CB's Mabel Imperial Breakfast Beer (Signature Series) - CB's Brewing Company

Jason

Massachusetts

4.08/5  rDev +21.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22oz brown bomber with no freshness date.

LOOK: Reddish orange, nearly clear, decent lacing

SMELL: Maple, soft smoke, ash, loaf of bread, treacle, caramel, grapeskin, alcohol,

TASTE: Slick, crisp, full-ish body, mild smoke, faint ash, figs, alcohol, caramel, spicy, clean, mildly biscuity, dried hay, modest hopping, warming, dry finish

Very interesting, initially listed as a smoked beer here but it is clearly an American Strong Ale until the brewery tells be different. A lovely brew would be easy to say, kick ass is more like it though. Complex but still drinkable at 10.0%

Serving type: bottle

06-14-2012 02:17:12 | More by Jason

PapiMagnum

New York

1.75/5  rDev -47.9%

04-17-2013 07:43:54 | More by PapiMagnum

DmanGTR

New York

3.75/5  rDev +11.6%

01-29-2013 01:47:21 | More by DmanGTR

DonFrap

Massachusetts

2.75/5  rDev -18.2%

01-19-2013 04:54:43 | More by DonFrap

Auror

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev +4.2%

01-18-2013 14:31:53 | More by Auror

raznug

Ohio

3.73/5  rDev +11%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Appearance: It pours a clear and deep red color and is topped with 1/2” of white head.
Smell: It smells of smoked malt and it has a rather sweet aroma just as the story on the back tells of.
Taste: Mabel tastes rather sweet on the palate and the smoked flavors must have faded over time sitting in my buddy’s fridge.
Mouthfeel: It feels rather thin on the palate but the sweet finish tends to help the flavor hang around.

Serving type: bottle

08-20-2012 14:03:49 | More by raznug

jpd7374

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -10.7%

12-31-2011 03:06:09 | More by jpd7374

GrindFatherBob

New York

3.5/5  rDev +4.2%

12-23-2011 16:52:01 | More by GrindFatherBob

youradhere

Arkansas

2.6/5  rDev -22.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Pours bright ruddy amber, orange red hughs, minimal head, thin lacing that lingers. Smell is sweet malt, minimal smoke. Taste is beet sugar, a twinge of sweet maple that is barely perceptable, some liquid smoke, slight astringency. Medium mouthfeel and medium plus carbonation. Something about the residual sweetness and faux-smoke flavor is not very good. Interesting, and I can see where the breakfast part comes in. Maybe better fresh I suppose, but not something I would seek out.

Serving type: bottle

11-26-2011 02:44:57 | More by youradhere

mjtiernan

New York

3/5  rDev -10.7%

11-15-2011 04:29:50 | More by mjtiernan

dogfishandi

New York

3.28/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

22oz. gold foiled bottle a little above fridge temp poured into a standard pint glass. purchased this bottle at the brewery.

pours out a deep reddish brown color with good clarity. i was maybe expecting more of a black color? a minimal slightly fizzy head that rather quickly faded to nothing.

in the aroma, mosty lager yeast with some slightly sweet maple syrup. a rather weak aroma. not even a hint of the smoked malt which is disappointing.

the taste is not terrible, but i was expecting more from the literature on the bottle. really no smoked malt, maybe the slightest hint the more the beer warms. some slightly sweet maple syrup, toasted, lightly roasted malt. lager yeast is very noticable. a bit of alcohol heat comes in the more it warms, but the alcohol is much more subdued than expected.

fuller side of medium bodied. sweet, not very strong at all, the 10%ABV is really hardly noticable. a slightly syrupy feel the more the beer warms.

overall, kind of a weak beer. drinks very easy for the high ABV, but not worth ever buying again (what to do with that other bottle i bought?). this was such a great idea behind this beer, kind of a big baltic porter lager thing going on with smoked malt and maple syrup, sounds amazing, but CB's have let me down many times before. the only reason i come back is because its local and i guess im just hoping they eventually make that homerun beer. well this is not it. leave it to founders to pull something like this off.

Serving type: bottle

09-25-2011 15:55:31 | More by dogfishandi

TheBrewo

Michigan

3.35/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

We crack the foil on this gal and pour a beer of rich, red mahogany. There is a beige colored two finger head that recedes at a quicker pace. It clings to the glass with nice lace, ending up as a ghostly covering over the liquid, with nice clumps of bubbles here and there. Despite the deep coloring there is good translucency and carbonation appears to be medium to high. The final few ounces are laden with thick yeasty sediment. The aroma is equally as rich, with caramel and roasty malts. The smoke, as advertised, is apparent, but not to the charcoaly level that one might expect. The maple syrup does, however, live up to the name and is brightly inclusive, giving a sugary sweet twinge. It is nice and rich, and smells more like a stout, with these accessory aromas, rather than an exclusive “smoked beer”. There are also notes of yeast, and a heavy booze looms ominously. As we sip the first thing we notice is a bitter variety of roasted malts, followed by a metallic twinge. Here, too, the peat smoked malts are visible, adding to the dark smokiness. The bitter roastiness quickly gives way to a sweetening of maple sugar and very slight banana esters which bring us through to the middle of the taste. In the middle the maple sugars and esters meld together with a smoky quality along with the first spiciness of alcohol. At the peak of the sip it tastes most like a hearty, boozy doppelbock. Through the finish we get more sweetness and a fighting smoky graininess. The booze here is peppery and dark. The aftertastes breathes coolly of peat, other smoked wood, and bitter malts. There is a faint balance of cream to calm the bitterness a bit. The carbonation is medium to high, and the body is light to medium. While this beer is dark, it has a slightly watery feel to it. There is a nice froth to each sip, with the mouth left coated and wet. The abv is high, and it seems to hinder drinking, detracting from what is trying to be accomplished.

