Americas Dirty Summer Blonde Chocolate Beer

Brewed by Americas Brewpub
Style: Golden Ale/Blond Ale
Aurora, Illinois USA

Name: Chocolate Beer
Date: 06/20/2007
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub

clear amber, wispy off white head, rich chocolate candy aroma, lots of unique chocolate bar flavor, touch of candy caramel adds some sweetness, light bitterness keeps it balanced and the sweetness in control, a touch of yeastyness adds a bready character that makes it like a chocolate biscuit, very unique

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.2/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

Barrel Draught from the jug at the GABF, Colorado Convention Center 01/10/2005 Credit to the brewer for dressing up as an oompa lumpa and inviting people over to try this very different brew. Golden coloured and hoppy then it surprises with a full chocolate flavoured finish.

Draft... DLD’08... Clear, pale yellow ale with a small, creamy, white head. Great retention. Interesting chocolate aroma (considering its appearance) with minerally hops as well. Light-bodied and watery with diminished carbonation. Well-balanced, but mostly boring and thin. The chocolate doesn’t really shine through in the flavor. Short, stale finish.

On tap at the brewpub on 6/20/07: Pours a transparent golden bronze with a well-lacing spotty white head. Aroma has a nice milk chocolatey presence as the dominant character. Body starts slightly caramely sweet with a touch of toffee and more chocolate flavor toward a thinner toasty finish. An interesting and well-brewed, unique beer.

The brewer brought this along to the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild Summer BrewFest (featured replicate ale style, Imperial IPA), probably to get rid of it. I read the two favorable reviews, so I’m not sure if the beer was not stored properly or it was the contrast to the wonderful IIPAs or what, but I thought this was nasty stuff. It was a dirty, headless yellow drink with an aroma of old candy corn, a Halloween treat that I actually enjoyed as a kid. Thin in the mouth, the flavor was still that of stale candy with an odd bitterness. The chocolate comes through as if a watery cocoa was added to the mix as an afterthought. As a matter of fact, this was bad enough that htsprint1, RAYBOY01, dm9831, and I couldn’t finish a glass between the four of us. DRAIN POUR!

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/events-detail.asp?eve Craft Brewers Guild Summer BrewFest, Lake Barrington, IL 07/30/2005<font size=-1>

GABF 2005: Golden hue with a msal head and little lace. The aroma has a big WOW factor of chocolate with a hint of pale malt and some grassy hops. The flavor is just that, mocha. It drowns out everything else. An "E" of effort but this is a beer for those who don’t like beer. At least the brewer was dressed up like one of those ooompa lumpas from Willy Wonka at the fest, that was interesting.

GABF 2007: I wanted to try this beer just because of it’s name. Poured a golden brown color with a thin off-white head. Aroma of a milk chocolate bar and cocoa powder. The cocoa flavor was like eating out of a packet of Swiss Miss. Light to medium bodied.

Sampled at GABF 2007. Pours a dark brown sepia color with an off white medium sized head. Thin with very low carbonation. I get a mild artificial chocolate aroma. Flavor has a thin roasted coffee and chocolate taste, but it is definitely not rich on the chocolate side of things. Back to the factory for the Oompah Loompahs to learn how to make better beer!