Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

Brewed by Brooklyn Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Brooklyn, New York USA

Winter 09-10 release - bottle from LCBO. Pours like midnight with dark ruby colour when held up to light. Alcohol noticeable in nose and prominent in first taste. Very complex - tons of flavours going on here. Chocolate and coffee hit with big time bitterness but is balanced beautifully with a delightful sweetness giving it an almost creamy taste. Thick mouthfeel.

Vintage 2008/2009. Serving date: 2009-02-16. Served in snifter. 355 ml bottle with freshness date printed on the bottle (best before December 2011). The pour is almost black, just one step away from being opaque, with a surprisingly small (half a finger) light brown head that settles quickly and leaves basically no lacings. The smell is mostly of dark chocolate. Although it has less sweet aromas than many other imperial stouts, there are still some notes of blackcurrants and faint vanilla here. Gentle hops and a good deal of roasted barley finish things off. Big flavors of dark chocolate hit the palate and stays on right to the very end of the finish. The chocolate flavors are definitely on the bitter end, leaning towards cocoa, but every now and then notes of sweeter chocolate appear as well. The taste of roasted barley is also quite immense and it blends beautifully with the chocolate. Some fruity flavors (plums?) and maybe some vanilla are to be found as well, somewhere among the chocolate and roasted barley. But still, the sweetness in this one is really restrained. From a few sips, I get a slight acidic flavor, but this might be the bitterness from the chocolate and the roasted grain that’s playing a trick on me. The alcohol, although well hidden, provides a pleasant twang before the finish, which is quite bitter and contains some restrained, yet distinct, hops and long roasted flavors. Not the most complex imperial stout, but still a delightful beer with it’s astonishing chocolaty character. Quite a lot of carbonation considering the style, but thanks to a full body it manages to come out rather smooth. I’ve had this beer quite a few times, and I’m always amazed by the fact that it’s made solely from malt, hops, water and yeast, and no chocolate additives. How one can make ingredients such as these to taste this good is quite astonishing. However, although it’s a rather bold and edgy imperial stout with it’s emphasis primarily on chocolate and roasted flavors, it still lacks some complexity. Serving type: bottle (Copy of old Beer Advocate review)

"Winter 09-10" very dark pour, huge frothy beige head. aroma is very roasty, and a bit sour; there’s chocolate milk, coffee, dark doughy bread, grain, and alcohol. flavor is slightly more sour, with medium sweetness and bitterness, and even a bit salty. body is a bit thin, carbonation is mild but nice. finish is sour and roasty alcohol.

330 ml bottle from LCBO. Pours a dark virtually black with small mocha head. Nose is most prominently of alcohol with chocolate and dark fruit also present. Flavour is quite interesting - starts mostly dark fruit and alcohol moving to chocolate and finishing with a lingering coffee bitterness/roastness. Thick mouthfeel, big body. A very nice beer.

Pours solid black with a thick oily brown head. Aroma of toasted marshmallow and milk choclate. Taste is sweet milk chocolate with some bitter coffee bean. Milky creamy feel and some hop finish.

Aroma of dark chocolate, coffee and alcohol. Pours black with a minimal off-white head that leaves little lacing. Taste is slightly bitter coming from the dark chocolate and coffee but also sweet. Slightly chewy mouthfeel, really a super beer.

From a 12 oz into a snifter. Smells of alcohol, butterscotch and bitter black chocolate. Pours with an inch or two of head which quickly dissipates leaving a little bit of lacing, but not much. Taste is of alcohol, dark chocolate, coffee and smoke. Mouthfeel is very thick and hearty. Not much of a bitter aftertaste, which is good. Overall, a very good stout. I don’t like the up front alcohol kick but hey, it’s 10% so what do I expect. It is an excellent value at $8 a four pack. I’m letting a couple sit for a year and trying again, so I’ll update then. I’d happily drink again.

330 ML Bottle in USA. A very deep dark roastiness prevades the senses with a nice hop bitterness followed by a slight malt sweetness as it finishes. A very nice solid stout best one I ever had!