Sig House of Pancakes
Sig Brewing Co.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque in the glass with a one finger dark khaki head with great retention and nice lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, Aroma of dark toasted malt, maple syrup and a little chocolate; mostly maple. Flavor follows, with dark toasted malt, maple syrup, chocolate and maple syrup. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. I've had a few pancake themed stouts that were good simulacra of a stack of pancakes with syrup, this one is really maple syrup forward. Kind of like a kids idea of pancakes; a small pancake floating in a bowl of syrup. There are some good chocolate notes, but they are subsumed in the maple. Interestingly, after the maple syrup rush of the main taste, there is a very realistic pancake with chocolate chips and maple syrup aftertaste that had distinct pancake doughiness. This was a bit over the top in sweetness and syrup for me and I'm a dessert stout fan. With the maple dialed back a bit, this could be stellar. Flavorful, but a little over the cloying line.

oh my god, an imperial chocolate chip maple pancake pastry stout? why? but then again why not? this is so over flavored its insane, its all maple, well, maple and alcohol, and its delicious, but almost comical, a gimmick to some extent, except for how good it tastes, i simultaneously love it and hate it, and think a small pour is way more than enough, even for the enthusiast of this sort of thing, hard to not be impressed and annoyed at the same time. this is syrupy thick, black in color, viscous as they come, but actually holds some mocha colored head. i smell all the maple in the world, so concentrated it seems almost fake, dark and milk chocolate behind it, and a ton of grain, not quite pancakes, but close enough. hints of coffee and light smoke add to the depth, and it all seems to be in service of the maple. it doesnt even smell all that boozy for how strong it is either. the flavor is similar, all maple on the first few sips until my palate gets used to it, then i can taste the dark roast balancing the sugary front end, and appreciate the chocolate as well, which does have a little balancing bitterness to it. this is totally palate coating, way too sweet to really drink, and almost more gelatinous than liquid in terms of texture, its filling, its hot, and its so intensely flavored that i taste it most of the rest of the day, despite my best efforts to move my palate beyond it. i love maple syrup, but i dont love this, its over the top, on the edge of not being a beer, but its hard to argue the flavors overall, it just works, pancakes or not. cool they can do this with a beer, but its too intense for me. i much preferred their churro one!