Chocolate Stout - Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant

Kegatron

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On nitro-tap @ Iron Hill Phoenixville on 7/9/11. 12 oz pour served in a footed Pils glass.

Pours a pitch black in the glass, with just a touch of ruby coming out along the bottom, and is topped with a near finger of light mocha colored head (that gets a bit more burnt and angry looking the more you swirl it). This retains with a rich ½ finger, which just drenches the sides with thick and creamy lacing from that nitro pour. The aroma is rich and with chocolate flavor and a touch of sweet caramel. This is backed in the nose by a LOT of roasted coffee character, which brings a good bit of acrid smokiness to the table and combines with earthy citrus notes to emit a green tanginess in the nostrils.

The taste has a good bit of bittersweet chocolate flavor to it but also has no shortage of assertive roasted malt either, which gives this a layer of burnt bitterness across the tongue. Green hops come out across the back of the palate, finishing this with a raw earthiness that lingers a bit. The mouthfeel is full bodied and initially fairly prickly on the tongue, while a smooth creaminess on the edges and along the back from the nitro really helps keep this feeling easy for the size. Speaking of which, that 9.1% is mostly kept in check here, with only some light warmth that hangs on the breath a bit.

This was a pretty darn solid take on a Chocolate Stout, with the sweetness of the chocolate, those roasted malts and then green citric hops all playing nicely together and giving this enough complexity to help that hefty body go down smoothly. This was good on nitro but wouldn’t mind trying it on draft as well, as this had a rough & tumble nature to it that I would have liked to have experienced a bit more of.

Serving type: nitro-tap

07-11-2011 19:26:47 | More by Kegatron

weeare138

Pennsylvania

4.1/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Appears a black with a creamy white head that sticks around forever due to the nitrogen mix. Scattered streaks of lacing are left around the glass.
Smell is of obvious chocolate, toasted nuts, vanilla, and a touch of caramel.
Taste echoes the aromas with a nice blend of chocolate and malt coming together in a beautifully blended marriage. One doesn't outweight the other.
Mouthfeel is chewy, mildly toasty, smooth, and a tad sweet. Good stuff and nice experimentation with this latest batch.

Serving type: nitro-tap
@ Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, 130-138 Bridge St., Phoenixville

12-15-2009 20:21:08 | More by weeare138

Biscuit033

Pennsylvania

3.68/5  rDev -10%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A: Dark Brown almost black with two finger caramel head and good lacing.

S: Chocolate is evident along with smoke.

T: Smoke, bitter chocolate but sweet as well. Sweetness is just a bit too high to be good.

M: Good carbination and smooth creamy mouthfeel.

D: Good beer just a touch too sweet to drink all night or day.

I would love to taste this on cask.

Serving type: growler
@ Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, 130-138 Bridge St., Phoenixville

11-22-2007 07:03:01 | More by Biscuit033

splat215

Pennsylvania

4.43/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Nitro on tap at Phoenixville. I think this is a limited release, I can only hope it returns!

A - Dark brown, full of chocolatey mysterious depths yet to be discovered ..

S - The one downside of this beer, faint whiffs of Cocoa but not much else going on here. I was expecting to be bowled over with a chocolate wall but it didn't happen. But ...

T - Seriously, are you kidding me here? This is amazing. Chocolate, mocha, like a beer chocolate milkshake. Unbelievable. I would have liked to see a twinge of sweetness somewhere, but this is a stout so I guess that wouldn't be to style.

M - Yes, it's a 5. Yes trust me - it's really a five. Thick, smooth, creamy, luscious. I am drooling just thinking about this one again.

D - Drinkability is super high here. I had to pry myself away from the bar after one of these because I'm afraid I would have been at the bar all evening. Going back to the taste, again I would have liked to seen some sweetness as it would have taken me to a 5 here.

Amazing, amazing, amazing.

Serving type: nitro-tap
@ Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, 130-138 Bridge St., Phoenixville

10-28-2007 21:07:55 | More by splat215