Brooklyn

Black Chocolate Stout

ABV 8.3% • Vol 355 ml • bottle • USA • Expensive • Flavour 8
Other beers from Brooklyn
Other beers from USA

A classic and very popular stout from the Brooklyn Brewery, this was a limited 1998-99 bottling bought in New York - thanks for the recommendation go to Father Mack. This is a jet-black beer with a deep brown, fine and tenacious head. The aroma is richly chocolatey and darkly malty, with a strong alcohol hint of grain spirit or liqueur. It has a very heavy roast, burnt malt flavour. However, the chocolate flavour is even more lavishly present, with a rich depth of flavour akin to a slab of dark Bournville®. Despite the alcohol content, it is remarkably smooth and creamy, if intensely bitter and cloying. There is an inevitable alcohol warmth on the back of the throat, though, and the aftertaste is of lingering, bitter malt and chocolate. To summarise, this is a heavy, rich, complex and very drinkable chocolate stout, but not one for the fainthearted. It is not dissimilar in style to an imperial stout (and this is implied on the label), but it is perhaps a little less bitter than typical examples. A sensuous experience.

OBBD reviewer: Sparks

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Review updated 11 June 1999

Comments

Bought a sixpack from my local supplier Marty's on the recommendation of "Father Mack". You may tell Father Mack that I second his praise of this brew. What I bought is in fact the 1999/2000 version, but I found it to live up to what he wrote about it.
Father Roger Geffen

An experience to be reckoned with indeed! A very tasty brew. I tasted more the licorice and alcohol than chocolate. And what a kick to it! Good, but I still like Young's Double Chocolate and Sierra Nevada Porter even better. Or, to me the BEST, the "Mile and a Quarter Porter" served at the Saratoga Springs (NY) Brew Pub. If only it were bottled!
Jeff Dexter

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout has one of the fullest palates it is possible to get, the intense dark, bitter, dry chocolate make it without equal... well maybe Rogue Chocolate Stout is its equal?
ian garrett

Where can you get this beer in the UK? It sounds great. Thanks. [I'm not sure you can, unfortunately. You could try searching through any of the online outlets based in the UK - Ed]
Guy crossland

Excellent!!! I tried the 2001-2002 version (it's brewed seasonally, in the Winter - naturally), and it lived up to the praise above. Strong chocolate and coffee notes, not as bitter as I expected from the review. All in all, one of the best (maybe the best?) stout I've had the pleasure of tasting. (Rating: 9)
Matt Azzara

GUY! James Clay & Son are importing it later this year (2003), though there may be a few cases in Feb along with their IPA. email me for availibility.
Jeff Pickthall - jeff@microbar.org.uk

A fine dark beer married to bittersweet dark chocolate. Yum! I only wish that it was available year round.
Mark Ellis

One of the worlds best stouts - And living in Brooklyn makes it even better.
JS

I would really like to try this beer but I can't find it where I live!! Does anyone know how I may go about buying some here in Oklahoma?
DeAnna

Just had a bottle of the 2003-2004 Winter limited edition of this - got it From Safeways (UK) 8.7% this year :)
Cheers
KC - Newcastle, England

Safeways ---is the world going mad!!Which safeways???
Guy Crossland

It's available from Fabeers (York & Wetherby, Yorkshire) as I've just bought a bottle there (2003-2004 Winter bottling) and I'm thoroughly enjoying it :)
Martin Rowe

It's that time of year again (Dec'04) - the 2004/5 bottling is just as enjoyable :) It still has that strong kick, though oddly enough there is no ABV% listed on the label.
Martin Rowe

My roommate and I are lightweights and couldn't handle the stronger yeasty quality of this stout (we couldn't even taste the chocolate). But, when given beer we don't like, make beer-battered fries, and the chocolaty quality was present in a complex way in those.
Lindsay

I'm looking for a vendor in the south Louisiana area.
Mary Heleniak

Enjoying a bottle of the Winter '04-05 brew now... Everything Sparks says is on the money. Though, I have to say this is the first bottle I've been able to enjoy for quite some time... Back around 1999, I went to a beer-tasting dinner at a local pub. The chef paired Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout with a cranberry-pear pie, topped with fresh Frangelico whipped cream. It was by far the best beer pairing I've ever experienced and left me wanting more for years to come! If you bake (or your mother loves beer as much as you do =) then you should seriously try it on your own.
dj.darkFIN

A friend brought me a bottle of this and I have since found some on my own. Only once in my life had I known a stout to be as rich and exceptionally flavorful as this. Deep dark and slightly malty sweet this beer is not something you drink, it is an experience. Any stout lover must try this uniquely rich brew.
David Wilson, in NJ

Finally got hold of some and believe it or not I am saving it for a truly special occasion.I hope it lives up to its rep. I have a bottle of Rochefort 10 as a stand by!!
Guy

They sell this at the North Bar in Leeds, or they did for a while. Serious, but not as good as Dragon.
NYB

One of the best stouts I have tasted. Skaal.
LW Gavle Sweden

Mmmmm. Not the best chocolate stout I've had but absolutely on the list. Much more in control than Young's Double or Rogue's (although both are good), it makes a wonderful cold-weather treat. I was sure to buy a six-pack in NYC to bring home to Chicago.
Kyle Barhamand

12 fl. oz. (355 ml) bottle, at The Jolly Butcher, Frederikshavn, Denmark. "Limited bottling - Winter ’05 - ’06." ABV is 8.25%. Nearly black colour, very low tan head. Vinous aroma with strong notes of dark chocolate, plums, prunes and oak. Powerful flavour of strong coffee and dark bitter chocolate. Relatively sweet. Alcohol is evident, but not dominant. A great sipping beer! Rating: 8.
Sigmund

The 05-06 batch is 10.6%.
Apprehensive

This seems interesting, I should check out the Dutch stores for this, then. It's exported to the Netherlands, right?
Olle

I got a Winter 06/07 bottle of this at the CAMRA national winter ales festival in manchester. Like the 05/06 batch it is 10.6%
JohnC

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