Arcadia Cocoa Loco Triple Chocolate Stout

Pours a dark brown color with a thin brown head that quickly disappears. Hints of coffee in the aroma, but not very strong. Malt and coffee are most prominent in the flavor, with a slight dark chocolate taste as well.

12oz bottle poured into a shaker. This stout pours black with a thin brown head that leaves little lacing. The aroma is nice but mostly sweet chocolate offset lightly with alcohol and hops. The body is thick and chewy as would be expected for the type. The expected chocolate makes an appearance but is smoothed out by the lactose. There is a roastiness that adds a bit of complexity to the brew. All in all this is a nice beer with a hearty finish.

2008 Bottle from Binny’s, aged a year and shared at Jordan’s Weinerfest. Pours pitch black with faint beige head. Nose is strong chocolate and some roasted malt. Taste has lots of bitter chocolate and a little on the dry side. Maybe this would have been better fresh...the year of age certainly didn’t help IMHO. This was no where close to the quality of the vanilla bean 1-off I had at the brewery last month.

Bomber into pint glass. Poured a slightly slick dark brown with a decent airy tan head. Coffee aroma immediately and bitter dark chocolate in the flavor but smooth. My first offering from Arcadia and not bad. I’d have to agree with Headbanger though, ST Choklat is to die for and far exceeds this brew.

22oz bottle 9/19/09 (Binny’s Naperville)-Pours a very dark brown with a decent loose tan head that dissipates rather quickly. Aroma of roasted malt and slight sourness. Hope it’s not bad. Taste of chocolate, coffee, and more chocolate. This medium bodied brew is a bit thin but still very tasty and fairly well balanced but not as good as ST Choklat.

Bomber into pint glass. Very dark brown, near black body with a fizzing khaki head that doesn’t hold or lace too well. Aroma is very simple and lacking in regards to my expectation of a 7% stout. A little dark fruit, roastiness, vanilla, and just the slightest hint of chocolate. The flavor is very chocolatey and creamy, almost like a milkshake. It is good in the sense that it exhibits a real chocolate flavor, but it is just a bit too sweet and intensely milky - almost like getting a soda from a fountain and getting too much syrup and not enough carbonated water to dilute it. Reminds me of Drangon’s Milk stout. Pretty thin on the palate, but very smooth with fine carbonation.

Decent stout, could have been a touch past it’s prime, too hard to tell for sure. Nice roasty aroma with a solid chocolate kicker. Dark brown body, thin tan head and good lacing. Tastes of chocolate, nuts, caramel and some more chocolate. A touch of faint coffee and some mild bitterness from the hops. Not too heavy, finishes too subtle for my liking. I need a heartier stout that sticks around.

Pours a very dark brown the a semi foamy/frothy light brown head. Big aromas of chocolate, with caramel behind it and some molasses. The flavor is different than expected. There is this kind of balance between the hops and the chocolate which in mine and I think many others opinions shouldn’t be because these flavors just don’t sit right together. I can also taste some barely if not much, which is also unusual of a stout especially at the abv. Hehe. After drinking round half the 22 oz bottle can finally notice a little molasses and cocoa but faintly because of the other distracting flavors...... Should be much less on the hops and barley and more on the malts!! Semi sweet and bitter.