Azalea Coast Teachs Chocolate Stout

22 ounce bottle from Brusin Ales in Asheville. Hershey’s Cocoa Powder? Color me skeptical. Pours a clear reddish brown color with a large foamy head. Decent head retention and lacing. Definite infection notes in the aroma. Roasted malts, cocoa, coconut, tart cherries, bandaids. Taste is even worse... total infection notes. And unlike some previous raters... these is not a good infection even if it were a Belgian. Tart cherries, plastic, cheese, something vegetal and maybe just a hint of chocolate in the finish. Train wreck. Medium bodied. Very disappointing.

decaturstevo’s Febmergency Tasting. Sample from a bottle thanks to Butters. Dark ruby red with an off white head. Aroma is acidic, oops. Taste is more acidity, which is too bad because it was very enjoyable as a sour just garbage as a chocolate stout.

6/24/09 22 oz bottle from Lighthouse Beverage in Surf City NC: Lasting light beige head w/ a deep mohogany body. Lightly hazy. Lightly lactic acid tart aroma w/ hints ov chocolate. Very light touch of caramel and toasted malt, but mostly tart and a bit burnt with a slight roast aroma. Lighlty tart and acidid up front w/ a light rosty and chocolate flavor. Light toasty malt leads to a semi dry fininsh that has a touch of herbal hop in the aftertaste. Very thin flavor overall, and the acidity is sort of a turn off. Thin body, lightly astringent, medium carbonation, but well hidden alcohol. Not a fan of this one! To acidic for my tastebuds from dark grains and apparent used of cocoa powder.

Ruby red stout with off white head and lace. Very sour nose. Very sour flavor. Thin and watery. Do I need to explain what was wrong with this one? I would like to try a fresh clean bottle someday.

Thanks to Butters for sharing this one at decaturstevo’s Februmergency Tasting. While some raters choose to give their lowest rates to the bland boring light lagers, I choose to save them for infected beers and as is mentioned in several other rates, this one is infected. As Butters mentioned, were this described as the brewer as a Belgian style stout or sour stout, or dark sour brown ale, I would rate it differently. Tall off-white head over a dark ruby tinged dark brown body, that is a bit light in color for a Stout. The flavor is sour in a good way for a sour ale, but in a very bad way for any style of stout. At least it seems to be infected with a "good" bacteria.

Bottle at decaturstevo’s Februmergency Tasting for those of us that missed out on Sexual Chocolate ’09. Thanks stevo! Pours a ruby red with decent off-white head. Absolutely infected by every definition. However, as judged for a sour ale, this is pretty decent, but as a stout, this is aweful. So my numbers reflect a mix between the two. Nice cheap sour ale though, if you’re a fan of accidental infections.

Bottle on 11/30/2008 at the 3rd Annual Richmond Industry Gathering. Clear golden body with a small off-white head. Dry roast and light tart aroma with hints of chocolate. Sour flavor with some light chocolate. Medium light body with moderately high carbonation.

Something was wrong with this one. I do not see how this is intentionally sour. The style does not call for sour and the sour tastes like contamination. Someone owes me five bucks.