Maple Barrel Stout
Central Waters Brewing Co.

650 mL bottle. Black with an ample khaki head. Smells of strong bourbon, soy sauce, and maple. Tastes of sweet maple, oak, bourbon, a little soy sauce, long bitter roasted malt finish. Medium heavy, very sweet. The roasted malt helps, but it's very sweet and kinda soy saucy.

 

2024 vintage; consumed on 2/25/2025

Pours an inky black body capped with a finger and a half of fluffy, off-beige foam; decent head retention leaves a blank surface, barely perceptible fuzz of collar, and minimal-no lacing holding to the walls of the glass.

Aromas of dark cocoa ease into smooth undercurrents of maple, with lightly smoked toffee building alongside a nutty toning and level oak backing.

Taste opens to well-tempered yet heavily toasty barrel, with maple syrup inflection lingering in the distance as hints of baked apple strudel accent malt roast and tinges of dark cocoa into the back end of the profile.

Mouthfeel offers a body on the lighter end of medium and lower end carbonation; persistent char underlying meets a progressively creamy balance over time, easing into a slick back end and gently warming swallow.

Tentative maple and an even thinner-than-usual base from Central Waters; strikes well on the basics while falling somewhat short in distinguishing itself.

 

 

Maple Barrel Stout pours a dark brown, with a short lasting, fizzy head. Aroma is very sweet, very maple. Flavor is very thick, very sweet, lots and lots of maple notes. Good, thick sweet, sipping body.

 

 

A big thanks to Jeff for this one. 22oz. capped bomber into a Founders snifter. Shared with schen9303.

Pours surprisingly light with a .5 finger mocha colored head with moderate retention and nice, oily legs and lace. Nose is roasted malt, toast, sweet soy sauce, maple syrup, liquorice, and chocolate. Very aromatic. Beer opens maple syrup. Syrupy and sweet up front. In the back I get notes of roasted malt, chocolate, sweet soy sauce, liquorice, and brownie. Semi-sweet chocolate towards the end and a slight roasty tartness at the finish. Aftertaste is more chocolate and syrup. Delicious! Body is full with low carbonation. Velvety and luscious on the palate and goes down warm and slick with a long, lingering aftertaste. Near perfect for the style.

This one's just a well-made beer. The barrel-aging is perfect and the base beer is incredible. Definitely worth trying.

 

Central Waters Maple Barrel Imperial Stout, 10.5% ABV. Pours black with a 4+ finger brown head that left little lacing. Nose is maple and bourbon. Taste follows, plus roasted malt and chocolate, moderately sweet, slightly bitter. Excellent mouthfeel, overall world class.