Beer Review: Thursday (2016) (Cycle Brewing Company)

When in Rome… or when its Thursday and your beer is called Thursday, right? How can you not drink a beer called Thursday…. on any other day than Thursday? It’d be sacrilege otherwise! Heresy one might even say!

So here I am, late on a Thursday, enjoying a big, bold, deep, dark, delicious, four year aged stout. And this is a fine beer. And today was a day where I “earned” me this big bad stout. Early in the day, I stopped at the Central PA Blood Bank (by appointment, with my mask), and donated. I then braved humans and did my grocery shopping at Karn’s. Then home I did a lot of small chores about the house (mainly food prep.) So, like I said, I deserved this beer.

I cannot stress the importance of donating blood, especially at this crucial time. Blood is a premium right now, and unfortunately many who could donate before, no longer can (or are afraid to). Google or look up your local blood bank and contact them. It is safe, relatively pain free, and every donation can save up to three lives.

Ok, time for me to step down from my soap box, and move on.

In another local for local style trade, I sent two friends in Florida ten beers from local breweries – Pizza Boy, Tattered Flag, Boneshire Brew Works, Rubber Soul, and Ever Grain. In return, they sent me two Cycle Brewing bottles. Buddy Shots (2020) and Thursday (2016).

So I waited for a nice Thursday to drink the Thursday. Saving the Buddy Shots to drink with D. Scott or during one of our podcasts, so we can share it around. Once again, thats just obvious, it writes itself. As a famed director once said, “Its like poetry… it rhymes.” (Bonus points if you tell me in the comments section who said that!)

Alright, enough meandering talk, lets get to the beer review!

Beer: Thursday (2016)
Brewery: Cycle Brewing Company
Vintage: 2016
Style: Stout – American Imperial / Double
ABV: N/A
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Maple Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (Maple DOS). We let the maple syrup barrels do their thing.

The 2016 version on Untappd doesn’t list an ABV. But the 2015 version does – 11%. The 2020 vintage lists it as 11.5%. So most likely the 2016 version is similar. (11-11.5%). Cycle Brewing Company is a micro brewery from St. Petersburg Florida. Untappd has them listed with 642 unique beers and a global average rating of 4.21. They have no description listed.

This pours out dark and heavy looking, foreboding one might say. Its black, and to pull out my trope one more time – Razor Ramon hair black. It has a nice brown creamy head. Interspersed and varied bubbles on the top, nice lacing on the glass as its drank. Quality stout all around.

Aroma is mostly bourbon. Thats forefront, center, left, and right of this beer. As soon as I popped the cap I was getting strong bourbon barrel notes. Theres not much else aroma-wise. Perhaps some hint of maple, but I’m not really getting it. The extra four years of cellaring might have worn the aroma thin on this.

Flavor is good, nice, tasty, heavy bourbon barrel, little notes of wood, but no real true taste of maple. The mouthfeel is a little bit thin, but it still has a strong presence. I think the maple and the thinness are probably a result of the four years of cellaring. The thinness isn’t too much of a problem. There is no off flavors, or cloying or sweetness; which I figured some sweetness due to the maple, but its not present. It still has a good boozy bite to it, but as it warms and as you sip it, the bite mellows and it just becomes pretty smooth. Full warmed up, this is just a nice sipping bourbon heavy stout. By this point you don’t taste the (presumably) 11%, but you certainly know its there.

I think maybe four years is a bit too long to sit on this and age. Two years is probably the sweet spot for it. Would be interesting to have tried this fresh, for comparison’s sake.

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 4.27 (as of 5.7.20)

Sadly, I don’t have a Friday, so I can’t do that tomorrow. But make sure to check back in tomorrow for another post!

Cheers everyone!

-B. Kline