak. Really interesting well integrated barrel aged porter.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied imperial porter that you can tell it's encroaching into stout territory. It's also a thinner barrel aged beer when you look at the entire picture. Cinnamon seems to increase the booze factor of the beer, but it isn't out of line either.

Overall: *Disclaimer that I tend to be a little bit "cinnamon sensitive" to barrel aged dark beers that have cinnamon as an ingredient of the beer. Really tasty beer that's got an incredible nose, but I think I might slightly prefer the OG barrel aged black maple over the double barrel variant. All that said... This is well integrated & quite frankly has aged gracefully for sure considering this is a 2018 bottle opened in 2022 without knowing the cellaring conditions whatsoever. Pretty stoked to have been able to try this Jackie O's beer as this is a great barrel program.

 

For the masses, there are three variants of Black Maple. There is regular, barrel aged, and double barrel aged.
This variant is the double. This beer is very sweet and reminiscence of a mead, rather than a porter. The maple is intense and tops any other maple beer.

The beer is smooth and rich, not in mouthfeel but in flavor. A great experience from Jackie O's but not an everlasting foundation.

@firesidewithphil

I didn't like the mouthfeel and it was like the flavours haven't come together completely. Nevertheless, it was a decent beer that had and has to be tried.

Dull almost watery black with a thin fizzy tan head settling to a bubbly, uneven collar.

Smell is milky and nutty with hints of oak, cinnamon, and bourbon.

Taste is about as strong as suspected, stinging of boozy bourbon up front, but it's also by default more complex due to the flavored whiskey barrel used, which I think work well here. The medium-light body has a firm but dissipating fizz that delivers mild cinnamon and brown sugar, which pairs well with peppery bourbon while a touch of vanilla actually brings out a hint of chocolatey malt and prune before the bourbon comes whirling back in for a warming, semi-wet swallow.

 

Pours a pitch black coloration with a small, fizzy head. Smell is quite complex, dominated by rich, caramel, chocolate malt with quite a bit of coconut, actually. Lighter notes of maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, red and dark fruit: cherry, fig and bourbon. Taste follows the nose, being dominated by rich caramel, chocolate malt and coconut, with medium notes of maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, dark fruit: fig, raisin, and just a hint of molasses, licorice, tobacco, cherry and bourbon-soaked oak. There's some sweetness and booze to this, which never feels too cloying ot hot though. Finishes quite bittersweet, with some toffee and licorice notes. Smooth mouthfeel with a rich body and low carbonation.

Probably the most complex Porter I've ever had, quite amazing actually. Very well-balanced at the same time. Mouthfeel could be richer, but this a Porter, after all. Definetly the best Porter I've had so far, with an incredible complexity and great balance.

 

 

Thanks to Bpfahl for this 375ML bottle & when I say thanks, I mean, thanks for inadvertently letting me rip you off severely for these magnificent Jackie O’s bottles.

The pour is black, like in the label. The nose is even sweeter than the bourbon version. So much maple. So much happy.

Black Maple – Double Barrel is an exercise in power booze. Flaming hot alcohol nukes every other sense for the first couple of sips. My liver contracts, brain cell count drops, palate bruises. After various things stop quivering, I slink beneath the 15% to find sharp tannins, rough whiskey, crystallized maple syrup, vanilla, thick, sweet malts, with late bits of chocolate & nuts. All sprinkled liberally with cinnamon; we could have done with a touch less. Thick. As drinkable as a 83% stout can be. I’d take another 375ML. Be a great sleeping aid.

Even a Keats-like rendition of the perceived tastes is inadequate to describe this beer. Without the extra tablespoon of cinnamon, this one may have reached the upper echelons. As is, still an excellent brew.

 

Pours an almost black colored beer with dark brown edges and an oily spider web film of beige lacing.

Smells of a boozy vanilla oakiness, with sweet toffee and spicy molasses. Maple blends well into the initial vanilla impression, adding a sweet peak to it, which adds marvellously well to the spicy barrel.

Has a mellow, complex mouthfeel, featuring a heavy bodied beer with almost no carbonation left. This brings a smoothness to light, which lets the warmer barrel appear tamed and well balanced throughout.

Tastes of fudge covered molasses, oily soy sauce and flowery, smoked vanilla, together with a coconut driven uprising booze dryness. The barrel(s) add a good amount of sweetness celebrating cinnamon and a dead serious alcohol hotness, leaking from the wood strives of the barrel, adding a prevailing warmth to the flavors. Finishes with cinnamon and warmth supported maple syrup, releasing a late, complex peak on the palate, balanced by oak, bakers chocolate, old leaves and softer toffee.

Truly complex and truly sweet, this benefits from the barrels even more than from the maple. They provide an uncomprimising, ongoing dryness, to which every other flavor of the beer alligns or gets washed away.