Rating: 4.75/5

Smore’s Chocolate Ale by Avila Ales is a 6.5% ABV American Brown Ale brewed with Cocoa Nibs.

This special recipe was brewed by my friends, Mr. Richard & Mrs. Megan Avila of Lawndale California. It was their very first brew which yielded 5 gallons. A lot of careful preparation was made to get the beer just the way they wanted it and I was honored to be the first one to do a review for them. Home brewing is a very special skill that takes time and practice like all other arts. I plan to make my own home brew soon but it is always a pleasure to review and share some of my friends creations. The lost treasure of taste and experience may not have to be so lost if you can find that your treasure is what you make it to be. Cheers!

Aromas:
Roasted coffee hints, caramel, dark chocolate, smokey notes, anise, peanut butter cup hints, clove spice, and brown sugar.

Flavors:
Dark chocolate, marshmallow, graham cracker notes, molasses, smokey notes and coffee. The flavors becomes stronger as the beer warms up giving ways to more milk chocolate than earthy bitterness as well as notes of bananas, clove spice hints, vanilla, pecans, caramel, brown sugar, peanut butter, mocha coffee notes, cocoa krispies and fudge cake hint.

Aftertaste:
Dark chocolate and milk chocolate lingers as it warms up along with subtle earthy and coffee notes notes. No alcohol in the taste, dark brown full body, easy to drink with a creamy mouthfeel.

Overall:
A very good first batch of beer. I really dig how well made it is. The cocoa nibs really compliment the other ingredients bringing forth some nice sugary and spicy flavors that typically go with when people think of smores. At the 6.5% ABV, there is a good amount of complexity and it goes to show you don’t always have to have a high ABV beer to still show some good complex flavors. While in the beginning you taste some roastiness to give it some bitterness, it is best to drink as it warms ups because that’s where you will really get the more sweeter flavors. Hope to have this dessert again the future and Special thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Avila for sharing this awesome beer with me.

Anime Corner:
Riza Hawkeye and Winry Rockbell from Full Metal Alchemist were used in this pairing because I wanted to capture not only the chocolate and smore characteristics of a beer as represented by the chocolate cake but also the team effort in working hard to make something very delicious. Brewing is like cooking and when you know how to cook right, brewing such delicious beers is like making a delicious cake. This may have been my friend’s first beer but to get a nice level of complexity right off the bat was pretty damn amazing. Also the colors of the label do compliment some of the background and characters.

Sources:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/AoiSora/hagaren_misc/clear-card-valentines-day.jpg