Overall, what we enjoyed most about this brew was the gorgeous coloring, and the rich smells that followed. Where we lost points was in the booziness. While we’re never ones to turn down a highly alcoholic brew, here the alcohol seemed to detract from the maple syrup flavoring and the overall smokiness. This is one darker beer that is actually served better on the cold side, which calms the booze, and allows for the initial rich aromas and flavoring to pop, before being swallowed up.

Serving type: bottle

07-11-2011 20:22:08 | More by TheBrewo

Florida9

Illinois

3.65/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A: Reddish brown in color. Forms a small tan head that reduces to a spotty surface coating. No lacing.

S: Smells of whiskey and scotch. Very aromatic. A light smokiness with a alcoholic bite.

T: Starts off with a light sweetness, a mix of malt and maple syrup then some very light smoke, maybe a little peat. That's about it.

M: Medium bodied with a slight slickness to it. Low carbonation.

O: A interesting beer. Sweet and lightly smoked. I guess that's supposed to be reminiscent of pancakes and bacon or something of the sort. Beer itself is decent, nothing great, but an interesting blend of flavors that seems to work well enoguh together.

Serving type: bottle

06-30-2011 02:10:31 | More by Florida9

number1bum

Pennsylvania

3.53/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a dark brown color, not super thick looking, with about two fingers of beige head. Head settles to just a very thin lace and then just a rimjob, with no real stick on the sides. A previous growler I had retained better, however.

Smell is pretty sweet and consists of some dark caramel, brown sugar, some subtle maple. Also has a subtle smokiness and some roast. It's a little nondescript compared to what I expected.

Tastes pretty much like it smells but with a bit more oomph. Caramel is most prominent but is matched a bit more closely by the brown sugar and maple tastes. Maple definitely comes through more prominently than the nose. The smoke is still subtle, however, as is any roasty or dark malt component. The result is that it finishes pretty sweet and lacks an element of balance.

Mouthfeel is medium-full and pretty creamy, but it is a touch cloying in the finish. Some bitterness or roastiness or smokiness in the finish would be welcomed.

This is pretty good but compared to the concept and how I first saw it described I'm a little disappointed. I just think the maple and especially the smoke could have been so much more robust. It drinks like an old ale - mostly malty and sweet with a few other intricacies. Not bad by any stretch, and worth a shot for sure.

Serving type: growler

06-28-2011 01:10:01 | More by number1bum

TMoney2591

Illinois

3.6/5  rDev +7.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Served in a Lancaster shaker pint glass.

Thanks to hannydawg for sharing this bottle!

This may be the most random beer ever shared with me. And that's saying something. It pours a lovely clear amber-garnet topped by a finger of relatively short-lived dirty off-white foam. The nose comprises maple syrup, light beech smoke, bacon, light molasses, light brown sugar, and light charcoal. For some reason, the maple dominates, while the rest, including all of the smoke, gets forcefully subdued. The taste holds notes of maple syrup, molasses, brown sugar, very light beech smoke, red apple skin, and light orange zest. Man, for a smoked beer, there ain't all that much smoke goin' on. The body is a straight medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a kinda syrupy feel. Overall, a nice brew, but very disappointing in the way of smoke. I'd really more classify this as a maple-infused dubbel that just happened to have some smoked malts employed in its construction. It does, though, taste a decent amount like breakfast, so there's a nice bit o' victory there...

Serving type: bottle

06-19-2011 18:51:09 | More by TMoney2591

Auracom

Illinois

3.6/5  rDev +7.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Had this on cask at Tap and Mallet in Rochester on May 23rd, 2011, served in a snifter. My first experience with the "smoked" style (honestly I thought it was a stout).

Pours an extremely dark, ruby red coloring that is really only obvious if the lighting is just right. Looks more like a dark brown otherwise. No head, retention, or lacing.

Aroma is most sugar and sweet caramel with some sort of resiny fruit. It's a bit muted. A little abv presence in the nose as well.

Taste is far more involving. Generally, it's quite sweet with lots of caramel malts and more sweet fruit (not really dark like raisins though). No abv in the taste. Reminiscent of a soft maple syrup... I feel like it would go amazing at breakfast with pancakes.

Mouthfeel lacks. Not enough carbonation but still smooth. Body is thick as somewhat viscous. Alcohol warms down the throat.

Drinkability is just okay. Mouthfeel is the weakest link followed closely by the aroma, but the taste is decent. I didn't really pull any element of smoke from the brew.

Serving type: cask

06-06-2011 14:18:27 | More by Auracom

majesticsock

New York

4.38/5  rDev +30.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Very dark and has the appearance of a stout. Smells very much like maple syrup and toast. While an odd combination in a beer, the taste is incredible, sweet maple syrup up front and then a roasted aftertaste which I can only describe as similar to smoked bacon. These tastes also cover up the 10% abv very well. Mouthfeel has a consistency of your typical stout. From talking to the guy at CB, it sounds like this will be a one time limited brew. Too sweet to drink a bunch in a single sitting but definitely a beer worth checking out.

Serving type: on-tap

04-03-2011 12:25:49 | More by majesticsock