Kuhnhenn Cocoa Puff Stout - Kuhnhenn Brewing Company

tectactoe

Michigan

4.1/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Special release from the Kuhnhenn brewery as a part of their "Breakfast of Champions" St. Patrick's Day party. Cocoa Puff Stout pours a dark-ass brown color, very nearly black, with a foamy, tan head that recedes quickly to a skin atop the dark brew.

As anyone would expect, the aroma is packed with chocolate; milky, creamy, and sweet chocolates, very low roast on the nose. Lots of cocoa powder, too. The sweet, malty background plays an elegant role and adds a bit more sweetness. Eventually, I start picking up a VERY light roasty aroma, though sweetness still reigns supreme. I think I might be picking up a very mellow hop character in this one, too, though it's hard to be 100% sure. Mild leafiness, but I don't feel too strongly about that. There's also a very faint astringency on the tail end that kind of tingles the nostrils if you dig 'em in the beer and take a big enough whiff.

Go pour some 1% lowfat milk over a bowl full of Cocoa Puffs, and let it sit on your table for about an hour. Then go in and run the contents through a sieve, catching everything that drains out of the bottom. That's pretty much what Kuhnhenn did here... I kid, I kid. But really, the flavor is packed with sweet chocolates; big-time milky cocoa with a very light roast. Cocoa powder everywhere, all over everything - reminds me of crushed up Cocoa Puffs. This beer is sweet, up and down, and I'm not getting any hops in the flavor like I was a little bit in the aroma, but that mild astringency shows up for a split second before being buried forever. Very light nuttiness in the aftertaste, right alongside a milky, sweet, sugary, chocolatey concoction - again, much like the used milk from a bowl of Cocoa Puffs. The body was also a bit thicker and more robust than I'm making it sound. Medium carbonation.

Out of the four breakfast specialty beers I enjoyed at Kuhnhenn on St. Patrick's Day, this was probably my second favorite (nothing could top the Lucky Charms Lager). Nice chocolate forward stout with a nice balance of sweetness and milkiness.

Serving type: on-tap

03-18-2013 01:46:25 | More by tectactoe