Shenandoah Chocolate Donut Stout

Brewed by Shenandoah Brewing Company
Style: Stout
Alexandria, Virginia USA

Draft at Dr. Dremo’s....This is quite possibly the most delicious beer I’ve ever encountered. As previous reviewers have noted, it smells nearly identical to a chocolate donut. I have no idea what Shenandoah has placed in this beer to achieve such an uncanny match with a chocolate donut, but they’ve certainly done it well. Flavor is immensely sweet, deep chocolate flavor, with a very smooth mouth feel, hints of a cake donut taste are present in each sip. Renewed my faith in stouts and lived up to my expectations.

Fantastic, though I must admit, my expectations were probably just set a bit too high when I tried this beer. I still think this is amazing, a great chocolate flavor, but I was looking to hard for donut, but eventually found it. Very sweet, and I can’t imagine drinking more than one in a sitting, even though I bought the 6 pack. UPDATE: After having a few more from that 6 pack, I realized that it is even better than I had previously thought, while only one might only be good at a sitting, it’s enough to make this one amazing beer.

Sampled at the Capitol City Carnival 2007. This was fantastic. Hazy dark black body with a large frothy brown head. Sweet chocolate and sugar aroma. Very sweet chocolate flavor, lots of sugar. This actually tastes like a chocolate donut.

THe one, the only. The king of all pastry related beers.Choclate was prevelent in both the aroma and the flavor. The beer was a normal stout in appearence, exept for perhaps a lite wiff of cane sugar. The flavor screamed donut. I don’t know how, but it works. Will have to find this again.

12 oz. bottle. Aroma of hot chocolate, vanilla and cream with frothy tan head that lingers and leaves a nice lacing. The aroma grows somewhat richer as the beer sits and breathes, presenting after a few minutes with a warmer, darker, richer chocolate and freshly baked vanilla cake-y aroma. Appearance is opaque and dark with body perhaps a bit thin but not unpleasantly so. Flavor of whipped dark chocolate and malt on the front and middle palate with a finish of vanilla and a whiff of something nutmeg-ish, but just briefly. I am a fan of the fruit beers as a general rule so maybe because of that, I didn’t find this to be too sweet. In fact, I drank two. I would use this in a dessert dish in a heartbeat. Who knows what ’donut essence’ is, or how they get it in a bottle, and I don’t care, this stuff is incredible.

Tried this one at the 06 Dominion Beer Fest, and while this beer might be a gimmick, it is one tasty beer! And believe it or not, it really does smell and taste like a glazed chocolate donut. I don’t know what "donut essence" is, but this beer does indeed have donut character, and its good! This beer pours to a murky, deep brown to black color, with a tan head that fades, and a moderate carbonation. The nose on this beer is sweet and sugary, with aromas of sweet donut glaze, chocolate malt, dark chocolate, and hints of vanilla. The palate is soft and fat on the tongue, with flavors of sweet and chocolate malts, and flavors of chocolate, and sweet glaze. This beer ends with more chocolate and sweet flavors that lingers. Really a sweet, and delicious beer, that would work well as a foil to tart, fruity deserts, or as a desert. Unique and worth a try, at least once.

Pitch black coloured body with a nice tan head, almost 100% opaque. Aroma of - you guessed it - Chocolate Donuts! Such a wierd scent for a beer - but this one is spot on! Full-bodied; Strong sweet taste up front of choolate with a completely describable donut flavour as well. Malt and roasted sugars are also noticable with a bunch of coffee thrown in too. Aftertaste is very sweet and very donut-like. Overall, just like the name says and not really a gimmick-beer, just a good sweet stout that was amazing to try. I’d definitely have this one again if I could find it! I sampled this beer on draught as a sampler at the Shirlington Oktoberfest in Arlington, Virginia on 07 October 2006.

Awesome. This was a tasty beer that lived up to it’s name. Smooth (but slightly watery) stout with the sweetness and doughiness of a chocolate doughnut. Slight vanilla and generally stasty goign down. Unfortunately, about 3/4 of the way through the bottle it just felt a little too sweet. A very noble and novel concept beer. (Bottle 11/15/2006 @ Brewery)