O'Fallon Brewery has a new special edition on the shelves right now, Chocolate by the Barrel. It is a barrel aged version of their Cocoa Cream Stout. I don't think I've seen the Cocoa Cream Stout bottled around KC, it's probably only available on tap St Louis side. Cream Stouts are also known as Milk Stouts because of the lactose sugars added to create a sweet and creamy texture. These make for nice dessert beers, so let's see how a little bourbon aging adds to it.22 oz bottle with a cream colored wax seal. While a waxed bottle looks cool, I'm not sure it's worth it for a 5.5% beer. Waxed bottles help maintain an air tight seal for aging, and a 5.5% really isn't high enough to age.
Poured into a pub glass, a medium mocha tan head recedes quickly. Thin strings of lace stick to the glass. Color is a solid chocolate brown, with lighter brown highlights around the edges.
Smell is mostly bourbon heat with some vanilla notes. Acidic coffee flavor is strong up front and a dry cocoa slides into the finish. Bourbon is a little heavy handed. The sweetness from the lactose sugars have to work really hard to compete oaky bourbon.
Mouthfeel has a nice creamy texture. Not as thick and chewy as some milk stouts, but filling enough. This is a nice one-off, but not one I would pursue on a regular basis. Give it a shot.
Yeah I wasn't really that happy with this one. It's fine, but I thought it was actually too thin for what it claimed to be. It didn't seem like a milk stout to me. Instead, it seemed like maybe half dry stout, half oatmeal stout with a bit of chocolate flavoring and a LOT of barrel flavor.
ReplyDeleteI'm sticking to Southern Tier for my dessert beers. :)