Posts Tagged ‘Chocolate Stout’

After a rather crazed Labor Day weekend (wherein the Cha Cha Hut made its official commercial debut), we decided to journey to Oliver’s Discount Beverage in Albany to restock a quickly dwindling cellar. I once stated the selection here is much smaller than Half Time in Poughkeepsie, but what is there is truly amazing. I always find a ton of interesting new brews when dropping into Oliver’s So much so, I can’t remember the last time we made the trip to Half Time. Plus – the Oliver’s staff seem to be really excited to be selling something other than the endless stream of BMC we see going out the door.

Bombers
Southern Tier Imperial Pumking Ale
Southern Tier Imperial Mokah (chocolate & coffee stout)
Southern Tier Imperial Cherry Saison
Southern Tier Imperial Heavy Weizen
Dogfish Head Fort (brewed with pureed raspberries)
The Bruery Black Orchard
Brown’s Whiskey Barrel Aged Porter
He’Brew Rejewvenator Harvest Ale
Avery Fifteen Anniversary Ale
Avery Collaboration Not Litigation Ale
Red Hook DB Double Black Stout with Coffee

40 oz.
People’s Pint Tap & Die Malt Liquor

6 Pack
Wolaver’s Certified Organic Will Stevens’ Pumpkin Ale
Brown’s Oatmeal Stout
Sierra Nevada Kellerweis
Atwater Block Brewery Vanilla Java Porter
Boulder Beer Mojo IPA

I’m calling this the “Western Mass. Edition” due to a weekend OAB roadtrip to the I-91 corridor of Massachusetts. We decided we needed to get out of town for the weekend and decided to use the beer map in Yankee Brew News as our guide. There are many upcoming articles about the trip, but I decided to kick things off with a beerventory update that is now decidedly Massachusetts heavy.

As we were staying in the Northampton area, we THOUGHT we would do the beer run at Spirit Haus in Amherst on our way out. No such luck. We’ve see great reviews for this place, but the selection on a Sunday morning pretty much sucked. Perhaps we missed something other than the weak selection of bombers and 6/12 packs on the floor near the register. Perhaps it had been a heavy Saturday night – though to me most of the shelves looked stocked.

Thankfully, we had gone to Greenfield, MA on Saturday and looked around in Ryan and Casey Liquors. So after the Spirit Haus disappointment, we hit the highway, headed up to Greenfield and stocked up before heading back to OAB HQ. Looking forward to the coming weeks and drinking these. (Also looking forward to another beer run to Massachusetts.

Bombers
Berkshire Brewing Hefeweizen Ale
Berkshire Brewing Coffeehouse Porter
People’s Pint Pied pIPA
People’s Pint shWheat Ale
People’s Pint Natural Blonde
High & Mighty Two-Headed Beast Chocolate Stout
High & Mighty St. Hubbins Abbey
High & Mighty Purity Of Essence Lager
High & Mighty Beer of the Gods
Pretty Things Baby Tree Quad with Dried Plums
Pretty Things St. Botoisph’s Town Rustic Dark Ale
McNeill’s Ruby Ale
Southern Tier Mokah Stout
Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout
Jolly Pumpkin La Roja Amber Ale
Arcadia Ales Cocoa Loco
Arcadia Ales Cereal Killer
Southern Tier Jah-Va Imperial Coffee Stout
Ommegang Biere de Mars
Flying Dog Wild Dog Weizenbock

40 oz.
People’s Pint Tap & Die Malt Liquor

12 Pack
Opa Opa Sampler featuring Opa Opa Light, Red Rock Amber Ale and Opa Opa IPA

6 packs : cans
21st Amendment Brew Free! or Die IPA
21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon Wheat

6 packs : bottle
Saranac Summer Brew

Brewery: Stone Brewing
Location: Escondido, CA
Style: Chocolate stout

At the end of February 2008, we took a trip to NYC for tax prep and pub crawling. First stop was the Blind Tiger Ale House in Greenwich Village. They were having a Stone festival, and we spent a couple of hours sampling a variety of Stone brews. (More on that coming soon…)

Upon returning to the Ohabeer HQ in the heart of the Catskills, we decided to open the bottle of Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Stout we had in the cellar. (You know – just to keep the Stone love going…)

This is a jet black stout with an excellent dark brown head. (The photo above does not do the head justice.) The head falls slightly too quick but clings nicely to the glass. (No, I refuse to use the term “lacing”. What is this a beer or sewing review?)

