Found a bottle of this which I assume is pretty old at Eagle Provisions. I had this beer a while back and that time didn’t really have a taste for it, but a bottle of 11% ABV Chocolate Stout from one of my favorite brewers staring at me in the fridge was appealing enough that I had to give it another shot. Glad I did too, because this beer really hit the spot, evidence that Air Conditioning can truly erradicate any trace of me wanting to drink more seasonal brews — this beer is pretty heavy for July 14th.
Choklat a.k.a. ChocoBeer a.k.a. Evil Bosco is part of the “Black Water” series of Southern Tier Beers, the others being the Oat Oatmeal Stout, Jah-Va Coffee Stout (my favorite coffee beer, I think), Choklat, and the recently released and getting cold in my fridge right now Creme Brulle Vanilla Milk Stout. These beers are all notorious for their boundary-pushing use of the adjunct ingredients the name highlights, and Southern Tier is one of the few breweries who truly excel in the art of making “flavored” adjunct beers — a complex equation that is difficult from the sourcing of the right amount of excellent ingredients to finely meshing their unique flavors with that of the beer. And the “base” stout better be good, too. Southern Tier succeeds here in all kinds of ways, and drinking this beer is a real pleasure. It pours dark brown with a big brown and tan head, and immediately smells of chocolate in a huge way. Drinking it takes you from roasted coffee and malt smells to flavors and smells of chocolate that are a real knockout. This isn’t an overly syrupy or heavily bodied beer, which contributes to its drinkability. An awesome amount of carbonation that kind of reminds me of the Choloate Soda my Safta (grandma) used to drink, only not saccharine, sweet enough, and … gets you completely buzzed. A true winner and one I hope they make again.
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