Harpoon Brewery
“Chocolate Stout”
Windsor, Vermont
From The Brewery:
ABOUT THE STYLE
A chocolate stout is a beer with a noticeable dark chocolate flavor. This flavor is created from the use of darker, more aromatic malt that has been roasted or kilned until it acquires a chocolate color.
BEER CHARACTER
Harpoon Chocolate Stout is brewed with an abundance of chocolate malt and a touch of chocolate.
BEER SPECIFICATIONS
Style: Chocolate Stout
History: brewed since 2008
Orig. Gravity: 16 Plato
Color: 190 EBC
ABV: 5.9%
IBU’S: 40
Review:
Appearance: I poured the dark dark brown beer into my pintglass, opening up a good amount of aroma, and capping it off with a brown thick head.
Smell:A strong smelling beer; across the table you could smell the baker’s chocolate and roasted malts. Getting a good solid smell, you are able to get richer notes of sweet chocolate and yeast.
Taste:This beer has a great balance and blend between where the roast chocolate malts end and the chocolate begins; a complex beer that gives flavors of vanilla and coffee. Many beers say ‘chocolate’ in their descriptions, indicating the use of chocolate malts; where as this one does use those, as well as actual chocolate. The chocolate flavor is never overpowering, and sits in nicely with the other beer flavors.
Mouthfeel: While not as creamy as one would expect, it is still a full flavored beer with a good amount of body.
Drinkability: Medium to high. It is pushing 6% ABV, but it having the thinner body than most other stouts makes this one easy to drink.
Notes: I really enjoyed this one a number of times through the season. There are a few beers by Harpoon that really stand out to me, and this is one of them.
