Upland Chocolate Stout

Brewed by Upland Brewing Company
Style: Sweet Stout
Bloomington, Indiana USA

Thin pour with small quickly disappearing head...dark chocolate and coffee notes. It’s too thin in my opinion for a stout.

Dark beer with ruby highlights when held up to the light. Thick foamy brown head with a faint aroma of alcohol and dusty chocolate. Some lactic acid with milk chocolate and burnt coffee bean bitterness. Not very interesting.

pours a clear dark brew that at first appearance is black, but holding to the light reveals that it is a very dark brown. Virtually no head. Cold, this is thin with very little aroma or flavor, but as it warms it comes on nicely. Caramel, chocolate and coffee notes over a moderate malt base. The sweetness is well balanced with the sweetness. Some alcohol comes through.

A dark brown pour with almost no head. An aroma of rubbing alcohol and chocolate. It smells almost like cough syrup. A light chocolate flavor on a thin palate. A beer that is not much work away from being a much better beer.

Black, thin tan head. Aroma is molasses, rum and chocolate. Flavor is raisin rum cake, sorta. In fact, the alcohol is a big player in the flavor - hard to believe its only 6%. As it warms, notes of coffee and dark chocolate emerge. Definately at its best when its just slightly below room temp.

On draft @ the Heorot: Dark color with nice white head. Faint aroma is somewhat milky, but little else. Flavor is like a malted milk ball up front, with a piney, spicy hop finish that dries it out quickly. Not overly complex on flavor, but tasty still. Body needs to be thickened a bit, and maybe release this one in September.

Thanks TAR for this bottle. I hope this wasn’t damaged by the heat in shipping, because my rating doesn’t stack up with everyone else’s. Not that this was a bad beer, parts of it were quite enjoyable. It just came off as weak. The mouthfeel was very thin and watery, with too much carbonation overwhelming my palate and drowning out the flavors. The flavors that are there are very nice. Chocolate, coffee and toffee dominate. A touch of acidity and hops as well round it out. My first thought was that it tastes like chocolate flavored seltzer water, but that has faded as I drink it. A nice bitterness lingers from both the hops and a cocoa flavor as well. I question the sweet stout category. I get no sweetness, even with the chocolate. A pretty good beer, but one that really didn’t match it’s potential.

Bottle from CaptainCougar! Poured a clear deep mahogany with a short-lived beige cap. Nose found lightly sour, lightly-roasted chocolatey notes and hints of ground coffee. Flavor found a mix of milk chocolate and dry bitter cocoa along with hints of sour fruits, earth, and a little graininess. Lighter-bodied on the palate and flowed fairly well. Finish of chocolate lasted a while. Not bad.. Thanks, Tom!