Ever wonder how the Pastry Stout craze got started? I can’t tell you which brewery did it first, but I can tell you that one of the key players was Florida’s Cigar City. 

Famous for Hunahpu, Cigar City was one of the first breweries to use “treatments” (adding ingredients to a beer after fermentation). 

Some of the inspiration for these sweet added ingredients came from a Cigar City intern by the name of Doug Dozark. Also a part-time coffee-slinger at Starbucks, Doug shared the decadent pastry-swirled drink trends from his Corporate coffee gig with the Cigar City crew. The brewery went on to become one of the most sought-after names in craft. 

As for Doug, he took that innovative mindset with him when he launched Cycle Brewing. Now his brewery rocks an outstanding 4.21 rating on Untappd, larger than the Dark Beer Behemoths at 3 Floyds, Holy Mountain, and Toppling Goliath!

And today’s introduction to Cycle is their almost-pudding-thick Caribbean Rum Barrel Imperial Stout with Coconut. This mammoth brew:

• Is soaked in an 11% ABV
• Pulls in a ridiculously huge 4.38 UT-rating 
• Has been aged for over a year in Caribbean Rum Barrels!

Barrel-Aged Stout connoisseurs will tell you, there aren’t many Rum Barrel-Aged brews. That’s because rum barrels are among the most finicky, messy, and unpredictable vessels to work with — not to mention expensive and hard-to-find.   

But leave it to Doug at Cycle to not only get his hands on them but to master the aging process with them. He figured out how to expertly bring out the notes of rum to amp-up the 25 pounds-per-barrel blend of fresh and toasted coconut, making today’s rum-spiked wonder taste like a chocolate-covered Samoa cookie. 

Now’s your short window of opportunity to snatch up one of Cycle’s highest-rated Dessert Beers ever. One sip, and you'll see just how far Doug and the Pastry Stout craze have come!

Rated 4.38 on Untappd; 93 on BeerAdvocate

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