Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

Brewed By: Brooklyn Brewery in Brooklyn, New York  

Purchased: 12 oz bottle from a 4-pack bought at Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2012 

Style/ABV: Imperial Stout, 10.0%

Reported IBUs: 51

Ahhh...Brooklyn Brewery. Probably most famously known for their brewmaster, Garrett Oliver. The dude is a beer god, and you should check out his books. Brooklyn Brewery was founded by Steve Hindy and Tom Potter in 1987. Hindy had returned from the Middle East, where homebrewing was rampant as alcoholic beverages were forbidden. Hindy quit his job, and with downstairs neighbor, Tom Potter, the two commissioned a fourth-generation German American brewmaster, William M. Moeller, to develop their Brooklyn Lager. Unfortunately, due to limited resources, the two had to have the Brooklyn Lager contract brewed in Utica, New York. Additionally, the two ran into some trouble, as they quickly learned that most New York distributors were controlled by the big breweries. As a result, they were forced to distribute their beer on their own, which was no easy feat, as crime in New York was rampant at the time. In 1994, the two hired Garrett Oliver, to design their Brooklyn brewery. On May 28, 1996, the Brooklyn brewery opened its door. For more information on the brewery, definitely check out their website.

The Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout is part of the brewery's seasonal releases. Brewed every year for the winter season, this beer is available between October and March. Clocking in at 10.0% ABV, and packing 51 IBUs, this beer is brewed with pale, caramel, wheat, and roasted malts. This beer features Willamette and American Fuggle hops. Let's get this into a glass and see what's up. 

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

This one pours with a nice black, or really, really, dark brown body, and yields two finger's worth of really nice, coffee/tan-colored head. The head is foamy, creamy, and thick, and it's sustaining pretty nice, with a centimeter hanging around that just won't die. Swirling this beer yields some really nice lacing, and the alcohol legs let you know about the boozy intentions lurking beneath. Good stuff.

The aroma on this is also really good stuff. I'm getting a lot of chocolaty roast, cocoa,  caramel, burnt marshmallow, a smack of meaty, and a layer of fruity subtlety in plums, dark fruits, raisins, and chocolate covered raisins. There's also a dash of earthy wood.

The taste is a nice follow through of the nose, featuring a lot of smooth roast, burnt marshmallow, wood, and a hint of campfire, all layered with really nice chocolate, truffle, caramel, sweetness, molasses, sticky booze, and underlying dark fruit sweetness. Any hop bitterness falls more towards the boozy complexity and fruity side of this, with just a hint of coffee/orange bitterness. Ridiculously smooth at 10.0%, this is an insanely good interpretation of the style.

Seriously, apologies to my liver. At 10.0% ABV, this goes down like a 6.0% Porter, but retains a full mouthfeel, tons of sticky alcohol, a dash of residual bitterness, and lovely boozy complexity. Palate depth is great, if not a tad short in duration compared to some of the insane Stout offerings you can find these days, but yeah. Really good. And this is insanely complex, and balanced and layered like a professionally cooked meal. Not that Applebees shit. You get smooth, thin, lively carbonation up front, with some caramel sweetness, hints of dark fruit sweetness, hints of hops, and then BAM, a bunch of roast; the middle is roasty, coffee, chocolate, burnt marshmallow, hint of wood/campfire; the back end is lingering sticky, lingering roast, and a slightly woody, dry, sticky finish.

Rating: Above-Average

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this, with the same disclaimer I gave Old Rasputin, which is that in a world full of over-the-top Russian Impys, it's hard to bump this into Divine territory. But this is very memorable, and so, so good. If I had to pick two words to describe this, they would be: "balanced," and, "layered." A lot of thought has gone into this beer. I personally would pair this with some chocolate desserts or ice cream (as per Brooklyn's website), but you could also go the burger route. Actually, if you like nachos with beans, I think this beer would really pair well with some dark beans. I'm thinking you could do chili, a steak, a burger...with fries or onion rings. Dammit, now I'm hungry.

Random Thought: Now I want to try the Brooklyn Black Ops...