Great stout scent. Vanilla and chocolate but not the usual sweet chocolate stout scent. The bitter chocolate gives a slight coffee edge without it actually being coffee scented. On tasting, the chocolate really comes forward. Again – as with the scent – because we are dealing with bitter chocolate here the taste is not sweet. It is far more complex than most of the chocolate stouts out there. The addition of the oatmeal undercurrent gives a certain nutty balance to the taste. It all comes together as a lovely creamy artisanal chocolate bar – if artisanal chocolate bars have 9.2% ABV.

Drinking this made me consider something I thought impossible: this may be my new favorite chocolate stout replacing my previous go to Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. Of course – given the Stone was a limited edition – Brooklyn’s place in my heart and cellar is fairly safe.

Brewery: Brooklyn Brewery
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Style: Imperial stout

How much is this stout loved at the Ohabeer HQ? It’s one of the few we buy multiple cases at a time. We’re currently down to about 15 bottles. That’s a sad thing as this is quite seasonal, disappears quickly and tastes like heaven. Not to mention a key ingredient in the Oh…a beer Beer-b-que Sauce. Thankfully I have a supply of the sauce jarred and ready for the start of the BBQ season.

But we’re here to talk about Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout, not BBQ…

This is a rich stout even though it pours a bit thin. The head starts out a dark brown color but quickly disappears. Your left with little to no head for almost all of the glass. The color is a deep deep black. Excellent chocolately aroma that is also faintly bitter.

As this is not actually brewed with chocolate, it is saved from the cloy sweetness of most seasonal chocolate brews. Instead you get the deep rich stout flavor with a chocolate aftertaste created from the malt combo. It’s a little thinner in tasting that many stouts, but that thinness does not result in watered down flavor. It’s a bold brew with a creaminess not expected given the lack of “stout head”. Add to this the 10.1% ABV and you’ve got the perfect recipe for knocking out the winter chill and blues.

On a side note, Mrs. Ohabeer and I had the opportunity to taste this on draught at The Standard in Albany, NY during the holiday season. We had been out checking the post-holiday chaos when we decided to take a break, get a beer and maybe lunch. We were happy to find more than a few crafts at The Standard, but really surprised by Black Chocolate Stout on tap. We had never run into that before and we used to live in Brooklyn.

What really surprised us was the Black Chocolate on draught tasted stronger. The flavor was more pronounced and it appears to have a stronger alcoholic kick. Perhaps the fact they were nitrogen tapping it helped bump it up. Perhaps it was the weather. Perhaps we were just lightweights at that moment. For whatever reason, we ended up having a couple of burgers and a second round. Quite a buzzy rest of the day wandering stores. If you have the chance to try the Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout on tap – especially if it is a nitrogen tap – do yourself a favor and make time for one or two. You’ll be glad you did.

Brewery: Fort Collins
Location: Fort Collins, CO
Style: Double Chocolate Stout

I was already a fan of the Fort Collins Chocolate Stout (review coming some other time), so I was quite intrigued when I discovered the 650ml bottle of Double Chocolate Stout on a recent cellar restock run. As Mrs. Ohabeer and I are both chocolate fans – meaning (like bacon) everything is better with chocolate – I decided to pick up two bottles of this.

Sadly – while it was an ok brew – it was not the best of stouts. I would have thought imperializing an already great chocolate stout would only add to the greatness. Unfortunately, it lead to a thinner stout. Not really sure how that happened.

Pours fair. Deep black color and creamy head. The head falls apart fairly quickly leaving only a small layer for the rest of the glass. Big big chocolate scent. Too big. The taste is quite sweet – very chocolate-y. Then a bitter edge to the backend a little like coffee but slightly burnt. This actually helps to counter the heavy chocolate front end making for an almost – ALMOST – balanced taste. I’m dubious about the 8.10% ABV as I did not get much of a buzz off this. I actually think a higher ABV might have helped this a bit.

So, I now have a second bottle cellaring. Either I’m going to keep it for a few months to see if there is any improvement or use it in the Ohabeer Beer Sorbet Research Project.

I am an avid barbeque & grill jockey. I believe firmly in a few grilling tenets:

1. NEVER use propane. It’s wood or charcoal ONLY. Otherwise, you might as well be cooking indoors.
2. Seasons are NOT a factor. Snow-b-quing is one of life’s perfect pleasures. Plus, nothing is better for a weary winter soul than chargrilled steaks or burgers. (BONUS: you have an easy way to keep your beer cold.)
3. Making it fresh is ALWAYS better. There are many fine craft sauces and rubs on the market (most NOT found in big supermarkets), but taking the time to make your own rub and sauce gives you control over the whole meal.
4. Beer has the power to make almost any suace better.

