Arcadia Cocoa Loco Triple Chocolate Stout

Brewed by Arcadia Brewing Company
Style: Foreign Stout
Battle Creek, Michigan USA

Pours a dark brown color with a tan head. Aroma is of roasted malts, chocolate, and caramel. Flavor is mostly chocolate, coffee, molasses, and roasted malts. Slightly bitter finish but not too strong. Not as much chocolate as I was expecting but not a bad stout either.

THOUGHTS: Not the best foreign stout, but a really great beer at first, then it just got worse as it warmed. It never became awful, but it lowered itself to just nice. Not as chocolatey as I would have expected. Then it started to get beer again, but never made it as high as great again. It smelled a little like a home brew. The flavor would have also been better if it didn’t have so much carbonation. A real disappointment after waiting a few months to try this one. Not awful, but not at all what the label promised. Bad smell and OK flavor. If you like rating lots of beers, try it. If you like great beers, don’t. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a dark brown that was an opaque black in the glass with a huge, rocky, light tan head that kept a nice sheet. The aroma was light to moderate hot cocoa mix, even less molasses, some dark fruit and a little sour fruit and an overriding vegetable smell. The initial flavor was lightly sweet and acidic; while the finish was moderately sweet, lightly bitter and sour with an average duration. There was some powdered hot chocolate mix, but also a good amount of vegetable and maybe some molasses. The light to medium body was dry with fizzy carbonation and a light astringent and chalky finish.

bomber. Pours near black with a pretty decent head. Aroma is a little sour with wooden sharp hops, mocha, nutshells, cream. Mouthfeel is pretty creamy, every time I take a sip a small head reforms and makes a fluffy barrier in front of my lips. Again with the sharp, sour thing going on. It’s a little metallic, honestly. Some sturdy chocolate is noted and a fair level of wood-type acidity. Drinkable, sure, even enjoyable. Not the most graceful of big stouts, however.

pours a very dark brown near black color with a fluffy mocha head and blanket-like foam coating the glass. dark mallty aroma laced with chocolate, lactose sweetness, wood, a light sour/astringent note and a nuttiness akin to coconut glazed german chocolate cake. richly sweet on the palate... a bit distracting. flavors of chocolate, vanilla cream, wood/earth, toasted nuts, astringent/ashy grain and a moderate sour finish. creamy coffee aftertaste. medium body but the mouth feel is a bit thin. carbonation makes it light, soft and airy.

Bottle acquired via trade with polomagnifico (included in the THREE boxes sent)...THANKS Ryan!!! Man, this beer smells and looks incredible. Dark black bordering pitch with a mocha colored foam, this beer smells of rich chocolate, roasted coffee, and almonds. Flavor is much sweeter than expected with brown sugar, dark fruit, and vanilla overstaying their welcome. Also, a very lactic quality in this beer. Arcadia hasn’t wowed me with anything but puts out many that are good.

22oz bomber. Deep black color with a moderate rusty head. Rich and creamy, with a great chocolate taste. Has a little crisp hoppiness to accompany and compliment the sweetness. Very well done, with a big body that isn’t overwhelmed by alcohol. Foreign Stout?...No way, though upon closer inspection there is a little fruity pungent taste somewhere deep in there.

(22 oz. bottle from Julio’s Liquors) Pours very dark brown with some brown/ruby highlights. Tall tan soft-looking head. Aroma is initially a nice cocoa/milk chocolate then that kind of disappears as head recedes to a slightly off-smelling coffee and perhaps molasses. Mouthfeel is medium-full, kind of smooth but a bit fizzy. Kind of a sloppy texture but good enough I guess. Weepy, broken lacing. Flavor is pretty much cocoa/chocolate with some coffee towards finish. Kind of a dry cocoa-ey aftertaste. Bitterness is light-medium. You have to let it warm to get the molasses taste underneath in the fore which is kind of nice. ABV well-hidden, surprised this is 7%. Pretty nice but kind of below par for Arcadia IMO.

Bottle. Pours a dark body with a creamy tan head. Aroma is chocolate malt, vanilla and some etoh. Flavor is creamy chocolate and vanilla, milk chocolate and lactose. Creamy smooth and easy to drink. decent.