KB Double Chocolate Ale Second Edition
Kamloops Brewery Ltd

Thanks to Voonder for this one.

Served cool, not chilled as per directions on the label:

Pours ruby-ish brown with a thick white head that falls to a lasting thin cover. Lacing sticks. Nice enough head and lacing, but the color leans towards murky-ish brown a bit too much, especially after the first pour.

The smell is fruity with a bit of resin/pine sap. There is a hint of cocoa powder. Smells a bit "odd". Maltiness is light in the aroma.

The taste is of light vinuous notes with a thin dark maltiness. I was about to wonder where the chocolate was, but cocoa powder comes through in the finish. On the whole, it is neither sweet nor bitter. I never tasted Purdee's chocolate, but it doesn't seem very rich if this is a good example of it. The "double" part? Well, a single chocolate ale would be more apropos, IMO. Tastes like an English Dark Mild (a hair heftier?) with some cocoa powder.

The feel is too thin, though it doesn't get into watery. It just isn't quite there for a beer that boasts being a desert beer on the label.

Well, it goes down pretty quickly (too for a "desert brew"?), though it grew a bit boring in the second half.

I'm glad I had the chance to try it, it's well-balanced enough not to be too sweet. It's inoffensive. It just doesn't seem to be that rich, chocolate-y or "dessert"-like.

Pours dark brown colour with huge white head whci slowly dissapeared leaving lot's of lace. Smells like a dark chocolate and that's pretty much it. Nice taste but i think there is a lack of chocolate. Mouthfeel - very silky and goes down smoothly. Really drinkable stuff. Nothing spectacular but overall a good beer, I would expect more for the price (8.50 per 650ml bottle) though.

650 ml bottle, came in a white box - very nice packaging. I have had a few really good chocolate beers and was really expecting a lot from this one.
Poured a clear, dark, mahogany brown color with lots of carbonation. Slightly off-white head with good retention, left a thin sheet of lace.
Some malt smell, very thin chocolaty aroma, but not much there.
Pretty weak flavor, some chocolate but quite thin. The body was watery and almost flat.
I too found this to be dissapointing. No real chocolate flavor, thin, boring. Not sure if this was a bad bottle, past its prime, or if this is as good as it gets.

I've had this in the fridge for a while... figured I'd clean it out.

A: Deep mahogany with a light tan head, some retention, minimal lacing.

S: Grainy biscuits, chocolate, tart fruitiness, hints of roasted coffee.

T: Grainy, chocolate, bready, slight sour cherry, brown sugar, very little bitterness.

M: Light to moderate body is very dry. It'd be nice to have a little more residual sweetness with the chocolate.

D: It's drinkable, but I'd prefer the Purdy chocolates with a nice beer (rather than in the beer!).

Acutally reviewed on: 12-31-2007 17:37:25 (was posted under 1st edition by mistake)

A: pours a dark, translucent, brown with lots of rising carbonation bubbles. It has a 1 1/2 finger, off-white head with good retention and leaves a decent lace.

If only the rest of the beer could live up to its somewhat promising appearance...

S: Weak chocolaty aroma up front, but the malts smell to me like they were over-cooked or something... very odd and slightly off-smelling.

T: It's true, this beer really doesn't stand up to the chocolate - very weak flavour...chocolaty up front, but in the middle, the flavour suddenly dies off and the beer really tastes flat. Very weak and watery.

M: Medium bodied but watery; decent carbonation; a weak, boring, and somewhat unpleasant finish.

D: This was incredibly dissapointing... I can't believe I paid $8 for this beer. No flavour and it tastes like it is past its prime. I struggled to finish it and I most definitely will not be buying this beer or recommending it to anyone else.

Don't waste your money!

Had no idea that this was out, or that this brewery was running. Found a bunch of bottles at the Highlander Liquor store off of 16th Ave NW (the Trans Canada highway through Cowtown) and 19th St.

Comes in a tall light parchment coloured box. 650 ml brown bottle with gold foil around the cap and neck. Pours out a deep transluscent chestnut, light walnut highlights around the edges when held to the light. Tall foamy tan head with excellent retention, which eventually settles to a tight spongy cap. Thin coral-like lacing.

The aroma is all on the sweet end of the spectrum, not much savory to detect. Malt contains mild caramel and nutty characteristics, is even a bit grainy in places. However it is fairly toned down. The real star of the show is the Purdy's chocolate additions, which is also more on the sweeter end than possessing much bitterness from dark chocolate or cocoa.

The flavour is almost all sweet milky chocolate, the malt really takes a back seat, and basically seems like a nondescript vehicle with which to carry the chocolate flavour the whole way. The chocolate is actually quite robust and flavourful, and excellent job on that element. I'd be curious to see how a porter or a stout would accentuate and accompany this, as well as a fuller mouthfeel.

Speaking of mouthfeel, it's on par for the style itself, but not for this sort of flavour profile, it seems more watery than it should be as a result.

A fairly successful experiment I think, the chocolate is done well, but really that's the whole highlight of this beer (aside from the fantastic head retention). Would make a decent light dessert beverage, or to share with someone special (if that special someone was into chocolate....), but taken as the sum of its parts it comes across as a beefed-up mild dark ale, which would have some sort of chocolate wafer notes from the malt anyways.

Looks very nice. Deep dark brown, but light passes through the edges and a big pillowy tan head with plenty of staying power. Good beginning.

Smell is somewhat chocolatey, but there is a bit of a piney aroma mixed in that makes it a little odd smelling.

Not really all that chocolatey. A little chocolate flavour on the edges of the tongue as it warms. Acidic right through, and coarse on the front of the tongue. Finish has a flat, slightly unpleasant heat to it, and the body is a bit thin.

All dressed up in a nice package, with no substance to it. Disappointing.