Roses and candy, dinner and wine, these are standard Valentine’s Day fare, and have come to be expected by many, often forced on us by every convenience store, snack shop and greeting card outlet in the land. Valentine’s Day should not be about conforming to norms decided upon by Hallmark; it’s about enjoying what you like and sharing it with the one you love. What do you like more than beer? If your partner doesn’t seem to enjoy the malty goodness as much as you do, then this brew just might do the trick. The following is a sweet treat everybody will love!
Rogue Ales in Newport, Oregon offers a chocolate stout that proves a beer/chocolate lovers dream. Classified as an American stout, Rogue’s chocolate delight has its background in the classic stouts of England and Ireland. However, like many versions of standard beer styles that brewers in our country have made their own, they bare only a passing resemblance to their forefathers.
Unlike many porters and stouts that claim an aspect of ‘chocolate’ flavor due to the use of highly roasted chocolate malts, Rogue’s chocolate stout offers this component, along with real chocolate blended into the mixture. This flavored stout takes the unique parts of quality stout ale and blends chocolate to push the style into an unreal dimension of flavor not typical of most stouts.
Made with 2-Row, C120, Chocolate & Rogue Farms Dare and Risk Malts; Rogue Farms Rebel Hops; Rolled Oats, Roasted Barley, Chocolate; Free Range Coastal Water and Pacman Yeast, Rogue’s delicious desert-like ale is a delicious choice. And at 5.8% alcohol by volume and 69 International Bitterness Units, the beer will not knock you out, but can definitely entice your taste buds.
Rogue chocolate stout is a beautiful beer once in a pint glass. Black, no colors on the edges, a thick head of lumpy, creamy, dark tan foam appears, thick, as you pour the brew into the glass, and stays around forever, lots of lace all down the sides.
The stout smells like milk chocolate, very sweet and strong, maybe a hint of vanilla in there too. The taste, believe it or not, is chocolate, with a strong coffee aftertaste. The burnt stout aspect takes a few sips to kick in. Very malty and bittersweet at times, with just a touch of hops that blend with the burnt aftertaste.
Rogue’s chocolate stout is very smooth, medium to full in mouthfeel, truly lovely across the tongue and sides/top of the mouth. There is just enough carbonation in this beer to make it creamy. It has a dry, bittersweet finish but you can still feel the smooth stout and taste the chocolate hints on all parts of your mouth.
I couldn’t drink this all night, and I would doubt that the entire bomber would be finished off by myself, but would be glad to enjoy it again; however, it’s a perfect couples share! This brew pairs well with meats and saucy dishes. The beer is better still served with a chocolate or other sweet dessert. A damn fine ale, it’s perfect as a dessert in and of itself, after dinner, when you still want another pint. Rogue’s Chocolate Stout, one of the first and still one of the best. Enjoy the brews … Cheers.
Gene’s Haufbrau has at more than 200 beers in bottles or on tap. While they don’t have every beer the Beer Snob writes about, they probably have most.. E-mail the Beer Snob at publisher@
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