Chocolate Stout - Rogue Ales

hyuga

North Carolina

4.45/5  rDev +6.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

2002 release. Thick black liquid decorated with a creamy, puffy dark tan head. Mouth watering! Stays well too. Bittersweet aroma of hops, cocoa, and dark chocolate. With a taste, first comes hop bitterness, then it evens out with some dark chocolate and roasted grain. Bitter in the middle, but really sweet on the edges of the tongue. Leafy hops in the back. It leaves that leafy character on the tongue as well, I like that. Very smooth and creamy. However, at the end of 22 oz. of this, it gets kind of cloying, so that cuts down on the drinkability. Rogue really put the chocolate in chocolate stout! Using real chocolate was a good idea. Great effort. Too bad this is only seasonal (or is it going year-round now?). Also, thanks to Rogue beers, it's easy for me to identify cascade hops now. I'm not usually a huge fan of cascades used in profusion, but they're nice in this one. Anyway, I definitely want more of this soon!

Serving type: bottle

11-15-2002 00:00:43 | More by hyuga

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Aged 22 oz. bottle - well over a year old - surprisingly "fresh". Very, very dark brown with only minimally visible ruby highlights showing through. The thick, rocky, light brown head holds extremely well and leaves excellent "spider web" lace throughout. The aroma is fruity and sweetly chocolatey - very much like sweet cocoa powder. The body is surprisingly full, and givies a very creamy mouthfeel. The flavor starts fruity (raisins, berries), then becomes softly coca-ish, cereal-like and chocolatey as it warms, and finishes astonishingly long with a burst of sweet chocolate, a coffee-like roastiness, and a gently bitter character. A mild but distinctive Cascade flavor eventually emerges once the malt residue has subsided. Wow! Quite a finish. Absolutely worth trying. Easily the best "chocolate" beer I've ever had.

Serving type: bottle

10-17-2002 20:18:35 | More by NeroFiddled

jreitman

California

4.58/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

(on tap, from notes at brewery) Nice jet black color with a thick tan head. Pretty strong chocolate nose. Medium bodied with a very smoothe and creamy mouthfeel. Like drinking a cup of alcoholic cocoa. Very nice and enjoyable.

Serving type: on-tap

09-04-2002 16:23:40 | More by jreitman

Thrasher

Oregon

4.47/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

Pitch black with huge, puffy, immaculate light tan head. Smells of chocolate (duh) and cream. Like velvet running down the throat. Malt bitterness and substantial hops abutted with chocolate creaminess into a brew that is not overwhelmingly chocolatey but hints of coffee and oats (one of the ingredients). Mouthfeel: velvety, creamy, magnificent, just shy of perfection by being a tad slippery. This is a great beer, as tasty as you would imagine, with only the herbal bitterness keeping it from reeling into the stratosphere.

Serving type: bottle

07-30-2002 17:14:35 | More by Thrasher

Jason

Massachusetts

4.4/5  rDev +5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Jet black colour with a thick bubbly light brown two fingered head, sticks sporadically down the glass. Chocolaty aroma, reminiscent of powdered hot coco … it even goes further with hints of carob with a soft powdery sweetness. Roasted malts are there but restrained in the aroma. Big viscous crispness within the full body and medium carbonation. Big dark chocolate flavours with a dark fruitiness in the middle similar to black berries, maltiness is big but the roasted flavours are humble yet generous with a mild bitterness from the bite. The blend of roasted malts and chocolate flavour make for a bitter sweet flavour likened to baker chocolate. Hops are held to a minimum though are certainly present with earthy undertones that complement the roasted flavours.

As far as flavoured stouts go this is one of the best, very well balanced and quite drinkable for a brew with such a big body.

Serving type: bottle

05-26-2002 19:09:50 | More by Jason

Todd

Massachusetts

4.58/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Presentation: On tap @ Bukowski's in Boston.

Appearance: Pitch black with a milky coffee head -- thick, creamy and invincible!

Smell: Major chocolate aromas. Soft. Milky.

Taste: Creamy, smooth, full-bodied, but not overly rich. Burnt around the edges of the palate. Touch of bitterness that blends with some smoke characters. Loads of real chocolate flavour, which dominates the entire tasting. Dry. Very little sweetness, but what is there is date-like with hints of black-strap molasses. Surprisingly light going down, given its rich name and appearance.

Notes: Chocolate!! The only thing you can think of is ... chocolate. And, you should as unlike other "chocolate" labeled beers that use chocolate malts to achieve the flavour, this beer is brewed with natural chocolate flavour, and chocolate malts.

Truly an exceptional beer, and it makes for a perfect dessert on its own, or pair it with one.

Serving type: on-tap

05-26-2002 07:06:11 | More by Todd

beernut7

Massachusetts

4.83/5  rDev +15.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

When they say "chocolate", they don't lie. This dark brown, heavy bodied stout was like drinking cold, hopped chocolate syrup. It was awesome. Probably the best desert I have ever tasted.

Serving type: bottle

05-09-2002 06:10:22 | More by beernut7

Brent

Kentucky

4.3/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3

We're not talking chocolate malt here - we're talking real chocolate. I almost expected to see a half-dissolved Hershey bar clinking around in the bottle after I poured out the last of the beer. Pour was thick and black, like used motor oil (only a stout lover could find this description appetizing). Creamy and chock-full of mocha chocolate, like a chocolate creme soda. I'm a fan of Young's Luxury Double Chocolate Stout, but Young's is no match for this chocolate monster. My only ding against this Rogue is the drinkability factor. A little of this beer went a long way for me, and toward the end the chocolate became cloying and just too much. A great dessert beer.

Serving type: bottle

04-03-2002 10:11:17 | More by Brent

aracauna

Georgia

4/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5

Rogue can do stouts and that's all there is to it. Not as good as the Shakespeare stout, but good. Stouts have a little dark chocolate flavor to them to start with and this one just accents that flavor a bit more. Good stuff.

Serving type: bottle

03-28-2002 12:00:43 | More by aracauna

John

New York

5/5  rDev +19.3%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Wow, when Rogue says chocolate, they mean it. Spectacular brew.

Serving type: bottle

10-24-2001 17:09:44 | More by John