Tag Archives: cocoa nibs

Wreck Alley by Karl Strauss Brewing

by tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
Rating: 4.6/5Wreck Alley by Karl Strauss Brewing is a 9.5% ABV Imperial Stout. This was recommended to me by my friend Eric although he advised that it is better and fresher on tap. LOL I agree to some extent. Although this beer can be aged as stated on the bottle. So I took his word for it and sought this beer :).

Label:

Beneath the tides off Mission Beach rests Wreck Alley – a dark and mysterious seascape of forgotten ships. Amidst the rusted wreckage is a marine ecosystem, an artificial reef teeming with life. Our Wreck Alley is as dark as the depths of its namesake, an Imperial Stout of uncharted complexity. Brewed with darkly kilned malts, cocoa nibs, and Ethiopian coffee beans, Wreck Alley boasts rich layers of dark chocolate, toffee, and espresso-like roast. Save a bottle. This one has a stout shelf-life. 
—The aroma of this beer is quite nice. Roasted malts, vanilla, chocolate, cream and almost like a faint tobacco. In terms of the flavors, Vanilla is king in this one. It is then followed by the sweet chocolate, coffee, licorice/anise, slight coconut and caramel. The after taste is not smokey or bitter but almost like a brownie or a chocolate cake with anise but the earthy notes settle the sweetness so it is not overly sweet. Well hidden alcohol as it is hard to tell that it is there. It is quite a nice imperial Stout. As with many stouts, each more unique than the other. It think vanilla is the big hit with this one. This is an awesome pick up if you can get it. I think it is only seasonal too.

Chocolate Porter by Hangar 24

by tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Rating: 4.25/5

Chocolate Porter by Hangar 24 is a 8%ABV Porter brewed with chocolate malts, cocoa nibs and vanilla bean.

Label:

Rich and decadent. This strong porter is perfect for sipping at the end of the day or to accompany full-flavored foods. The intense, roasty flavor comes from two types of chocolate malt and raw cocoa nibs. Whole vanilla beans introduced post fermentation add complexity and enhance the dessert-like qualities of this full bodied beer. Indulge yourself! Additional Information: This beer began life as our Panamanian Porter with the flavors of chocolate, vanilla and banana. A truly unique beer, we felt that all those flavors needed some smoothing out so we changed yeast strains and eliminated the banana flavor (Which came from the yeast strain). The Panamanian Porter did have many fans however, and there may be plans in the future to bring it back for a special occasion. Stay tuned…

This beer reminds me of the split shot espresso milk stout but with more chocolate and vanilla and a lot less coffee. It is not as chocolate forth as the choklat or as chocolate intense as Black Tuesday or Chocolate Rain, but it is close. Probably close to the the Stone Vanilla Porter. However, that one was dead on with more vanilla and chocolate. The flavors you get in this beer are rich dark and milk chocolate, vanilla, caramel, mocha, light coffee bitterness, some coconut and a bit of almond. This is a dessert beer, plain and simple, as close as a candy bar, but not pure liquid chocolate. LOL I am sure if they had raised the levels of chocolate, cocoa nibs, vanilla and alcohol, you would have something just like some of the best liquid chocolate beers in the world. It also helps that this fairly smooth, rich and creamy. While the beer is not completely full bodied that you can’t see anything, it is enough to let you know it is a porter. Quite a delicious porter and now a days easier to find than in the past. I found this one in a liquor store near my town of South Gate.

Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti by Great Divide

by tagged , , | Leave a comment

Rating: 4.9/5

Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti by Great Divide is a 9.5% ABV Decadent Imperial Stout brewed with oak chips, cocoa nibs and spices like cayenne and aged in oak barrels. But not a lot, just a dash cayenne. This beer is made with lowered amount of hops in order to let the dark chocolate add its own bitterness. It is supposed to be like having a gourmet chocolate bar. You can definitely smell a lot of the chocolate and the spices from just the smell. Flavors are really what they say they are. A lot of vanilla, burnt oak wood, dark milk chocolate, alittle bit of coffee but the chocolate takes over, pepper spiciness just to make things interesting but not to deter away from the bitter chocolate. There is some minor dark fruits like raisins but not alot. While this is is a somewhat heavy beer, it really doesn’t stop you from drinking more of it. It has to do with the fact that it is very smooth going down. It is quite good. Leaves some earthy bitter grass in the aftertaste but goes away. The more I try it the more I want to keep drinking this one. Stout lovers will love this beer for sure :P. Pick this up if you can find it D:..

Chocolate Rain by The Bruery

by tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rating: 6/5 *This may have just become my favorite beer ever…

HEY EVERYONE…WHO WANTS DIABETES IN A BOTTLE?? LOL just kidding…Actually only partially kidding ….. >.>
This is Chocolate Rain, by The Bruery. It is Whoopin’ 19.5%ABV Imperial Stout aged in Bourbon barrels with cocoa nibs and vanilla beans. Well.. I don’t even know if it should be categorized as an imperial stout, more like a very complex boozy chocolate syrup drink with some major major chocolate infusion going on. Literally, the most chocolate rich beer I have ever had. The strongest beer I have ever had aside from Tactical Nuclear Penguin at 32% ABV. To me, maybe I just set this as my all time favorite. Choosing Trois Pistoles and St. Bernardus mixed in high amounts of chocolate may make something similar to this…..maybe.

As soon as I opened this bottle I realized the beer was too extreme for me. It smells like hazel and pecan pie with Chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate and did I mention chocolate drizzled all over that pie with whip crème and cherries on top. That was just the smell. The taste was a maelstrom of rich complex chocolate, dark chocolate mocha, pecans, almonds, dipped in dulce de leche, vanilla, browney batter, bourbon, raisins, cherries, raspberries, Leche Nestle, Epitome of Sugar dimension times 10….. This is the ULTIMATE dessert beer. Adding ice cream may actually put you in a comma. Either that or drinking the whole bottle. BE VERY CAREFUL!!! As delicious as this is, one could get carried away. A beer designed to age for many many decades…