Chocolate Ale - Boulevard Brewing Co.

metter98

New York

3.8/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

A: The beer is very hazy amber orange in color. It poured with a quarter finger high off white head that died down a bit, leaving a thin layer of bubbles on the surface and a collar around the edge of the glass.
S: Light aromas of chunky yeast (the kind of yeast you taste at the bottom of a large bottle) are present in the nose.
T: Unlike the smell, the taste has flavors of cocoa nibs.
M: It feels medium-bodied but a little thin on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: Considering its strength, this beer isn't that difficult to drink because it hides its alcohol very well from the taste.

Note: February 2010 vintage

Serving type: bottle

05-18-2013 02:52:46 | More by metter98

UCLABrewN84

California

3.7/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Thanks to jmgrub for sharing this one at his birthday tasting.

Batch 2010-2. Best by 9/2011.

Pours a hazy orange with a foamy khaki head that settles to a film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, brown sugar, cocoa, and a nutty aroma. Taste is much the same with cocoa and spice flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of roasty bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer with some interesting aromas and flavors.

Serving type: bottle

02-26-2013 03:11:01 | More by UCLABrewN84

Wasatch

Utah

4.23/5  rDev +11.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thanks goes out to portia99 for this brew.

This is my 2600th review, thanks everyone I've traded with to reach this goal.

750ml
Caged/Corked
Batch Number: 2011-2
Best By Date: 08-2012

Nice HUGE pop when releasing the cork. Poured into a chalice a very nice hazy golden amber color, very nice carbonation, with a nice one-finger creamy/fizzy off-white head, which leaves some nice oil slicks and sticky lacing behind. The nose is malty, with some nice yeast notes, very nice touch of dark chocolate, some slight notes of bananas, nice little hop note to boost, lightly spiced. The taste is very nice, malty, with that nice touch of yeast, throw in some dark chocolate, and bananas/spice note. Medium body, slightly dry finish, very drinkable. ABV is hidden very well. Overall a very tasty brew. Do not expect a Stone Arrogant Bastard here folks, this is more like a Belgian Strong Dark Ale. Thanks Bill for sending this one my way.

Serving type: bottle

10-07-2012 20:16:11 | More by Wasatch

bens0n

Texas

4.8/5  rDev +26.6%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

This beer pours a clear brownish-amber color with a very minimal amount of head.

This is by far one of the best smelling beers I have ever had... It smells like extremely rich sweet milk chocolate. I spent a good 5-10 minutes just smelling this beer before I even felt like taking a sip it smelled so good. It has a sweet chocolatey smell I have never experienced before among countless chocolate stouts and imperial stouts.

Flavor wise that rich, sweet milk chocolate carries over into the rest of the beer. Its as close to a pure chocolate tasting beer as I think you can get. The flavor isn't as overpowering as the delightful aroma but its still a very flavor packed brew. It has a nice thickness and it goes down smooth, very little carbonation. Would love to try this again sometime.

Serving type: on-tap

10-06-2012 18:20:09 | More by bens0n

Pegasus

Texas

4.38/5  rDev +15.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: Depp golden amber, with an abundance of sediment, a large dense white head, and thick, creamy glass-coating lace.

Aroma: Aroma is of bittersweet chocolate, sweet coffee, and toasted bread.

Taste: Sweet cocoa at the open and a little caramel, as the taste progresses, some mild roasted espresso notes follow, enhancing the chocolate flavor, there is a little sweetened milk as well, Finishes with a ghostly hop presence, and a long, lingering note of semisweet chocolate.

Mouth feel: Smooth, soft, very pleasant and full, almost creamy.

Drinkability/notes: Simply exquisite, pairs very well with chocolate cake. A superb accomplishment of craft brewing.

Presentation: Packaged in a 750 ml bomber with a cork and cage, served in a Chimay chalice.

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2012 13:14:31 | More by Pegasus

Daktyls

Massachusetts

3.6/5  rDev -5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: Pours a hazy dark amber color with a one finger ivory head that quickly dissipates to very little lacing around the glass. Poured from a 750ml bottle into an SA Perfect Pint.

S: Smells lightly of cocoa up front with light notes of malt in the background, other than that, not a whole lot going on.

