Review - Southern Tier Brewing Company's Choklat
"the ancients called it food for the gods The Popol Vuh, the sacred book of the Maya, unfolds a complex web of mystery around a beverage known as xocoatl (ch-co-atle). At Southern Tier, we’re not surprised that hieroglyphs of the ancient Maya depict chocolate being poured for rulers and gods. Even through the many voyages of Columbus, the mystical bean remained nothing more than a strange currency of the native peoples. Moving through centuries, the circular journey of cacao has been realized in our brewing house, encompassing the complexity of the darkest, bitter-sweet candy together with the original frothy cold beverage of the ancient Maya to bring to you our Blackwater Series Choklat Stout. We have combined the finest ingredients to tempt your senses & renew the power & interrelation of history in every bottle." -- Southern Tier Brewing
Pours an obsidian black with some deep chocolate hues mixed in, producing a small tan head with decent retention. Lacing is fair. Aroma is loaded with a strong presence of chocolate malts with a warm alcohol presence. An insanely strong milk chocolate assault with some bitter chocolate at the end. Initial taste is chock full of chocolate with a heavy malt mouthfeel, and finishes slightly sweet with a nice smooth profile. Light to medium in body, this brew has a creamy mouthfeel and soft carbonation and leaves a significant alcohol warmth on the mouth. At 11 percent abv, it is well balanced.
Smells like a Chubba Chub, we had it side by side with the Harpoon Chocolate Stout as a baseline, which ended up tasting like water next to this. Just a completely different style of beer. The heavy dose of sweet chocolate smothers the alcohol making this another dangerous beer that can sneak up on you.
Reviewed on February 7th, 2009.