So, when I set out two years ago to develop a BBQ sauce, it was only natural I use beer as a component. This current recipe is somewhere in the 10th version area. Little tweaks here and there. I’ve settled on Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout – a good balance of sweet and bitter – giving the sauce a nice depth. Unfortunately, Black Chocolate is seasonal so either cellar a case, bottle a lot in winter or play around with what’s available in spring + summer. I’ve found milk stouts also work nicely in this. (The original sauce used Keegan Mother’s Milk stout and I still make batches with that in the summer.)

The only other specific element to this recipe is the hot sauce. I use Ring of Fire® Hot Sauce “Chipotle & Roasted Garlic”. It adds both the heat and a bit of smokiness. You can use whatever hot sauce you favor.

Oh…a beer Beer-B-Que Sauce
1 bottle Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate stout
2 cups organic ketchup
1 cup buckwheat honey
1 cup apple cider
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup Ring of Fire Hot Sauce “Chipotle & Roasted Garlic”
1/3 cup dijon mustard or stone ground mustard
2 limes, juiced
2 medium onions, chopped fine in food processor
2 TBS butter

1. Chop onions very fine in a food processor. Unless you have the knife skills of Ferran Adria, I suggest the food processor method otherwise you’ll not get the onion fine enough. Once chopped, drain any accumulated onion juice.

2. Saute the onion lightly in the butter. Just until slightly cooked and starting to brown a little.

3. Put onions and remaining ingredients in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours. You could also do this on the stove, simmering for 8 hours.

If you make this recipe, leave me a comment and perhaps consider buying me a beer by using the button below to donate via Paypal. You certainly do not have to, but it would be appreciated.

I’m a bit late on this. Got too busy around the holidays. We actually restocked the celler for NYE and made the trip to the Half Time in Poughkeepsie (the temple of craft beer in upstate NY).

Here’s what was in the Oh…a beer cellar over the holidays:

GROWLERS
Cave Mountain Nut Brown Ale
Cave Mountain Spiced Winter Ale

SPECIALS
Goose Island Bourbon County Stout 2008 [12oz/13%]
Fort Collins Double Chocolate Stout [650ml/8.1%]
Cisco Brewers Moor Porter [650ml]
Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Stout [12oz/7.8%]
Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock [650ml/5.5%]
Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence [750ml/7%]
Sly Fox Raspberry Reserve (bottle conditioned) [750ml]
Rogue MoM Hefeweizen [650ml]

BOTTLES
Blue Point Toasted Lager
Mad River Steelhead Scotch Style Ale [6%]
Heavy Seas Winter Storm “Category 5″ Ale [7.5%]
Anchor Porter
Stoudts Fat Dog Imperial Oatmeal Stout
Dundee Festive Ale
Troegs Dead Reckoning Porter
Ithaca Nut Brown Ale
Guinness Extra Stout
Wolaver’s Oatmeal Stout
Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout
Troegs Rugged Trail Nut Brown Ale [4.4%]
Left Hand Black Jack Porter
Samuel Adams Cream Stout
Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Samuel Adams Holiday Porter
Goose Island Nut Brown Ale
Lagunitas Brown Shugga [9.5%]
Flying Dog Road Dog Porter [6%]
Dragon Stout [7.5%]

Kicking off the first regular feature: What’s in the beer cellar. Sadly, I did not have a chance to go to Half Time in Poughkeepsie (the temple of craft beer in upstate NY), so I had to make do with the selection at Brice’s in Kingston.

Currently in the Oh…a beer cellar:

GROWLERS
Cave Mountain Spiced Winter Ale (Windham, NY)
Cave Mountain English Nut Brown Ale (Windham, NY)
Keegan’s Joe Mama (Mother’s Milk Stout brewed with Muddy Cup coffee) (Kingston, NY)

SPECIALS
Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence (750 mls/7% abv) [brewed with Belgian chocolate]
Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout (12oz/135 abv) [casked brewed in bourbon barrels]
Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter
Lagunitas Brown Shugga’

BOTTLES
Heavy Seas Winter Ale
Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout
Flying Dog Road Dog Porter
Anchor Porter
Dundee Festive Ale
Troegs Dead Reckoning Porter
Wolaver’s Oatmeal Stout
Ithaca Nut Brown Ale
Dragon Stout (Kingston Jamaica)
Guinness Extra Stout

VARIETY PACK
Sam Adams Winter Classics (12 pack)