T: Ah, a little different from the aroma. Taste is of bitter cocoa up from (almost like a sour) with some earthy hops and light notes of malts. Dark fruits are present almost to the extent that I would classify this a Belgian over a Strong Ale.

M: A lot of flavor going on, certainly a big bodied beer with a medium amount of carbonation that goes well together.

O: This beer was surprising from the nose to the taste. I was expecting a little bit more chocolately sweetness but, what I did experience was interesting and enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

09-20-2012 23:26:55 | More by Daktyls

johnmichaelsen

Oregon

3.78/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

From notes...

The beer pours a reddish amber color with good head retention and lacing. The nose is fruity and malty, with a hint of chocolate in the background. The beer definitely smells as if it will be on the sweet side. The flavor profile replicates the nose, but on the palate the chocolate flavor is much more pronounced. That's fine, and I appreciate that the sweetness isn't over the top, but the beeris a bit more boozy and alcoholic than I like to see. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, with fairly long, fairly sweet finish.

Shrug. This is a nice enough beer, especially for those who like the flavor of chocolate in their beer (I'm fairly neutral on the concept myself).

Serving type: bottle

09-20-2012 15:04:32 | More by johnmichaelsen

Kegatron

Pennsylvania

3.98/5  rDev +5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750 ml corked & caged bottle into a couple of glasses.

Pours a clear rosy amber, topped with a ½ finger of smooth off-white head. This leaves back a foamy cascade of light spotty lacing that quickly slides down the sides of the glass. The aroma smells of earthy hops, cocoa, light toffee and a gentle toasted nuttiness. This has an interesting mix of flavors going on with it.

The taste is green earthy hops, more of a softer fruitiness that pairs up well with the cocoa accents here, some tangier feeling caramel flavor and then finally dry and bitter on the finish with a light lingering nuttiness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with a smooth and creamy feel up front that then lays a touch of sharpness on the tongue the rest of the way. Alcohol adds some spicy warmth to this, especially on the finish.

This wasn’t what I was initially thinking this was going to be (thought it was going to be darker) but that was OK! I liked how the chocolate here was more of a complimentary flavor to the others things that were going on with this, while the higher alcohol gives this a heft that made it more of a warming after dinner sipper. This was well crafted and interesting.

Serving type: bottle

09-20-2012 14:01:30 | More by Kegatron

MaximalC

Illinois

3.4/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

I will preface this review by saying the bottle says "best by 08-2012", and today is August 1st...

*It also turns out that I had one of the "infected" batches (2011-1).

Pours a dark honey color with sufficient khaki head that settles down momentarily. The appearance is vastly different than what I had envisioned for a "chocolate ale". The aroma smells vaguely of dark fruit and milk chocolate, with some alcohol. Pretty underwhelming for a beer with such a decadent description on the bottle, and certainly not as chocolately as I expected. The odd presentation, unfortunately, serves as a worthy harbinger of the flavors to come. This tastes like a generic Belgian-style ale with adjuncts of chocolate-covered cherries, perhaps with a creme filling. It tastes a little sour up front before the chocolate manifests itself, along with the aforementioned cherries. Neither the chocolate nor the cherries are prominent enough to serve as the backbone this brew desperately needs. This tastes more like a shadow of what was intended, and this could very well be due to the fact this bottle was approaching its best by date, but not necessarily so. The finish is characterized by a bitterness that was previously concealed by everything else.

On the whole, I must admit I was disappointed by this offering from Boulevard, and I say this as a huge fan of some of their other brews. This chocolate ale was short on chocolate and on definition--far too nuanced for me to ever get a grip on what quite it was supposed to be. Hopefully it can be forgiven on account of the proximity to its best by date.

Serving type: bottle

08-02-2012 02:25:26 | More by MaximalC

bluejacket74

Ohio

3.98/5  rDev +5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750 ml caged and corked bottle, Batch 2010-2 (I don't think this is one of the infected batches), best before 09-2011. I saw this on sale at Bridge Liquors recently, and I've never had this beer before so I figured why not buy it? Served in a tulip (as recommended on Boulevard's website), the brew pours a hazy dark amber with about an inch light tan head. Head retention is good, and there's a decent amount of lacing. Aroma is nice, it smells like chocolate, vanilla, and caramel. Taste is similar to the aroma, it tastes like bittersweet and milk chocolate, tootsie rolls, nuts, and some booze and bready malt. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's slick with moderate carbonation. I liked this brew, although I would like to try a fresher bottle sometime. Definitely worth a try.

