Rogue Chocolate Stout Review

Brewery: Rogue Ales Brewery | Beer: Chocolate Stout
Style: American Stout | ABV: 6.0% | IBUs: 69
Serving Method: 22 oz. bottle poured into pint glass

According to their Web site, Rogue originally created Chocolate Stout for export to Japan. Apparently a success there, the brewery released the beer in the American market back in 2001. Since then, the beer has built up a loyal following and rather deep trophy case. In fact, Rogue notes that it's the only American beer to win an award at the prestigious Mondial de la bière festival in Strasbourg, France.

As you'd hope from a cholatey beer, actual chocolate is added to the beer, in this case imported Dutch bittersweet chocolate.Its backbone is built from Northwest Harrington and Klages, Crystal 135-165, Beeston Chocolate, rolled oats and roasted barley. Cascade is the only hop variety employed and it uses the house Pacman yeast.

Here's how Rogue describe the finished product:

Ebony in color with a rich creamy head. The mellow flavor of oats, chocolate malts and real chocolate are balanced perfectly with the right amount of hops for a bitter-sweet finish.

I love a well-made chocolaty beer, so hopes are pretty high here. Let's see if it can live up.

Appearance: An intensely dark brown body with only the barest hints of brown highlights around the edges. Up top, two fingers of creamy tan head that sticks around a long time and leaves good sheets of lacing.

Aroma: Wow, this is certainly a chocolate themed beer! The aroma profile is absolutely dominated by creamy milk chocolate that reminds me of premium chocolate powder. There's also some dark roasted malt, coffee, and faint alcohol notes to be found, but it's mostly about the chocolate in the nose.

Taste: A big dark-roasted malt profile with plenty of the chocolate powder flavors going on throughout. Certainly one of the most chocolaty beers I've ever tried. As for the Cascade hops, they certainly let their presence be known. It's sweet, and yet nicely bitter at the same time, making it a very balanced beer. The aftertaste is roasty and chocolaty with good bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied and wonderfully creamy with smooth carbonation. The finish is sweet at first with the hops drying it a little as it goes on.

Drinkability: About average; you won't be pounding it like a light lager, but it's hardly a sipper either.

Verdict: Here's a chocolate beer that really delivers in the chocolate department. But, it's not just a one-dimensional beer though, there's enough complexity here to make this a real winner.

Grade: A

Sierra Nevada Stout Review

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. | Beer: Stout
Style: American Stout | ABV: 5.8% | IBUs: 60
Serving Method: 12 oz. bottle poured into pint glass

Thanks to great beers like Celebration, Pale Ale, the Harvest series, and now Torpedo, the name Sierra Nevada is deeply associated with hops in my mind. But, Sierra Nevada also brews up a couple of beers from the maltier side of the style spectrum, both a Porter and a Stout. With as much as I have enjoyed the hoppy beers I've tried from Chico so far, I decided it was time to check out some of the darker Sierras.

Like the other four original Sierra Nevada's year-round beers, their Stout has the simplest, least pretentious name possible: Stout. But don't be fooled by the name, this is a complex and well constructed beer. The backbone is built with Two-row Pale, Munich, Caramel, and Black malt varieties. As for hops, the beer is bittered with Magnum hops and finished with both Cascade and Willamette varieties. Here's how Sierra Nevada themselves describe their Stout:

"Creamy, malty, and full-bodied, the Sierra Nevada Stout is satisfyingly rich. Caramel and Black malts give the Stout its deep, dark color and pronounced roasted flavor."

It certainly sounds like a solid Stout, but let's crack the bottle to be sure.

Appearance: A dark, imposing body that only allows a handful of dull ruby light to pass through. A big, sticky, toffee-colored head endures until the bottom of the glass, leaving terrific lacing on the way.

Aroma: As you'd expect, lots of roasted malt with the usual chocolate and freshly ground coffee notes associated with a good stout. Hops make an appearance, unlike most Stouts.

Taste: As you'd expect in a Stout, the backbone is of sweet, roasty malt. Despite being a plain old American Stout, this puts many Chocolate Stouts to shame in the chocolate department. It's almost like a frothy chocolate malt at times. Somewhat bitter hops are more present than your average Stout, but never really raise their voices all that much. As I've come to expect from Sierra Nevada, this is a well balanced beer.

Mouthfeel: Beautifully creamy medium-full body with moderately-high carbonation.

Drinkability: Average for the Stout style. You're probably not going to be chugging these after you mow the lawn, but you won't have to nurse it for hours on end.

Verdict: Maybe it's because I associate Sierra Nevada mainly with the hoppier styles of beer rather than the malty ones, but I was expecting this to be a solid, but generally unexciting Stout. Boy, was I wrong. This is a chocolaty, complex beer very much worth a look.

Grade: A-

Homebrewed Young At Heart Stout Review

Brewery: My Kitchen | Beer: Young At Heart Stout
Style: American Stout | ABV: ~3% | IBUs: ~15
Serving Method: 12 oz. bottle poured into pint glass

You can read Young At Heart's Phase One (Brewing) here and Phase Two (Bottling) here

It's been about five months since my wife and I bottled our first batch of homebrewed beer, a Stout named Young At Heart. We chose that name in honor of my father-in-law's heart transplant a few days before we brewed. I'm happy to report that he's out of the hospital, back to work, playing golf once a week, and doing great overall. Hopefully the beer has followed his lead.

