Chocolate

Foothills & Wicked Weed Create “Batch 69”

Wicked Weed Brewing (Asheville, NC)  and Foothills Brewing (Winston-Salem) have teamed up to create a collaboration dubbed Batch 69. The beer is Wicked Weed’s first collaboration with another brewery. Wicked Weed founder Walt Dickinson was contemplating Continue Reading →

Southern Tier Mokah, Jahva Discontinued

For those that were in love with the coffee and chocolate stylings of Southern Tier’s (Lakewood, NY) Mokah and Jahva, their have been discontinued indefinitely.

Mokah, the brewery’s coffee/chocolate blend usually ships in April. Jahva – the Continue Reading →

Posted in Coming Soon, Terrapin Beer Company

Terrapin’s Dos Cocoas Returns In July

Terrapin Beer Company’s (Athens, GA) Dos Cocoas was release #4 in their Side Project Series. (We are up to #20 now.) Last year, fans of the brewery were given the opportunity to vote to bring a beer out of retirement and I think you can guess who won. Dos Cocoas is first and foremost a porter, that gets it’s name because of two chocolate additions- cocoa nibs and cocoa powder. Chocolate and beer is a match made in heaven.

“Dos Cocoas” Chocolate Porter is a little experiment with a traditional porter and two types of cocoa. I used cocoa powder in the whirlpool and then aged the beer for one month on a bed of cocoa nibs. What you will get from this beer is fine chocolate aroma, a unique chocolate bitterness and a tantalizing balanced chocolate flavor from both the cocoa powder and nibs.

Style: Porter (w/ Cocoa)
Availability: 12oz bottles, Draft
Arrival: Late July, 2013

5.8% ABV 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Deschutes Brewing

Deschutes Black Butte XXV Arrives Late June

Deschutes Brewery celebrates 25 years this year. A big milestone for sure. Coming late June is Black Butte XXV. This 25th Birthday Reserveis brewed with dates, figs, black currants, and cocoa nibs. Partially aged in bourbon barrels. Best time to drink will be a year from now. (Totally serious.)

Using select cocoa nibs and locally roasted coffee, Deschutes partnered with equally passionate local artisans to craft this potent, colossal homage to Black Butte Porter. A final aging in aromatic whiskey barrels infuses a truly handcrafted depth and the complexity of fine wine.

Style: Porter (w/ Figs, Dates, Black Currants, Cocoa Nibs. Partially Barrel Aged. Bourbon)
Availability: 22oz bombers
Arrival: Late June, 2013

11% ABV 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Foothills Brewing, New Releases, Wicked Weed Brewing Co

Foothills & Wicked Weed Create “Batch 69”

Wicked Weed Brewing (Asheville, NC)  and Foothills Brewing (Winston-Salem) have teamed up to create a collaboration dubbed Batch 69. The beer is Wicked Weed’s first collaboration with another brewery. Wicked Weed founder Walt Dickinson was contemplating brewing something special to brew for Asheville Beer Week (May 25th-June 1st). An admiration for the established and creative Foothills Brewing prompted a phone call to T.L. Adkisson, Foothills’ head brewer.

The two breweries combined Wicked Weed’s Freak Double IPA and Foothills Sexual Chocolate to make Batch 69. 

As Dickinson puts it, “It’s ideally going to be a drier beer, but with a lot of chocolate complexity, with a nice, bright, citrus finish on it.” Adds Adkisson, “the beer’s designed to have a chocolate profile, but tilt heavily toward an orange, almost tangerine flavor.”

The name? Dirty? No. Purely coincidental. It was the 69th batch of beer brewed at Wicked Weed. Batch 69 uses Guatemalan organic cacao nibs were hand-roasted by French Broad Chocolate in Asheville especially for this beer.

Style: Imperial Stout (w/ Cocoa Nibs. Blended w/ Imperial IPA)
Hops: Simcoe, Citra, Amarillo
Availability: Draft only, Asheville Beer Week, 2013.

?? ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Southern Tier Brewing

Southern Tier Mokah, Jahva Discontinued

For those that were in love with the coffee and chocolate stylings of Southern Tier’s (Lakewood, NY) Mokah and Jahva, their have been discontinued indefinitely.

Mokah, the brewery’s coffee/chocolate blend usually ships in April. Jahva – the coffee stout Southern Tier has been brewing since 2005 usually arrived in March.  Their retirement will make way for other entries in the Blackwater Series in the near future.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Cigar City Brewing, Coming Soon, Mikkeller

Cigar City & Mikkeller Make A Chocolate Covered Cherry

Cigar City Brewing (Tampa, FL) and Mikkeller (Copenhagen, Denmark) have teamed up on a Forest Gump themed brew- Life is Like…. This chocolate covered cherry themed beer is brewed to be just like the candy. Just like the man said… you never know what you’re gonna get.

An imperial sweet stout brewed with cherries and cacao nibs, which is then aged in bourbon barrels. This beer is brewed in collaboration with Mikkeller our generous friend from Copenhagen, Denmark. What you have here is a modest attempt to emulate the experience of biting into a chocolate covered candy. We hope you enjoy it but you never know what you’re gonna get.

Style: Milk Stout (w/ Cherries, Cacao Nibs, Barrel Aged. Bourbon)
Availability: 750 ml bottles
Arrival: TBA

?? ABV 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in New Beers, Spiteful Brewing

Spiteful Brewing Mrs O’Leary’s Chocolate Milk Stout

Spiteful Brewing Mrs O’Leary’s Chocolate Milk Stout

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in NoDa Brewing

NoDa’s 3rd Bottle Release: Imperial Coco Loco

Last week, NoDa Brewing (Charlotte, NC) excitedly released Imperial Coco Loco. This is the 3rd bottle release by the growing brewery.  Imperial Coco is based of the Great American Beer Festival silver medal winning recipe, but pumped up. More malts, more cacao, more coconut. Bottles have already been released at the brewery, expect more at retail this week.

This is the Imperial version of our 2012 Great American Beer Festival Silver Medal winning Robust Porter Coco Loco. By keeping the same English brown and chocolate malts from our original recipe, but greatly increasing the amounts used and adding nearly double the amount of hand roasted organic coconut and cacao nibs, we achieve an amplified version of our beloved robust porter. Rich, dark and layered with chocolate, coconut and roasty notes, this beer is full of flavor yet balanced as well. A great beer before, during or after a meal!

Style: Porter (w/ Cacao Nibs, Coconut)
Availability: 22oz bombers, Draft. (Limited)
Arrival: Already on sale at NoDa, Bottles at distributors this week

9.7% ABV

by Reid Ramsay