Youngs Double Chocolate Stout

Brewed by Wells & Youngs
Style: Stout
Bedford, England

500. Pours deep black with a thick, moussy, very light tan head--thickly stacked, moderately bubbly, but still a great big stout head without a doubt. Nose is fairly neutral for a stout (some chocolate, some roast; nice, but nothing we haven’t seen before, especially in these proportions), though this is a tiny bit colder than it really ought to be. Body is medium and carb is nice and light, The attack is the beautifully subdued complexity you’d expect from Young’s; roast and chocolate and a wee splash of coffee and plenty of impeccably modulated dark malt extravagance. Drinking this beer in the land of Speedway and Shakespeare and Expedition makes you feel like you’re comparing a Jaguar XK-E convertible to a Corvette 427 SC. How do you pick? One might seem the far superior engineering achievement, but the stylistic panache of the other is incomparable. Young’s is definitely stylistically incomparable, though so subdued that the cellaring and repeat drinking possibilities seem rather lower.

Easy to like! Clear dark brown with a modest light brown head. Aromas of chocolate and almonds, darkly roasted malt. Sweet chocolate flavour is immediately apparent but not overwhelming, and is balanced by the roasted malt and slightly bitter finish. Not as heavy in the mouth as I like, but excellent as a sweeter style stout.

Bottle. Black color with light brown head. Aroma seems disappointing. Just a light smell of roasted malts that was just noticeable. Flavor has some nice rich roasted and chocolate malt notes. About midway a cream soda flavor appears and spoils the drinking experience altogether. There was a nice chocolate aftertaste that helped cover over the sweet cream soda flavor. Compare to other chocolate stouts this on comes up rather short. Certainly will not try again. Too many better options.

A very rich creamy chocolate stout. When I think of chocolate flavor in a stout, this is what I want. Rich and bold, with a bit of a thin mouthfeel, but lots of character, and a slightly buttery finish. This was absolutely a joy to drink.

Excellent after dinner beer, and also suprisingly tasty over chocolate ice cream. Re-rate, May 2004: I still think its good. But not 4.6 good.

Bottled. Glugging inky pitch pour, filthy caramel head, a nose to die for. Intensely milk chocolatey but with some sappy, resiny, beechwood sawdust-type notes also. It’s not all chocolate. A snort of cappucino, a nibble of fudge, a hint of vanilla. Roasty bitter cocoa in the finish. If a beer advertises itself as ’Double chocolate’, I want full-on, suffocating, in-the-face chocolate flavours without them overwhelming the malt and hops, and this delivers. Oily black satanic custard seriously challenging Sam Smith’s Oatmeal Stout’s supremacy as my no.1 UK stout. (Re-rate, 03/03/08- previous score 9/4/8/5/17/4.3) 1200 beers in I thought I’d better revisit this, as it was sitting at 3rd place in my ratings. It’s a surprisingly smoky, bittersweet, well-attenuated pitch black stout with vanilla, peaty malt and berryish Vimto touches. A great beer, just not quite top 10 material...

Smells like a chocolate milk shake maybe with a little bit of coffee. Pours dark brown with a frothy brown head. Flavor is sweet and chocolatey with some roasty too. Smooth and creamy. An awesome beer.

Excellent beer--and since my wife loved it too, I may be allowed, even encouraged, to buy it again in the future! Although I had it at a Young’s pub, they had it refrigerated way too cold--it only really blossoms with some warmth. Excellent feel in mouth. Somewhat one-dimensional of bitter chocolate flavor, but I would make this a regular beer to drink. A real joy to drink.