Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

Brewed by Brooklyn Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Brooklyn, New York USA

Black body, medium tan head. Sweet chocolate aroma. Flavor - same, light roast. Okay as far as stouts go. ... Damn this is an imperial stout? Sure fooled me..

Certainly a good stout, but it’s a bit too much for me in the summer months. Strong flavor of bitter chocolate and a richness that’s flirting with the edge of too sweet for my taste. I hope my local will get it again when it cools down - I might revise my opinion.

Bottle winter 2007-08 (holding out longer on the 06-07). Pours black with a very thin light brown head. Aroma is robust...chocolate is obvious, but plenty of roasted malt notes, spice (cinnamon), and some slightly burnt coffee...pleasant, and improves as it warms! Flavor is not overly complex, but does its thing, and does it well. Roasted caramel malts abound with a thick dose of chocolate (dark). Cinnamon and other mulling spices in here, and a dose of dark roast coffee. Catching some smokey accent in here as well, especially up front. A bit of hop bitterness on the back end as well. Palate is thick and oily, but not to the level of most impy stouts. I leave impressed...a very good sipper!

Original review date 10/16/2008... 2008 installment just in and poured into Alpine mug... Solid ginger/cinnamon (tight) 1-finger head topping an awesome jet-black body. Little visible carbonation but who would know? Wicked thick. Oily, brown sugar/cinnamon scent topping deep, dark but mellow roasted malt. Loads of depth and hearty coffee and chocolate texture with grass/pine from hops on deep background. Grassy hops emerge here with the overzealous (not a bad thing) roasted malt. This one rolls a little hot, though - maybe needs some warmth and time? Excellent, however. This deal beats the palate like a rented goalie. Balance in overabundance is an understatement. Carbonation actually makes an appearance on the finish with warmth to cut the heft a bit. Finish is surprisingly clean and tight for something so blessedly huge. A sipper. A very good sipper. Very very good. But it needs time.

I shared a bottle of this with BeerBaron617 - it’s from the 08-09 season. Pours a thick black color with a light brown head. Very chocolaty aroma, mocha, dark chocolate and a hint of coffee. When I taste it, initially I get a medium thick mouthfeel, very warming, not a whole lot of chocolate in the flavor...It is however, the first stout that actually tastes like a cup of coffee. Sort of strange in a sense...but that is the case. A good sipper, and a decent stout.

It is a beauty that I have to thank a good friend of mine for giving me some, since it is not available to us yet. Hopefully this coming winter. Pours blacker than night with a thin tan head. Aromas of chocolate entice you. The palate is impressive. Rich, kinda oily, with milk chocolate and dark chocolate flavors mingling with coffee notes as this beauty warms up. A gift every Winter.

Pours an amazing pitch black with a thin creamy head. Nose of booze is most predominate with chocoalte as well. Mouthfeel is heavy and oily, very nice. Tastes of rich deep milk chocolate mixed with intense coffee malts. Very lovely stout.

Location: Updating this rating with a 12 oz bottle from Gilly’s, 11/17/09

Aroma: Aroma includes notes of roasted malts, dark chocolate, and some vanilla
Appearance: Pours a dark black color with a creamy brown head and some lace
Flavor: Taste is roasted malts with an interesting semi-sweet chocolate bitterness
Palate: A relatively full-bodied beer with a mild alcohol hint and a smooth mouthfeel
Overall Impression: This was pretty much right along the lines of what I remembered. A really nice beer that I enjoyed quite a bit. I’m not going to change this rating at all, honestly I think I have it just about right. An excellent use of the semi-sweet (dark) chocolate flavor is, in my opinion, the key to this beer, and the part I enjoyed the most. Truly a very nice beer.

Old Notes: (Old Rating was a 4.0)
Overall Impression: I haven’t had one on these in a while, but it is something I remember really enjoying, will have to grab a bottle of this sometime soon and give it a proper rating...