Weldwerks Brewing Coffee Maple Achromatic
What the brewers say
“An imperial stout brewed with an obscene amount of chocolate malts, oatmeal, and crystal malts to lend a sweet, caramel-malt backbone. We boil for more than six hours to achieve the rich, chewy, thick mouthfeel and add multiple maple syrup additions and a huge addition of freshly roasted coffee.”
What our panel thought
Aroma: “Maple and big, roasty coffee up front, with sweet molasses and a hint of smoke. The flavors of the coffee and maple both shine. It’s very fruity, with banana, cherry, caramel, and vanilla.”
Flavor: “The rich coffee and maple syrup blend nicely with an obviously big sweeter stout. The roast and chocolate notes from the base beer show up in the mid-palate, and the bitter roast and coffee offer a bracing finish. This beer is like eating a piece of coffee candy and a maple cookie at the same time, despite the aggressively bitter foundation. The finish is sweet yet dry.”
Overall: “Maple was everywhere, and the stronger roasty flavors were a requirement to balance. Some might find the bitterness to be a bit much, but it works really well to keep the high ABV and high sweetness in balance.”