Chocolate Love Stout - Yards Brewing Co.

metter98

New York

4.04/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

A: The beer is nearly jet black in color - dark red is visible near the edges of the glass when the beer is held up to a bright light. It poured with a quarter finger high tan head that gradually died down, leaving only a thin ring of bubbles around the edge of the glass.
S: Moderate aromas of milk chocolate are present in the nose.
T: Like the taste, the taste has lots of flavors of dark milk chocolate with bits of sweetness and cocoa.
M: It feels medium-bodied and quite smooth on the palate
O: I really enjoyed this stout because it had tons of chocolate flavors but was easy to drink because it wasn't that heavily-bodied.

Serving type: bottle

05-05-2013 02:04:07 | More by metter98

Gavage

New Jersey

3.85/5  rDev -1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: pours a dark brown almost black color with a 1/4" head that lasts a while. Some nice lace develops during the session.

Smell: chocolate, roasted malt, and a bit of earthiness is detectable by the nose.

Taste: roasted malt, dark chocolate, some soft prunes flavors, and a hint of vanilla. Bitterness in mild.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied beer. Light crispness to start smoother and a bit velvety at the finish.

Overall: an enjoyable chocolate stout. Slow sipping and satisfying.

Serving type: bottle

03-31-2013 17:56:10 | More by Gavage

Rifugium

Pennsylvania

4.08/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

First had: on nitro at Yards, Philly, PA

Basically this is Yards' Love Stout aged on cocoa nibs. So all the goodness, plus a little extra chocolate. Poured opaque black with a thick creamy light tan head exhibiting excellent lacing and retention. Aroma was roasty with dark malts and coffee, with notes of cocoa. More of those characteristics in the taste; the regular version of this beer already has a nice chocolate profile, and the added aging augmented that a bit, but it wasn't overdone. The base is an oyster stout, so some hints of brine can be picked up, but the other flavors at work kind of push that into the background. Smooth and creamy, medium bodied, and quite a nice drink overall.

Serving type: nitro-tap

02-15-2012 07:15:12 | More by Rifugium

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

3.88/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I had this on tap at O'reilly's served chilled in a shaker pint.

The color is deep brown with tan cap with good retention and lace sticks well. The smell is malty with a light chocolate malt presence with roasted grain esters and mild yeast fruitiness. The feel is deep and roasted with layers of malt and creamy body with a semi bitter and dry finish.

The taste is great, lots of roasted stout flavor with yeast taste that has a light mineral and dried fruit element with a cocoa taste that is slightly bittersweet with some toasted malt flavor balancing with light spice and astringency of dark grain. The overall flavor is excellent and this is a nice take on the style. I would probably drink this anytime it is avaiable as it is pretty darn drinkable.

Serving type: on-tap

04-22-2013 16:28:04 | More by Slatetank

Suds

Pennsylvania

3.74/5  rDev -3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Utterly black stout...light tan head. The smell is of roasted coffee and ain't licorice. Rotated grains. The taste is moderately sweet...dark fruit, almost wine like at times. Medium-light in body. Dark and rich in flavor. Some spicy hop flavor in the hind-taste. Lightly warming. This is a welcomed, straightforward beer.

Serving type: bottle

04-07-2013 02:09:29 | More by Suds

rfgetz

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a deep, dark brown, moderate cap of tannish tinted froth. Scent brings notes of dark roasted grain and ash, light notes of cocoa and brine. Taste follow suit, dry and ashy on the palate, heavy roast and powdery, dark dry cocoa. Medium to full bodied, dry. Overall, decent flavor profile, but not to heavily chocolate flavored enough to overcome the roast.

Serving type: cask

03-29-2012 15:44:25 | More by rfgetz

ColForbinBC

New Jersey

3.98/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

750mL bomber poured into a tulip

The body sits a deep, dark brown with just shy of two fingers of khaki colored head. Good retention, as this fell to a thin layer with some dots and lines of lace inside the glass.

Milk chocolate, mild roast, slight coffee, and a bit of an earthy hoppy bitterness.

The flavor profile follows the nose. Heavy dose of milk chocolate with some roast. A touch of earthy bitterness. The roast is a bit on the char side of things. The vanilla advertised on the bottle lends a mild sweetness in the finish, but is otherwise really light.

Medium body with a smooth feel. Not quite rich and luxurious, but on the approach.

This is a simple chocolate stout. A nice integration of flavors. Well made all around.

Serving type: bottle

03-11-2013 21:45:38 | More by ColForbinBC

justintcoons

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750ml bottle poured into a tulip.

Appearance
Black with 3 fingers of fluffy, tan head. There's a tiny bit of light penetration. Excellent head retention leaves behind some nice lacing.

Nose
Roasted barley, caramel, milk chocolate, brine and vanilla.

Taste
Caramel and roasted barley. A good amount of smooth vanilla with a touch of brine and black licorice. Milk chocolate and powdered cocoa come in towards the back with a dash of light roast coffee.

Mouthfeel
Light-medium bodied, silky, smooth and, yes, irresistible.

Overall
Very refined and delicate. Insanely drinkable. I like this a lot!

