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Sweet Jeebus. (Beer Review: Southern Tier Imperial Choklat Stout)

January 16th, 2008

I was going to do a writeup of Fuller’s 1845, but then I cracked open this bottle that I picked up on a whim at my local Whole Foods. I pour the beer, it is really black, but the lighting isn’t super-bright in the room, so I figure it’s maybe dark, but probably not as dark as say a Goose Island Bourbon County Stout. Now, with better lighting, I see that it is also a beer from which light cannot escape.

But I digress.

So I pour the beer, trying to collect my thoughts on the Fuller’s. The smell of chocolate syrup hits my nose. From at least one foot away. So I was inspired to whip up a review for this instead. The smell has forced me to ruin my palate and just dive in. This one is in realtime.

Appearance: Inky black, short-lived head with some moderate lacing on the glass and some patchy tan remnants on the surface of the beer. A more vigorous pour of the last bit in the bottle yields a half-inch tan head that is slowly fizzing off.
Smell: Well, it’s chocolate syrup. Closer sniffing reveals a smell like making a hot chocolate with high-end, expensive (Vosges Chocolate or better) mix and steamed milk.

Taste: A strong chocolate lead-in. I cannot begin to express just how chocolatey this beer is. In the middle are strong notes of caramel malt, with a hint of chocolate malt. Although you barely taste the hops (Chinook and Wilamette), this could be simply a blend of the bittersweet Belgian chocolate and the bittering effect of the hops themselves.

Mouthfeel: Thick and chewy with a creamy smoothness, this one finishes up with considerable sweetness and some dryness largely due to the bittering effect of the chocolate and hops.

Pairings: I’d pair this with dessert, but not a chocolate-based item. Fresh strawberries dusted with sugar would likely be the most sweetness you’d want to add. Heck, this is really dessert in a bottle.

According to my distributor, this one may be a limited run, so grab it while you can.

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Entry Filed under: Beer