Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

Yes, another review of a beer from Brooklyn Brewerey. What can I say, they make good beers.

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout is one of my quintessential Winter beers. As mentioned previously, it's one that I look forward to each Winter. This year's batch made its appearance locally a few weeks ago and we've been waiting for a chance to spend an evening enjoying it.

We poured the beer into Brooklyn Brewery snifters. This one pours midnight black with some ruby-red light making it through only at the edges. The thick cappuccino-colored head slowly fades leaving persistent lacing. This beer looks as good as it tastes. Be sure to allow the beer to warm a bit to enjoy the full range of aromas and flavor. At 10.5% ABV, Black Chocolate Stout should be sipped to be enjoyed fully so there's opportunity to savor the nuances in flavor and aroma as it warms.

The forefront aroma is dark chocolate. The alcohol also comes through in the aroma, and adds to the richness provided to the senses. There's also a slight dark fruit, sherry-like hint detected.

The flavor lives up to the preview given by the aroma. Fine dark chocolate comes through, along with some expresso flavor. There's a bit of a lingering hops at the end. The mouthfeel of this Imperial Stout is very smooth and full of body. Garrett Oliver describes this beer as "the ultimate dessert beer" in his book The Brewmaster's Table. I would have to agree. Although it could be a dessert all by itself, we enjoyed the beer with cream-puffs and chocolate brownies. A fitting celebratory treat for Gaudete Sunday!

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout is said to be a good candidate for aging. I've got a bottle from the 2006-2007 bottling left from last year. I plan to save one from this season's release as well, and do the same for the next few years and try them all together. It will be a fun trial, although I can't imagine that the experience of drinking fresh Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout can be improved upon. I'll need to pick up some additional BBCS before it disappears from the shelves for another season.