Boulevard Maple Mood 4Pk

Boulevard Maple Mood 4Pk is a barrel-aged imperial stout aged on real maple syrup, packaged as a four-pack at 12.5% ABV. Scored 91 on BeerAdvocate, this release from Boulevard Brewing Company draws from the brewery's library of more than 5,000 aging barrels to deliver a rich, layered stout where bourbon-barrel character meets genuine maple depth.

Quick Facts: ABV: 12.5%  |  Origin: Kansas City, Missouri  |  Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout  |  Brewery: Boulevard Brewing Company

Production & Heritage

Boulevard Brewing Company, founded in 1989 in Kansas City, Missouri, has grown into one of the Midwest's most respected craft breweries. Maple Mood is built on a complex malt bill of pale, wheat, amber, cara, chocolate, rye, and oats, hopped with Magnum and Topaz before spending time in bourbon barrels where the beer is aged directly on maple syrup — not maple flavoring or extract. Boulevard's dedicated barrel-aging team selects and blends from a rotating library of over 5,000 barrels, giving each batch a distinctive character that reflects careful curation rather than a single-barrel approach.

Tasting Notes

Aroma: Bourbon and warm oak lead the nose, followed by waves of maple syrup and caramel. Beneath those dominant notes sit darker layers of chocolate and toasted barley that add density to the aromatics.

Taste: The entry is bourbon-forward, with charred oak and vanilla arriving quickly before a generous swell of maple sweetness takes over at mid-palate. As the profile deepens, dark stone fruit — think candied fig and dried plum — emerges alongside toffee and roasted malt, creating real complexity. The chocolate and rye grain elements surface late, adding a subtle spice that tempers the sweetness.

Finish: Full-bodied and syrup-like, with a coating mouthfeel that lingers well past the last sip. Residual maple, dark fruit, and bourbon oak slowly fade through a long, warming finish.

How to Drink Maple Mood

Maple Mood is best served at cellar temperature, around 50–55°F, in a tulip glass or snifter that concentrates the bourbon and maple aromatics. While this stout stands on its own as a sipper, it also works as a bold cocktail or mixed-drink ingredient. A Stout Float made with vanilla bean ice cream amplifies the dessert-like maple and chocolate character. A Beer Old Fashioned using a small pour of Maple Mood in place of bourbon plays up the barrel-aged sweetness with a citrus twist. A Black Velvet variation — combining equal parts Maple Mood and dry sparkling wine — provides a surprisingly elegant contrast of sweet, roasted malt against crisp effervescence.

Best For

• Sharing with fellow craft beer enthusiasts on a cold evening around a fire pit
• Gifting to a barrel-aged stout collector who values unique adjunct profiles
• Pairing with a multi-course dessert tasting at a dinner party
• Cellaring for a special-occasion vertical tasting alongside other Boulevard barrel-aged releases

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Maple Mood taste like? Maple Mood delivers bold bourbon and oak up front, followed by rich maple syrup sweetness, dark chocolate, toffee, and dark stone fruit notes like dried fig and plum. The mouthfeel is thick and syrupy, with a long, warming finish.

How does Maple Mood compare to Goose Island Bourbon County Stout? Both are barrel-aged imperial stouts, but Maple Mood distinguishes itself by aging directly on maple syrup, producing a pronounced maple sweetness that Bourbon County Stout — aged in bourbon barrels without maple adjuncts — does not feature. At 12.5% ABV, Maple Mood is slightly lower in alcohol than many Bourbon County variants, which typically land between 14% and 15%.

Is Maple Mood good for sipping neat? Absolutely — at 12.5% ABV with a full body and complex flavor profile, Maple Mood is designed to be savored slowly from a snifter or tulip glass at cellar temperature. Its layered bourbon, maple, and dark fruit character rewards patient sipping.

Where is Maple Mood made? Maple Mood is brewed and barrel-aged at Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City, Missouri. The brewery's barrel program draws from a library of more than 5,000 barrels housed at their Kansas City facility.

What foods pair well with Maple Mood? Pecan pie mirrors the maple and caramel sweetness without competing with the stout's roasted character. Smoked brisket with a sweet barbecue glaze complements the bourbon barrel notes. Blue cheese provides a sharp, salty counterpoint to the beer's rich sweetness. Chocolate lava cake amplifies the cocoa and dark fruit flavors. Maple-glazed bacon creates a direct bridge to the stout's defining maple syrup element.

What sizes does Maple Mood come in? Maple Mood is available as a four-pack, the standard format for Boulevard's barrel-aged stout releases.

Is Maple Mood worth the price? Maple Mood positions as a premium barrel-aged release within Boulevard's lineup, and its 91-point BeerAdvocate score and labor-intensive production — bourbon barrel aging on real maple syrup with blending from a 5,000-barrel library — support its place in the upper tier of craft stout pricing.

Why Maple Mood?

What separates Maple Mood from the crowded barrel-aged imperial stout field is Boulevard's decision to age the beer directly on maple syrup rather than rely on flavoring, a production choice that delivers authentic maple character woven into the bourbon-barrel base. The complex seven-grain malt bill — including rye and oats alongside chocolate and cara malts — provides structural depth that prevents the maple sweetness from becoming one-dimensional. A 91-point BeerAdvocate score and a 4.0 rating across more than 5,200 Untappd reviews confirm that the beer delivers for experienced stout drinkers. Backed by a barrel program with over 5,000 barrels and a dedicated blending team, Maple Mood reflects the kind of craft-level barrel management that few American breweries can match at scale.