First, I notice the smell of malt and chocolate/cocoa. The malt has a deep dark roasted scent… very strong and powerful. Then, the first taste was bitter. Seriously bitter, in fact, so bitter it was hard to detect any of the underlying flavors. The chocolate was buried deeply under the powerful bitterness of it.
Where Brooklyn Brewery’s Chocolate Stout has a lovely burnt caramel flavor, this flavor is overpowering bitterness. This left me with a fairly one dimensional flavor.
But, on the bright side, this flavor would work very nicely in a braise for red meat (and even pork, if used sparingly). This would also be a great beer to pair with fried foods (mmmMm fish & chips), grilled meats, and even cheese. But, the overpowering bitterness could (and probably will) easily take center stage over the food.
And, the loaf of bread that I made with leftovers from the tasting was one of my best loaves to date. I will be buying this again… some for drinking… some for cooking & baking.
thanks for sharing your experience and tasting notes. being the face on the label/tap, its always fun for me to read about how people pair, perceive this beer, esp as it relates to food–beer that is not pasteurized and has no preservatives or additives is food! my website has recipes, pairing notes, the history of Rogue Chocolate Stout. would love to hear about more about your left over beer bread
cheers, ~ sebbie