Hockley Valley Black Forest Stout

Brewed by Hockley Valley Brewing & Malting Company
Style: Sweet Stout
Orangeville, Canada

Cask sample at Volo Cask Days 2008. Deep reddish-brown with a small tan head. Aroma is awesome, just like black forest cake with just a hint of smoke. Soft mouthfeel. Flavour is a beautiful combo of chocolate and cherry, with a hint of coffee and malt. Maybe a smidgen too sweet - but otherwise, very good.

On cask at Volo. Appearance: Pitch black with a small bubbly head. Aroma: Smoky and malty, some dark fruit in there too. Flavour: Hmm, quite a light mouthfeel, vanilla, malt and mild chocolate. Could indeed have a fuller flavour. Not bad though.

[1795-20081017] Cask. Super dark chocolate mocha malt aroma is very much like rich cocoa. Dark brown red body with quick off-white bubbles. Cocoa malt and chocolate-dipped earth flavour with a long aftertaste of chocolate. Medium-full body. Could even stand to be thicker.
(Cask Days 2008 @ Volo; Toronto, ON)

On cask at Volo cask days 2008. Wow, I am off the mark on this one. I did have it on the first do though keep in mind and the cask seemed to change dramatically according to other raters. Thin black in the glass with no head. Sweet aroma, some roast. Taste was cloyingly sweet, body was really thin - yuck. It was ok on my first sip but the middle and end of this beer was awful. I preferred the Vanilla bean version last year, and prefer their base beers - dark and stout - to their one off offerings so far.

Cask. At Volo Cask Days 2008. Another beer that morphed over the 3 days of the fest - by the third day the elements had blended wonderfully and it was a full point 6 or so better than my first pour. Near-opaque black in the glass, with a small tan head. Oily, deep roast aroma, with cherry and spices prominent, worryingly sweet-smelling. The taste emerged as smooth and incredibly appropriate to the name - sweet cherry and lush chocolate. Average at best body, very slick and silky on the tongue, perhaps a little sweet in the aftertaste, but well done, an improvement over the regular stout, I thought.

cask at Volo
Appearance: Dark brownish ale , mid haze on mid rocky top.3+
Nose: sweet chocolate with coffee, cream and cocoa. Interesting.7-
Flavor/Palate : Medium bodied. Smooth soft bodied stout. Hint of ash like front with milder chocolate follow up.

Cask at ’Volo Cask Days 2008’. Pours a very deep ruby-brown with a spare diminishing bubbly white head. Aroma: Oh wow, that’s nice! Roasty along with chocolate, vanilla, cherries and coffee. Flavour’s malty along with caramel, chocolate, vanilla and a short bitter finish. Average to medium bodied. Great stuff, well done Hockley Valley!

on cask at volo cask days 2008. black with some big soapy bubbles. aromas of chocolate, cherry, some vanilla. flavours are similar but this one is soft and subtle with a mid palate. not as thin as hockley’s regular stout. enjoyable and comforting. i could have a pint of this one.