Brewery: Harpoon Brewery
ABV: 5.9%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by 2/15/12
I learned about this beer from the Friend of Harpoon newsletter, and then located it on my first try. That is probably the smoothest new beer experience I've had in a while. Too bad I can't find the same success as I look for Harpoon's latest 100 Barrel Series beer.
The Chocolate Stout is a very dark beer that looks solid black at first, but seems to be more of a very dark brown. It has a very thin head that fades almost immediately. The aroma is very chocolately, much more so than standard stouts. It's a combination of sweet chocolate, like a milk chocolate, along with a bitter chocolate smell, sort of like the stuff for baking.
With so much chocolate in the aroma, the flavor has a lot to live up to. Luckily there is a good amount of chocolate flavor in here. It's mostly a dark chocolate, with a bittersweetness to it. It also has a nice finish and aftertaste. The beer has little bit more carbonation than I was expecting, but it starts to mellow out after a few minutes. Unfortunately, the beer's flavor is better while it's cold, so letting it mellow out means letting it warm up, where the flavor does not improve.
Final thought - This is a bit sharp for a stout, and I bet it would be fantastic if they figured out some way to smooth it out. It has a very nice flavor, but I just want it to be smoother for each sip. Perhaps I'm just being picky.
-Jon
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