Gnarly Oak Chocolate Stout

Brewed By: Minhas Craft Brewery in Monroe, Wisconsin  

Purchased: 22oz bomber from an $8 dollar gift set bought at Walgreens in Chicago, IL; 2014 

Style/ABV: Stout, 5.5%

Reported IBUs: 58

Tonight's beer was an obligatory pick-up that I had no intention of buying. I stumbled upon this "Gnarly Oak gift set" that includes three 22oz bombers, and a beer glass (I am a whore for glassware). The damages totaled to 8 dollars. Yes...I paid 8 dollars for three 22oz bombers and a beer glass. I'm sure the beer reflects the costs, but the glass is okay. We'll see? About Minhas: 

Minhas is the oldest continually operating brewery in the Midwest, and the second oldest brewery in the United States. As you can see from the brewery's history page, the brewery has been owned by many different people, and rebranded numerous times. The brewery began in 1845 as the Monroe Brewery when it was opened by Mr. Bissinger. In 1906, the brewery changed its name to the Blumer Brewing Company. And in 1947, the brewery was purchased by Joseph Huber and the brewery became known as the Joseph Huber Brewing Company. In 2005, the Minhas Family purchased the brewery, and in 2006 the brewery changed its name to the Minhas Craft Brewery. For more info, check out the brewery's website. 

I don't think there is a website for the "Gnarly Oak" beers...at least not one I can find. But oh well. The bottle says: "Stouts brewed with cocoa powder. Chocolate Stout is a satisfying rich, dark and creamy Stout just loaded with roasted flavors. We added just a subtle touch of chocolate for a tasty treat. This is a great sipping beer for those cold winter nights." We will see about all that....

Gnarly Oak Chocolate Stout

The beer pours into an opaque, black body. It's not super dark, and you catch some reddish/brown on the beer's edges. The beer kicks up a finger of light tan head. The head doesn't last very long, eventually fading into nothingness. There is some glossy lacing, especially when you swirl the beer.

The aroma here reminds me of English-style Stouts, with big toffee, toast, dried berries, and some light woody/roasty notes. There's a hint of artificial sweetness, ala the JP Casper White Stout. I'm getting cherry, vanilla, cream soda, woody notes, oak, Hershey's Syrup, and cocoa. 

Assuming the glass that came with the gift set was free, this is a $2.67 bottle of beer. That's like 12 cents/oz. This tastes okay...maybe even better than okay. I'm picking up lots of toast, toffee, berries, and big cocoa and wood on the finish. There's some cream soda twang, and a hint of oak, with some Hershey's Syrup kisses, but the cocoa is mostly legit...dabbling with S'Mores and ash and light campfire.

I'm surprised by how much I don't hate this beer. You don't get any of the 5.5%, but the beer has a medium-full to full-bodied mouthfeel. The beer is well carbonated and drinks okay...I'm assuming there's some leftover sugars in here. The beer is sweet, but it avoids tasting artificial. It's not very complex, even with a handful of distinct flavors that pop up in the taste, but the palate depth is really good. Up front: woody notes, toffee, toast, dark fruits; the middle has big cocoa with some roast, hints of coffee and chocolate, and some vanilla; the back end has some roast, S'Mores, ash, and finishes sweet and mellow.

Rating: Strong Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Average on this. I like this beer's approach for 5.5%. It's crafted well enough. It kind of tastes like a sweeter, chocolaty version of Guinness or any standard Dry Stout. It almost veers into artificial, but it holds it together. The end result is a really solid beer for $2.67. At that price, I cannot not recommend this beer. You could even pair it with dry chocolate cake or ice cream or whatever.

Random Thought: So, here is my theory. I have two more of these Gnarly Oak beers to go...and they all are around 5.5% ABV and 50 IBUs. I'm hoping that the other two beers don't taste identical to this one, only with some minor tweaks. We will see.