Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout

So it’s 10pm I just got off work three hours ago and I have work at 8:30 am tomorrow, so I’m gonna need a hell of a buzz to prepare myself for another 8 hours of hell. So I thought I’d try this little number.

First sight of this one was the poor bastard being spat up by Gordon Ramsey while finding the perfect beer to pair with his veal. Now, Gordon is not a beer gourmet, which to me is neither here nor there. But, this is absolutely not a beer to pair with veal. Veal requires something delicate, and this is decidedly not. 

In the bottle it has a wet, boozy scent with some faint hint of chocolate. On the tongue, it has a smokey, bitter taste, that kind of reminds me of overroasted coffee. The chocolate is an accent, more than it is a feature. There is an aftertaste, and I think that’s where the chocolate comes through, but I’m going  to be honest- this was not a gourmet experience for me. Young’s is still winning. 

Though now that I think about it, this could be because technically Young’s has an added chocolate flavoring, it’s not just chocolate roasted malts and other black malts. So Brooklyn doesn’t use any additions to enhance the flavors. Perhaps it’s for purity reasons, but whether that helps or hinders it’s credibility as a chocolate stout is up to you. I just want some damn chocolate taste, yo. 

That being said, I’m painting this in an unfairly negative light here. This was actually very good. The longer you have it the more chocolaty it is, and the beer warms up excellently, which cannot be said for most stouts. It’s also great for if you love stouts like guiness (thought it has much more body than that particular tried and true favorite) but you kind of need a bigger buzz than one or two of those will leave you with. Definitely worth an evening of your time. 

If anyone cares about the cold, hard facts, this is a 10% abv imperial stout from Brooklyn Brewery. It’s seasonal, so indulge while you can this winter. I mean, this will be back next winter, but who would wait a year for good beer?

Also, watch Ramsey fail at beer here