Toppling Goliath Mornin' Delight
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Tasting Notes
Mornin' Delight is built around a pronounced maple syrup and coffee core — the brewery uses both adjuncts directly, and they read as rich and genuine rather than artificial. Dark chocolate and vanilla round out the base imperial stout underneath, keeping the sweetness from feeling one-dimensional. The body is full and almost syrupy, with low carbonation that lets the adjuncts linger. The finish is long, warm, and roasty with a faint boozy edge that reminds you what you're dealing with at 12%.
About the Brewery
Toppling Goliath is based in Decorah, Iowa, a small city that became a genuine pilgrimage destination for craft beer enthusiasts largely because of this brewery. Founded in 2009 by Clark and Barbara Lewey, the operation built its reputation on high-gravity stouts and hazy IPAs that consistently land near the top of enthusiast rankings. Their King Sue double IPA and the Dorothy's New World Lager are widely distributed touchstones, but the barrel-aged and adjunct stout lineup — of which Mornin' Delight is the flagship example — is what drives the most serious collector interest.
Food Pairings
Mornin' Delight pairs well with a buttermilk waffle or French toast because the maple and coffee notes mirror rather than compete with the dish. A dark chocolate brownie with sea salt works for the same reason the beer does — bittersweet cocoa locks onto the roasty stout base and the salt cuts the residual sweetness. Aged gouda or a sharp cheddar offer a savory counterweight that keeps the palate from going full dessert. For something unexpected, a slow-smoked brisket with a molasses-based bark picks up the beer's dark sugar notes while the fat smooths out any heat from the alcohol.
Style Guide
American Imperial Stout is essentially an intensified version of the English stout tradition, pushed to higher gravity and bolder flavors by American craft brewers starting in the 1990s. The style is defined by roasted malt intensity — think espresso, dark chocolate, and char — alongside a substantial body and ABV that typically runs from roughly 9% to well above 12%. What separates it from a standard stout is sheer amplitude: more sweetness, more bitterness, more alcohol, and in many modern examples, added adjuncts like coffee, vanilla, coconut, or barrel aging. It sits adjacent to pastry stout, which leans further into dessert flavors and typically dials back the roast bitterness.