Chocolate

Dessert Beer: Hardywood Raspberry Stout

Hardywood Raspberry Stout returns to the Richmond, Virginia based brewery’s lineup on January 7th.

The base imperial stout is brewed with ample amounts of cacao nibs, and chocolate malt (because, chocolate) and late season red raspberries from Hanover, Virginia based Agriberry Continue Reading →

Romance in a can: Madtree Rubus Cacao returns

MadTree Rubus Cacao is available in cans for just the second time ever. The beer first appeared on draft in early 2014.

MadTree Rubus Cacao is sweet chocolate stout, featuring cacao nibs from Cincinnati’s bean-to-bar chocolatier, Maverick Chocolate. The beer finishes with Continue Reading →

Posted in The Veil Brewing, Don't Miss This, New Releases

Love cookies? The Veil Brewing Hornswoggler, aged on Oreos debuts this week

The Veil Brewing will debut a new edition of their chocolate milk stout Hornswoggler, that has been conditioned on hundreds of pounds of Oreo cookies.

No need to worry about dunking this one. The brewers at The Veil Brewing has done it for you. 16 ounces cans of this decadent beer go on sale on Tuesday, January 24th, in the tap room. As you can probably imagine, thanks to the extended aging on Oreos, there are extra fermentable sugars left over in this beer. Keep it cold, and drink it fresh if you find yourself possessing these cans.

The Veil Brewing Hornswoggler with Oreos is available in 16 ounce cans. Other editions of this milk stout includes the base milk stout, and an edition with Coconut.

Style: Milk Stout (w/ Lactose. Cocoa Nibs. Oreo Cookies.)
Availability: 16oz Cans. Brewery only. 60-80 Cases.
Debut: 1/24/17

7% ABV

Image: Beer Street Journal 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Rogue Brewing, Don't Miss This, New Releases

Candy bar in a bottle: Rogue Hazelutely Choctabulous

Thank the local Oregonian fans for this beer. Rogue Hazelutely Choctabulous is headed your way in the near future.

If you’ve never tried blending your own beers at home, or wherever you’re drinking, it can be fun. Or a disaster. Fans drinking at Rogue Brewing basically designed this blend of their own, the brewery took notice. Taking Chocolate Stout and blending it with Hazelnut Brown Nectar, the resulting blended beer is abit like a candy bar. Or a lot.

How did it come out? Dessert beer. A freaking delicious bottle of beer candy. Hazelnut Brown Nectar and Chocolate Stout are great beers on their own, but in this bottle, the result is truly greater than the sum of their parts. The flavors blend perfectly into a real treat of a beer that’s not too sweet, or too heavy. We ‘Hazelutely’ believe there is no reason to share this beer.

For years, our hardest core local fans have been drinking a blend of Chocolate Stout and Hazelnut Brown Nectar, they say it takes like a chocolate candy bar. we have taken these two absolutely fabulous beers and fused them together to create Rogue Hazelutley Choctabulous, dark and decadent with a rich nutty flavor up front followed by a chocolate truffle finish. We’re thrilled to share our little secret with the world.

Rogue Hazelutely Choctabulous is available for the first time in 22 ounce bottle release, hitting shelves nationally.

Style: Stout (w/ Hazelnut, Chocolate.)
Availability: 22oz Bottles, Draft.
Debut: January, 2017.

5.7% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Seasonal Return, Don't Miss This, Half Acre Brewing

Half Acre Chocolate Camaro is back in drive this week

Half Acre Chocolate Camaro is back in drive on January 13th. A must have for dessert beer fans.

This chocolate milk stout is brewed with Ecuadorian and Dominican cacao nibs from Ethereal Confections in Chicago. Half Acre describes this beer as an easy warmer – “dark strength packed with co-co cream qualities.”

Slow burn, deeply etched coco surrounds a medium build, pseudo-mod toast machine. Fire power restrained by responsible intention. Excessive muscle slow rolling past the local fuzz. Bring your milk money, it’s lunch time.

Half Acre Chocolate Camaro is a 22 ounce bottle release, and draft. Growler fills are available at the brewery.

Style: Milk Stout (w/ Cocoa Nibs. Lactose)
Availability: 22oz Bombers, Draft. Growler fills.

Latest Release: 1/13/17

6% ABV

2014 artwork:

Half Acre Chocolate Camaro

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Stone Brewing Co., Don't Miss This

Stone Enjoy By Chocolate & Coffee IPA debuts in “fresh” series

Stone Enjoy By Chocolate & Coffee IPA is officially the next in a line of “Enjoy By” beers.

Fresh and hoppy is the core of Stone Brewing’s Enjoy By Series, giving distributors and drinkers alike a time frame to ship, purchase and drink the “Devastatingly Fresh” India pale ale.

Since the beer’s inception, various iterations of the beer have been released, including Enjoy By Tangerine IPA, and Enjoy By Unfiltered IPA. Headed to shelves now – Stone Enjoy By Coffee & Chocolate IPA.

