Cocoa Stout - Round Barn Brewery

Dope

Massachusetts

4.08/5  rDev +14.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Served on-tap at BWWs, oddly enough.

A: Pitch black pour with a super dense and creamy medium brown head. Head retention is fantastic, it never faded throughout the entire tasting. Wall of thick lacing to boot.

S: Pretty much smells like pure cocoa and a little cream maybe?

T: Delicious sweet and creamy chocolate up front. Sweetness fades a bit making it almost a perfect cocoa flavor. Simple but tasty.

M: Thick, creamy, smooth and wonderful. Amazing for only 5.8%

O: An interesting brew. Super drinkable due to thick, creamy and smooth mouthfeel while having a deceptively low ABV. Wonderful chocolate/cocoa flavors really brings it home on this one. Can't rate it super high due to relatively simple flavor profile but it's really executed quite nicely and goes down so easily.

Serving type: on-tap

12-24-2012 05:05:17 | More by Dope

EROCK75

Illinois

3/5  rDev -16%

05-13-2013 15:18:07 | More by EROCK75

akttr

Michigan

3/5  rDev -16%

05-13-2013 04:03:09 | More by akttr

Pillowburn

Indiana

4.5/5  rDev +26.1%

05-05-2013 02:18:57 | More by Pillowburn

DruC4

Michigan

4/5  rDev +12%

05-04-2013 04:40:07 | More by DruC4

imperialking

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev -2%

04-29-2013 19:26:08 | More by imperialking

Tek9ne

Michigan

3.75/5  rDev +5%

04-21-2013 03:31:51 | More by Tek9ne

Kerrie

Michigan

3.5/5  rDev -2%

04-10-2013 23:27:27 | More by Kerrie

smonice

New Jersey

3.25/5  rDev -9%

04-07-2013 11:13:00 | More by smonice

tectactoe

Michigan

3.33/5  rDev -6.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3.25

Cracked this one at Jeff's house the other night - thank to him for sharing. Pours slowly; deep, deep brown with dark ruby highlight all across it. A direct pour down the center results in no head - only a khaki colored ring that hangs around the edge. Surprised to see such seemingly low carbonation.

Taking a sniff and I get a big dose of chocolates; mildly creamy and mostly sweet with a bit of roast to back it up and bump up the robustness. Somewhere within the chocolate, I'm picking up a bit of a slight fruity tartness - almost like raspberries or grapes. Not so much strong in the fruit sense, but it gives the aroma a slight sour note and even maybe a mild astringency. Sweet overall. Sadly there isn't much else to the aroma profile - kind of a one-trick pony, and not necessarily a great one at that.

Cocoa Stout feels pretty thin on the palate - a little watery even, and certainly not as smooth and creamy as you'd expect from a milk stout. Carbonation is pretty damn low, too. There's a solid cocoa taste up front; milk chocolate, sweet and savory, with a small bit of ashy tones underneath. Not sure if the ash is coming from heavy roast or the hop profile, but it's fairly light overall anyway. In all honestly, this one doesn't have much flavor. The flavor that IS there is pretty good, but it's thin, watered down a bit, and again, pretty one-dimensional.

Not bad, and definitely drinkable, but sadly it's also pretty forgettable. A little boring and one-track minded. Not much going on here, and nothing that makes me want to come back for more. A little disappointed.

Serving type: bottle

03-23-2013 05:27:48 | More by tectactoe

PorterLambic

Florida

3.99/5  rDev +11.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Fairly aggressively poured into a standard pint glass. A full 2" of creamy, cocoa colored foam now sits above an exceedingly dark brown liquid. It seemed to flow into the glass more than pour. Head settles to a solid 1/4" thick creamy layer and just stays there.
Smell is cocoa with toasted malts, some cardboard. Some dark fruit hint seems to be lurking deep in the back.
Taste is heavily roasted, no, toasted, almost burnt malts, baking chocolate, a very light hop note, a whiff of whiskey and some raisins (I think).
Fairly smooth, lightly drying. Warming especially after the temperature rises some. Smooth and mostly full bodied with a very light effervescence as one would expect. This is a really nice beer from a brewery I've never heeard of before. Go Blue.

Serving type: bottle

02-22-2013 01:11:07 | More by PorterLambic

TMoney2591

Illinois

3.28/5  rDev -8.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

Served in a Lagunitas mason jar.

Man, I need a pick-me-up from that last one... This stuff pours a very deep sienna-brown topped by a a finger of khaki foam. The nose comprises light coffee, roasted malts, mild baking cocoa, and a tiny, vague prick of mild vinyl. The taste brings in more of the same, with the vinyl cut out (always welcome). I may not have said it before, but things may not be bad, but they're definitely boring, if that makes any sense. The body is a light medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a fluid feel. Overall, a decent little stout, one that's not sure if it's coffee- or chocolate-forward, but, either way, one that ends up being decidedly forgettable and, like I said above, boring.

Serving type: bottle

02-07-2013 08:26:40 | More by TMoney2591

drummermattie02

Texas

3/5  rDev -16%

01-28-2013 18:34:54 | More by drummermattie02

zach60614

Illinois

3/5  rDev -16%

01-21-2013 02:02:42 | More by zach60614

Stevie_Janowski

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +26.1%

12-25-2012 23:10:51 | More by Stevie_Janowski

leprechaunandfatman

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +26.1%

11-12-2012 00:54:15 | More by leprechaunandfatman

jeff96gt

Indiana

3.5/5  rDev -2%

05-27-2012 10:22:44 | More by jeff96gt

MeowTom

3.25/5  rDev -9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A- Dark dark beer with the dark brown head.

S- Light grains, eh, not very strong.

T- Nice barley and grains taste.

M- Carbonated lightly and smooth.

O- A good average beer that really isn't too much of anything. I feel like it should of been more then what it is. I'm not saying it's bad I just wish there was more of something distinctive in it.

Serving type: bottle

05-02-2012 18:58:59 | More by MeowTom

Michiana

3/5  rDev -16%

05-02-2012 00:05:30 | More by Michiana

antoines15

Indiana

3/5  rDev -16%

05-01-2012 00:52:28 | More by antoines15

jbierling

Michigan

4/5  rDev +12%

03-26-2012 04:10:33 | More by jbierling

Lynn

Ohio

4/5  rDev +12%

03-12-2012 23:16:22 | More by Lynn

acurtis

New Jersey

3/5  rDev -16%

01-15-2012 02:25:31 | More by acurtis

discreplayboss

Illinois

4/5  rDev +12%

12-31-2011 23:56:34 | More by discreplayboss

WoodBrew

Illinois

4.08/5  rDev +14.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

The last beer....the desert beer...on Christmas is the Cocoa Stout from The Round Barn Brewery. The beer pours a opaque color with 1/2" thick tan head. The scent carries sweet chocolate and roast. The flavor follows the scent with with good chocolate tones with a solid molassis and malt base. The mouthfeel is a medium to full body beer with ok carbonaiton. Overall this is a good beer and would recommend it to those that enjoy stouts.

Serving type: bottle

12-26-2011 02:27:25 | More by WoodBrew