Serving type: bottle

02-10-2013 02:49:12 | More by justintcoons

larryi86

Delaware

4.24/5  rDev +9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

750 mL bottle poured into a tulip

A- Black with a big four finger beige head.

S- Roasted (almost burnt) malts, some chocolate, some coffee.

T- Creamy chocolate, just enough vanilla, some caramel malts, touch of roasted malts and coffee, great balance of flavors.

M- Silky smooth, creamy, light to medium body.

O- Another solid beer from Yards and I can't wait to pick up more. Great balance and mouthfeel. Very easy to drink.

Serving type: bottle

02-23-2013 22:10:25 | More by larryi86

ThisWangsChung

Maryland

4.04/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

750ml bottle into a tulip. From notes.

A: Pours a dark ruby color. The head is a three finger khaki shade with layered foam thickness. Layered foam thickness, folks! That's worth bonus points by itself.

S: The aroma is straightforward; dry, powdery chocolate is backed by a touch of vanilla. Maybe hints of cream pop up here and there.

T: Chocolate makes itself known immediately, before transitioning to caramel and vanilla in the middle. Some chocolate flavors return in the finish, backed by a subtle mineral note. This one does a great job of striking a balance between being easy drinking and being dessert-like.

M: I think the body could be a little thicker, and a little creamier as well. The finish is mostly dry, however a touch of chocolate sweetness continues to linger. Despite my complaints about the lack of decadence, this is unbelievably quaffable.

O: It's not the most complex stout by any stretch. However, the way it delicately balances drinkability with a rich chocolate flavor just impresses the hell out of me. I could easily crush a 750 of this and not grow tired of it.

Serving type: bottle

05-05-2013 17:52:34 | More by ThisWangsChung

IronLover

Pennsylvania

4.15/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Opaque brow-black in color. Poured with a thick, dense, beige foam with
good staying power that left sticky lacings on the glass. Powdery dark chocolate aroma is dominant with sweet roasted malt and vanilla notes in the background. Medium bodied with a thin start that quickly comes alive with dense, rich carbonation. Similar to the aroma, dry dark cocolate flavor up front with roasted malt beneath. Light hop bitterness through the middle that rides a smooth vanilla wave. Finishes semi-dry with a semi-sweet chocolately finish.

Serving type: bottle

02-17-2013 00:55:36 | More by IronLover

garuda

Pennsylvania

3.91/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

A - Black, tan head has good retention and lace.

S/T - Very similar to the standard Love Stout with a wee bit more powdered/dark chocolate in the finish.

M - Medium body, high carbonation, but stays mostly smooth. Would like a bit more of a full body.

O - Chocolate flavors nicely integrated into the standard Love Stout without being dominant.

Serving type: bottle

03-15-2013 12:13:48 | More by garuda

wac9

Pennsylvania

2.83/5  rDev -27.2%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.5

wow big dissappiont here hardley can taste the vanilla yes the beer goes down smooth but i cant even taste chocolate in it maybe its a bad bottle but this is a waste of time , yes a very dark in the glass but thats it nothing more more on and keep looking because this one is just flat

Serving type: bottle

03-09-2013 02:03:34 | More by wac9

GuinnessAtRogerWilco

New Jersey

3.76/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.75

750ml bottle poured into a standard pint glass.

AP: Deep dark brown, almost black colour with a fluffy 1" tan head that dissipates down to 1/4" made up of tiny bubbles visible along the side of the glass.
AR: Cocoa powder and chocolate cake batter are the initial and strong aromas with black bread, a bit of roast and vanilla.
T: Mirrors the nose with the cocoa powder being the dominant flavour. Black bread and roasted grains are more prevalent in the taste, especially in the finish and aftertaste. A bit of bitterness in the finish like baker's cocoa. Taste is decent and enough to keep me drinking and enjoying, but I can't help think that a bit of coffee or espresso would make this even better. It's the one taste that seems to be missing from this brew.
M: Seemed thin for a Stout. Pretty well carbonated for a Stout as well with an oily kind of finish.
OV: A decent Stout, but not as good as I was expecting. It needs a fuller richer body and a note of coffee/espresso in the flavour to add some complexity and depth and round it out more. I know it's a chocolate Stout and there's loads of chocolate flavour in this, but for me it just needed another dimension to earn a high rating.

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2013 04:17:21 | More by GuinnessAtRogerWilco

SeanGC

New York

3.8/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

poured from a 750 into a tulip glass.

a - pours black and opaque. 2 finger tan head that quickly diminishes. some lacing.

s - vanilla is very present. dark chocolate notes, roasty character. adjuncts really come out, with some toffee malty sweetness complimenting the end.

t - dark chocolate and malt sweetness. vanilla takes a back seat. Enjoyable roasty notes that accent bitterness. However, not acrid bitterness.

m - the body is surprisingly lighter than I had anticipated. Medium body with medium carbonation. slightly astringent.

o - delicious, easy drinking stout with some complexity and depth. I expected more body from this beer, however. Additionally, the flavors weren't very rounded. Sweet on the front, roastiness in the back. Nonetheless, a very enjoyable beer.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2013 03:13:02 | More by SeanGC