While homebrewed beer is generally drinkable after a week or so, the longer you wait, the better it gets (within reason). With all of the concerns I had at bottling time, I decided to give the yeasties plenty of time to do their thing. I've opened a couple bottles along the way just to make sure everything was coming along, but this review is based solely on the beer at five months after bottling.

I'm listing it as an American Stout, just for simplicity's sake. By my calculations, the ABV ended up at just about 3%, obviously not what I was shooting for (you can read more about this issue in Phase Two). Really, as long as it doesn't make me wretch, I'm calling this one a success.

Appearance: Deep black body with no light able to penetrate. There's lots of hiss from the bottlecap upon opening and the massive tan-colored head grows rapidly. It looks like this was just shy of becoming a gusher. Whew.

Aroma: Bitter roasted malt with notes of chocolate and a weird yeasty/fruity smell. Generally thin.

Taste: Pretty thin and bizarre. Malty, with dark fruit and burnt sugar notes and the same yeasty/fruity flavor lurking around the edges. Not a very Stout-like flavor profile. In fact, if given this in a blind taste test, I'd probably end up marking this as a Belgian-style Dubbel (though I'd be far from confident in that guess). No hops or alcohol to speak of.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light body with tons of soda-like fizz. Again, very much wrong for the style.

Drinkability: With a sub-Bud Light ABV and a pretty watery body, this is one of the most drinkable "Stouts" I've tried yet. Of course, there's probably no one that's going to want to keep going after the first one...

Verdict: Well, my real goal for my first batch of beer was to end up with something that resembled beer and didn't make me throw up or turn blind. I've met all three of those strict requirements, so I'm a happy camper. I don't see this recipe ending up in a bidding war from the nation's top brewers, but I think it's a solid enough start for my homebrew career. Next up, an IPA!

Grade: F (But still a success in my eyes!)

Saint Arnold Winter Stout Review

Brewery: Saint Arnold Brewing Co. | Beer: Winter Stout
Style: American Stout | ABV: 5.6%
Serving Method: 12 oz. bottle poured into pint glass

Reading Fermenting Revolution by Christopher O'Brien (book review to follow) really drove home how beneficial to the environment drinking local beer can be. With this in mind I decided to review some beers from my local Houston area.

Unfortunately, there aren't the number of craft-brewed offerings flowing from the Bayou City one would hope for. But fear not fellow Houstonians, I've sourced some great beers from a magnificent craft-brewer located right here in Houston, Saint Arnold Brewing Company.

Founded in 1994, Saint Arnold is the oldest microbrewery in the city. In neat a coincidence with my decision to pick this brewer, the company is run with sustainability in mind and even has a six-pack holder recycling program. Their lineup is made up of five regulars and five seasonal brews. The beer I've chosen to showcase here is one of those seasonal specials, their Winter Stout.

Launched in 1997, Winter Stout is the second winter seasonal from Saint Arnold, accompanying their Christmas Ale. The beer has been quite popular amongst SA customers and has even won a silver medal for sweet stout in the 2000 Great American Beer Festival. Using a blend of four kinds of malted barley and two varieties of hop, this beer should have some serious complexity and body.

Appearance: Pours a very dark red-brown (almost black) body with a healthy butterscotch head that settles into a small and almost Guinness-like cream

Aroma: Sweet and malty, almost reminds me of soured Guinness (and not in a bad way)

Taste: Absolutely bursting with flavor! Rich roasted malt body with definite dark chocolate, coffee and caramel notes

Mouthfeel: Feels cold, coats well and is not too fizzy

Drinkability: Initially it seems quite rich, but after a few sips it's a very sessionable beer (providing you like stouts)

Verdict: This a truly a brilliant example of an American Stout with the added bonus of being local. I really wish Saint Arnold would brew this year-round, but they say the demand is not there. What a shame. Looks like I'm going to have to find a case to stash for the summer.

Grade: A

Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout Review

Brewery: Lagunitas Brewing Co. | Beer: Cappuccino Stout
Style: American Stout | ABV: 8.0%
Serving Method: 1 Pint, 6 oz. bottle poured into pint glass

I picked this bottle up a while ago and it has been languishing in my beer fridge ever since (as you can tell by the discoloration on the label). Coffee, stouts and dogs all rate quite high on my "favorite things" list, so I'm hoping this beer lives up to my expectations.

Appearance: Dark almost impenetrable red-black body with a tall, brown and fizzy head that settles quickly

Aroma: Nutty, hoppy, sweet, tones of roasted malt and a slight hint of coffee at the end

Taste: Surprisingly bitter with roasted malt and hints of coffee, you can certainly detect that 7.99% ABV lurking beneath

Mouthfeel: Velvety and smooth with mild carbonation

Drinkability: The pint goes down slowly and smoothly, but I might just leave it at one (especially with the alcohol content)

Verdict: I didn't pick up the coffee I was hoping to, but this is a fine bitter stout. A good beer to throw into the rotation every now and then, but not something I'd buy regularly.

Grade: C+