Serving type: bottle

07-27-2012 22:07:28 | More by bluejacket74

drabmuh

Maryland

3.63/5  rDev -4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Gift from my sister, thanks! Served in a Boulevard Smokestack cerviose glass. This beer was a little odd, not bad just not my thing.

Beer is dark amber / slightly red and mostly clear with a big tan head of small bubbles, aggressive carbonation, nice retention.

Aroma is chocolate and alcohol.

Beer drinks a little like a chocolate flavored spirit. The body of the beer does very little to conceal the presence of alcohol and the whole thing comes off a little solventy. The chocolate is nice but a little one note. I won't have it again.

Serving type: bottle

07-24-2012 13:12:20 | More by drabmuh

dogfish7

Texas

4.73/5  rDev +24.8%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

If you like chocolate this is the beer for you.
Literally tasted like a liquid tootsie roll.

The pour was a medium-golden brown, semi-transparent. The head didn't stick around too long but get a quick wiff of what it had to offer and sip away.

The mouthfeel was light, easy to move around the pallet if served around the right temperature.

The finish was pretty silky, I got a lot of tootsie roll out of it, which it made it very much like a desert beer.

I probably couldn't drink more than 8-10 oz at a time so I would recommend a bottle share if you get the 750.

Serving type: on-tap

07-24-2012 03:15:02 | More by dogfish7

KDawg

Illinois

3.6/5  rDev -5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

poured from bottle into a pint glass. Pours a medium brown color that is slightly see through with a small head.

Very good and pungent aromas of chocolate, roasted malts, coffee and a touch of hops as well. Nice balance with good depth.

Medium/full bodied with a nice feel, but it's a bit clipped on both the mid and finish. It thins out a slight bit with notes of chocolate, roasted malts and some hops.

A very good brew. It just slightly misses for me on several levels, but was a good starter to the Euro final.

Serving type: bottle

07-03-2012 16:26:15 | More by KDawg

scruffwhor

Illinois

2.58/5  rDev -31.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Great foam, head and stickage. PLus some great lacing in this dar bronze colored beer. Looks like a sipper to me.

Tart cocoa nibs with medium toasted crackers. But the undeniable undertone of Virgin grean grapes and Granny Smith Apples is undeniable. This does not smell like a chocolate beer.

Tastes lie green apple, green apples, vinegar, toasted malts, and a little cocoa powder.

Not a good beer really. Interesting, but not much to recommend.

Serving type: bottle

06-14-2012 03:49:13 | More by scruffwhor

GarthDanielson

New Hampshire

4.03/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured on-tap and served in a vase, the beer is a cloudy, amber coloring with a thin, small bubbled, low profile off-white head. Aromas of semisweet chocolate, roasty notes, and an earthy undertone. Flavors are much more chocolatey. Seriosuly, this is a melted Hershey bar in your mouth. Creamy, smooth body, with a mild chocolate milk aftertaste. The finish is smooth and light. I really can't expound on the flavor any more, because it is truly all chocolate. Impressive flavor profiles given the style. Tasty.

Serving type: on-tap

05-16-2012 17:42:58 | More by GarthDanielson

Goblinmunkey7

Massachusetts

2.85/5  rDev -24.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Appearance: Deep amber with a touch of haze to it. Head appears after an aggressive pour but disappears completely in a matter of minutes. No lacing, no collar, nothing.

Smell: Milk chocolate, a touch of fatty white chocolate, and some deeper cocoa notes. It also has an odd vegetal quality. Some roasted malts and caramel sweetness as well. Sweet and roasty with a big chocolate presence. A touch of alcohol on the back as well. A touch fruity...apple.

Taste: Bitter cocoa. Milk chocolate and a smooth, pure sweet white chocolate. Roasted malts round out the back and help cut through some of the sweetness. Oddly sweet, like old chocolate. The same odd vegetable thing comes out as the beer warms. Fruity esters and undercooked grain. A solid amount of chocolate, but not necessarily good quality chocolate.