The brewing team tested several batches of fruit and chocolate beers before finding the right blend of hops, chocolate and and coffee. The coffee is San Diego Sunrise, a blonde roast by Ryan Bros. Coffee. This particular roast is less on the roast and more on the chocolate flavor. The cocoa beans were carefully sourced from Belize, and shelled roasted and shelled by the team.

It’s not unusual to see pronouncements of “I Heart Hops,” “I Heart Chocolate” or “I Heart Coffee” throughout #socialmedia, printed on T-shirts and, notch, emblazoned on coffee cups. Over the past couple of decades we have helped add “I Freaking Heart IPAs” to that lexicon. Today, passionate people can’t imagine a world without all of the above. For this special edition, we added chocolate and coffe to make this devastatingly fresh IPA even more seductive to the palate. We humbly suggest that you use this libation to proclaim your love for someone…and we suggest that someone be you. Loving yourself is exactly what this libation is all about.

Stone Enjoy By Coffee & Chocolate IPA will be a draft, 12 and 22 ounce bottle and draft release.

Style: Imperial IPA (w/ Coffee, Chocolate)
Hops: Nugget, Super Galena, Simcoe, Amarillo, Delta, Target, Cascade, Citra, Galaxy, Nelson Sauvin, Motueka, Helga
Availability: 12oz Bottles, 22oz Bottles, Draft.

Distribution: AK ,AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MT, NC, NE, NH, NM, NV, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI
International Distribution: Japan, Korea, Singapore
Debut: January, 2017

9.4% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, Seasonal Return

Dessert Beer: Hardywood Raspberry Stout

Hardywood Raspberry Stout returns to the Richmond, Virginia based brewery’s lineup on January 7th.

The base imperial stout is brewed with ample amounts of cacao nibs, and chocolate malt (because, chocolate) and late season red raspberries from Hanover, Virginia based Agriberry Farm. We throw around the term “dessert beer” a lot at Beer Street Journal. With good reason, because they are damn good. Hardywood Raspberry Stout is all that an more.

Raspberry Stout captures the essence of a decadent raspberry truffle in liquid form. A beguiling ale, this stout’s enticing cocoa aromatics build to a flavorful crescendo of full bodied dark chocolate, subsiding with a pleasantly sweet, tart raspberry jam laced finish.

Hardywood Raspberry Stout us a 750 milliliter bottle release, available at the brewery on January 7th, 2017.

Style: Imperial Stout (w/ Cocoa Nibs, Raspberries.)
Availability: 750ml Bottles, Draft.
Latest Return: 1/7/17

9.2% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Don't Miss This, Madtree Brewing Co., Seasonal Return

Romance in a can: Madtree Rubus Cacao returns

MadTree Rubus Cacao is available in cans for just the second time ever. The beer first appeared on draft in early 2014.

MadTree Rubus Cacao is sweet chocolate stout, featuring cacao nibs from Cincinnati’s bean-to-bar chocolatier, Maverick Chocolate. The beer finishes with a touch of tart raspberry.

“It was important to us to work with a local partner to find the cacao nibs and that led us to Paul and Marlene at Maverick Chocolate,” said Jeff Hunt, MadTree Brewing co-founder.  “Maverick was on-board immediately and very excited to help us find the right chocolate to achieve the flavor profile we wanted for the large-scale release of Rubus Cacao.”

MadTree Rubus Cacao will be available in 12 ounce cans starting at 12 noon on January 7th. Attendees can try Maverick Chocolate offerings.

What to expect:  Some beers with raspberry can be overwhelming. I.E. Raspberry beer with a touch of stout. Madtree’s rendition is dessert. Hints of raspberry, balanced well with chocolate. The world needs a little more romance. This beer brings it. 12 ounces doesn’t last long.

Style: Stout (w/ Chocolate, Raspberry)
Availability: 12oz Cans, Draft.
Distribution: Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Athens and Northern Kentucky.

Release: 1/7/16

7% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Modern Times Beer, New Releases

Nitro coconut, coffee & chocolate for Modern Times

Kicking off 2017 in smooth fashion – Modern Times Nitro Black House with Coffee, Coconut, & Cocoa.

The base beer is Black House, the brewery’s year-round oatmeal coffee stout, brewed with Ethiopian Hambela and Sumatran coffee. This special January 2017 release is not only nice and creamy thanks to the nitrogen, but also features coconut and cocoa.

This beer turned out absolutely outstanding, with a decadent mélange of chocolaty, coffee-laden radness laced with delicious notes of coconut, all wrapped up in a package so smooth and velvety, you’ll say, “Damn…that is extremely smooth and velvety.

Modern Times Nitro Black House with Coffee, Coconut, & Cocoa will be available across the brewery’s entire distribution area in early January.

Style: Oatmeal Stout (w/ Cocoa, Coconut, Coffee) Nitro Pour
Hops:
Malts: 2 Row, Oats, Crystal 60, Munich, Roasted Barley, Chocolate, Midnight Wheat, Carapils

Availability: 16oz Cans, Draft. Limited Release.
Debut: January, 2017

?? ABV

Image: Beer Street Journal 

by Reid Ramsay