Mrs Piper got a Beer Advent Calendar this year and has been working her way through it.
I came home from work and she said “There’s a beer on the counter from my calendar. I didn’t like it so you can have it.”
I took one swig and spat it out.
Chocolate? Who thinks chocolate, sweet, sweet no less, should be put into a nice stout, ruining it?!?
Dumped the bottle down the drain and am now using a nice Australian Shiraz to cleanse my palate.
The original “chocolate” stout was named because its taste is reminiscent of chocolate. No chocolate is added. More modern styles actually add some. I don’t mind it when it’s in a variety pack but I wouldn’t buy a whole case of just chocolate beer.
Wait’ll you hear about oyster stout. Same idea - it originally didn’t have any molluscs, but some brewers might add some. It was designed to pair with oysters. Coffee stout as well.
There’s a good number of highly regarded chocolate beers out there but, I gotta side with Northern Piper for the most part, here. It doesn’t really do it for me. That said, I do get along with the coffee flavors, though.
ETA: Yes, to the post above, there is a malt called “chocolate malt” because of its dark color and chocolate flavor notes. Here’s an example.
Any chocolate stouts that are unwanted may be sent to me for Eco-friendly disposal. Most of them are good. A few are great!
Who in God’s name puts chocolate in beer?
You probably wouldn’t like Ben & Jerry’s Salted Caramel Brownie, from New Belgium Brewing, I’m thinking…
Probably the same guy that put out that cherry beer I had years ago that I wouldn’t pour on my car battery terminals to free up the crud.
I actually should have known just from the label. It was called “Beatnik Beer” and had a pic of a scruffy beatnik, bearded and with black frame glasses, wearing a Santa cap. The whole thing looked ugly, and I didn’t even see the “chocolate” on the label.
You can come and suck it out of my sink trap if you want. Liberty Hall!
I don’t know about actual chocolate-accented beer, but I find that nibbling chocolate goes very nicely with beer. A lot better than the typical beer and pizza.
Makes sense; a lot of chocolate’s flavor is from the Maillard reactions during the roasting of the cocoa beans, much like coffee. Roasting malt would do much the same thing and have a similar flavor if done right.
That I could probably live with. This stuff tasted like two or three cubes of baking chocolate had been added to each bottle.
I tried one glass of chocolate-laced red wine and poured the remaining contents of glass and bottle down the sink. Never again.
Please report back if you ever come across beer with Skittles in it.
The horror!
No such product exists sir. You must have dreamt it.
There are a few breweries that add cheap flavors to their beer and it’s terrible. The first one I can think of is O’Fallon - awful stuff, tastes like syrup is added.
And then there are some chocolate and vanilla porters and stouts I’ve tried that are divine. The first one of those I can think of is the Black Chocolate Stout from Brooklyn Brewery. It’s thick and deep and dark and what sweetness it has is part of stout flavor and at most bittersweet as an undertone. It’s also over 300 calories per bottle. I sip and savor just one. While there is a “chocolate malt” used in brewing, there is no actual chocolate in this beer.
Any beer drinker who is old enough to have weathered the 90’s knows that beer should just taste like beer.
Pumpkin beer, blackberry beer, pepper beer…No, just no.
Not that chocolate isn’t a respectable hint to a dark malty stout or porter, but chocolate shouldn’t be the first impression. Ick.
A local brew pub makes a chocolate-cranberry stout which is awesome.
Why? Sincerely, why are plain beers inherently superior to you? And which particular beer should beer taste like? There’re such vast differences between different styles; stouts and pilsners are total opposites. What about wheat beers, wood-aged beers, etc?
We’re (especially those of us in the US) in the middle of a frickin’ beer renaissance. Creativity and experimentation have lead to a stunning variety of beers and styles. If you don’t like some or most of them, no one’s forcing you to drink them.