Mouthfeel: A little thinner than expected. Some nice carbonation and a smooth mouthfeel help make up for the missing body.

Overall: A unique take on chocolate beer, but it loses something in the long run. The chocolate flavors feel old and waxy and don't really help anything. It's all there, but it wasn't put together correctly.

Serving type: bottle

04-22-2012 03:31:18 | More by Goblinmunkey7

TheSevenDuffs

Ontario (Canada)

3.9/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured in to CBS Snifter.

A - Poured medium to dark amber; only very slightly translucent. One finger of cream coloured head that slowly receded to a few bubbles. Not what I expected at all.

S - Nutty malts and a slightly earthy hop aroma up front. A touch of chocolate in the background. Not nearly as much chocolate as I expected.

T - Sweet nutty malts up front that are complimented by a slightly earthy and herbal hop flavour. The chocolate shows up in the finish with some caramel sweetness. A very good balance of the slight hop presence and sweet malts and chocolate. The chocolate plays a secondary role here, which surprised me given the name of this beer. That said, it was a really well made beer.

M - Medium body, slightly creamy. Moderate carbonation.

O - Not what I expected but still a solid beer.

Serving type: bottle

04-22-2012 01:19:55 | More by TheSevenDuffs

Goliath

Illinois

3.45/5  rDev -9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

This beeer pours a light amber color with a large 2 inch light tan head. The head quickly receeds to a thin film.

The aroma is decent. There's a nice malt sweetness, a touch of raw grain, some fruity esters, and of course a bit of chocolate.

The taste is incredibly interesting. I'm not sure if this beer is supposed to be this way or not? It's lightly sweet as I taste, giving way to some lighter malts providing some raw grain and chocolate. The part I'm curious about is it finishes a little tart, almost vinegary. I can't tell if this is intentional or if this beer has been infected. I'm not sure how I feel about it either.

The mouthfeel is medium bodied and brightly carbonated with a fine bubbled efforvescence.

Overall it's an extremely interesting beer. However, I feel mine's gone bad and I'm not sure how to rate it. I'll put one in but I'm getting a new bottle.

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2012 00:51:31 | More by Goliath

iabeerbaron

Iowa

3.48/5  rDev -8.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

"Aroma was more subtle than I thought it would be, chocolate, vanilla, maybe a little coffee aroma in there. A nice thick tanish colored heat, huge amounts of lacing. Flavor is chocolate through and through with some vanilla in there as well. A fantastic beer for chocolate lovers! Well done Boulevard!"

Serving type: bottle

04-12-2012 17:39:00 | More by iabeerbaron

Rhettroactive

Virginia

1.83/5  rDev -51.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 1 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 1.5

From 750mL C&C bottle to Portsmouth glass on 3/29/12
*From notes

-- Thanks, Eric. Well...sort of. --

A: Huh. You'd think a beer called "Chocolate Ale" would look, you know, chocolatey. It doesn't. It's a clean amber color, not too dissimilar to Vienna Lager. Heck, maybe a bit lighter, even. A generous pour yields a .5 finger head that fades too quickly for my liking. No lacing or collar.

S: Terrible. Just God awful. The group thought it smelled like green beans. I thought it smelled like the rotting veggies you see crammed in the back of a refrigerator on A&E's "Hoarders". Letting it warm doesn't help a bit. It just becomes more pronounced. Even if I tried, I couldn't brew a beer that smelled this rank.

T: Meh. I get more white chocolate (which isn't even chocolate) then milk or dark, though it certainly doesn't scream "CHOCOLATE!" Lots of off-putting minerality and baby powder. Very geen, with more of that rotting vegetal quality.

M: Just ok. It's fairly thin. You'd think this would have a thick, liquid chocolate mouthfeel. But but like the rest of this mess called a beer, it dissapoints.

O: Not good or even close to it. Boulevard brews some solid beers. This, though, ain't one of them. Nothing here would ever get me to return to it. Easily one of the bottom five to ten worst beers I've had the displeasure of quaffing.

Fail.

*This is not from the infected batch.

