Brooklyn Brewery in Brooklyn, NY

So I’d dabbled around with some thick stouts, some worldly stouts, and some odd stouts in Michigan. But occasionally, I’m in the mood for a more dessert-based stout, and when I saw the Double Chocolate Stout from Brooklyn Brewery on the menu, I couldn’t pass it up. But, as with any beer (I feel like I’m saying this a lot these days), a fine chocolate stout is hard to make correctly. I’ve had some absolute clunkers throughout the years, as has been the case with blueberry stouts and cherry stouts and vanilla stouts. No one can seem to really hammer down the flavor balance between stout and bowl of ice cream. The first chocolate stout I tried was the Young’s Double Chocolate Stout. At the time, I thought it was delicious and creamy and had a great sweet balance to it. But it wasn’t really a stout; it was a melted and then chilled candy bar. These days, I want a beer with strong booze, thick malt, and heavier emphasis on chocolate if I’m going for a double chocolate stout. Given Brooklyn Brewery’s hype and track record, it was worth a go, and I hoped they’d make a skeptic a believer.

For a double chocolate stout, the Brooklyn version didn’t smell overly sweet or commanding, which was a good sign. In fact, it was rather difficult to find a discernible nose on the beer at all. Pouring on draught into a gorgeous snifter, the stout’s color looked spot-on, with a dark and dominant black oil spill filling the glass with just a slight espresso-colored head. The taste was the real surprise, though, with a strong and fervent roasted malt flavor crashing onto the tongue first, followed by a slight bitterness and muted chocolate notes. The alcohol was rather apparent, and having not even noticed that I was drinking a 10% ABV oil slick, this was a more than welcome surprise. Best of all, Brooklyn bonded the chocolate flavors with the malt and high alcohol perfectly. I noticed later that this is actually categorized as an imperial stout, which certainly holds true. The name on this one is awfully deceiving considering how hard it is to actually pick out the sanded-down chocolate rushes that come and go so quickly with sips. Take long and intense sips and you’ll find more chocolate, or just drink this one normally and you’ll find yourself with a grand imperial stout.

For a beer that’s this high in alcohol, supposedly super chocolatey, and looks like a bottle of ink, I could easily have a few glasses of this. I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered a more drinkable stout than the Brooklyn Double Chocolate Stout. It wasn’t the intense dessert-style beer I was looking for, but I was fine with that. Maybe I’m just not a fan of the overly sweet and robust stouts that scream CANDY! as opposed to DARK BEER! And after having the Brooklyn version, I may never go back to another chocolate stout again. Nothing will top this.