Serving type: bottle

04-03-2012 19:27:06 | More by Rhettroactive

billab914

Virginia

2.45/5  rDev -35.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Thanks to IrishColonial for sharing this one the other night. Poured from a 750ml bottle into my CBS snifter. It poured reddish copper in color with a thin white lacing. Color was nice looking but not at all what I expected for a chocolate beer.

The aroma has a very strange green bean flavor to it. Some Belgian yeast spice is there and a hint of chocolate but the combination just comes off so vegetal like. I can't stop thinking of green beans every time I take a whiff.

The taste shows a little more chocolate to it with some cocoa lasting into the finish. The Belgian yeast gives it a bit of a earthy, spicy flavor. A little too much cocoa powder like though. It doesn't come together well at all for me.

The mouthfeel is thin with carbonation being high. Overall I didn't think this was a good beer at all and most of it got dumped in the sink. The green bean aroma was probably the strangest aroma I've ever encountered in a beer. It didn't taste as bad as it smelled, but it wasn't that great either.

* I didn't write down the batch number on the bottle but we looked it up before we opened it and it was not one of the reportedly infected batches they are offering refunds for.

Serving type: bottle

03-30-2012 16:07:12 | More by billab914

LiquidAmber

Washington

4.78/5  rDev +26.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Review from 3/2011 notes. Poured into a Black Raven pint glass. Pours a somewhat cloudy red-orange amber. Massive off white head that lasts a long time and leaves abundant lacing. Very attractive. Delicious chocolate and light malt aroma. Taste is very different, mild light and dark fruits, sweet malt, caramel, vanilla and chocolate. Mild hops in the finish. Very tasty and well integrated. I really enjoyed this ale. Will buy again.

Serving type: bottle

03-29-2012 03:26:02 | More by LiquidAmber

vkv822

Oregon

3.95/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

750ml bottle into tulip snifter.

Pours a clear orange with a fizzy, foamy light toffee colored head.

The aroma is of cocoa and a light spice character from the hops.

Smooth, earthy cocoa, that blends incredibly with the grassy, spicey hop notes.

A medium body with soft carbonation.

An interesting beer, the cocoa is unique and really blends well with the hop character.

Serving type: bottle

03-26-2012 07:20:02 | More by vkv822

trxxpaxxs

New York

3.9/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Thanks to JeepCop for this bottle...

A: Pours a nice redish-brown, a translucent light ruby color with one full finger of bone white head that settles nicely over time. There is a bit of lacing as it drinks.

S: The nose is sour cherry, raspberry, and lemon. There is a slight bit of earth, but it's very minor.

T: The taste is big sour. It's super tart. There are huge flavors of cherry and lemon mixed with a bit of vinegar. It's astringent, that is for sure.

M: Medium bodied beer. It's light on the palate, but very tart. It's stinging.

O: I understand that this is one of the infected bottles (2011-1), but I've had infected Boulevard beers before and they still deliver. This may not be what the Chocolate Ale is supposed to taste like, but it's still delicious. Labeled under any different name, and this is a delicious sour. It's super tart, super fruity, and surprisingly drinkable. In a month or so, this might change. I'm glad I opened it when I did. This beer could easily turn into an infection time-bomb in the near future. If you have a bottle... drink it now.

Serving type: bottle

03-16-2012 00:51:35 | More by trxxpaxxs

quirkzoo

Colorado

4.08/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On tap at Trinity while waiting for Younger.

Pours much lighter than I was expecting, looks more like a light tan soda than a beer, very clear with minimal head. Whoa, the smell is pure chocolate. Like taking a container of unsweetened cocoa powder and snorting a line. Very bitter and complex without the usual sweetness I associate with chocolate, even dark chocolate is sweeter smelling than this. Very unique aroma. The taste is good but not quite as good as the aroma. Definitely still get a heavy chocolate taste with just enough malt backbone to remind you this is a beer. Hard to discern any hop presence behind the the bitterness of the cocoa. The mouthfeel was good, very easy to drink especially for 9%. Overall this is a very unique beer. Most chocolate beers I have tried have been beers flavored with chocolate, this is more like chocolate in beer form.

Serving type: on-tap

03-13-2012 16:09:26 | More by quirkzoo