Cocoa shake aged in bourbon and rye barrels - vanilla edition
Mikkeller ApS

Absolutely fantastic! This 2021 bottle was opened and drank in November of 2023. I don't have a fresh bottle to compare it to, but I can tell by how incredible smooth and complex this stout was that age did it a lot of good.

The heavy body combined with the sweet chocolatey profile really gave it a milkshake feel. Very clear influence from the whiskey barrels. I got a touch of oak but plenty of spice from the rye. In hindsight, I really wish I poured a touch of rye into the last 20%. I bet it would have been fantastic!

09/07/23 bottle @ home

poured from a 500mL bottle into a perennial snifter. pours dark brown but gathers in the glass a shiny black with a finger of mocha brown foam. whiskey barrel, vanilla frosting and rich chocolate on the nose and taste. there’s a bit more oak character in the taste than on the nose but it’s fairly simplistic in the fact that you get barrel, vanilla and chocolate (exactly what the label description says). medium-full mouthfeel. this bad boy is much better as it warms. as most vanilla stouts go, the creamy and rich frosting flavors don’t really fully present themselves until at room temperature. the chocolate is very flavorful and smooth. the barrel comes off a little abrasive but is covered up by the vanilla and chocolate additions. decent.

 

Another 500ML bottle for the hatch, split with my wife. I’m delaying our evening reviewing beers but, hey, a guy has to have a hobby, right? Right?

The pour is dense black with a light ring of bubbles & why do I care? Oh, yeah, I don’t. The nose is akin to a milkshake with a shot of rye bourbon dumped in while I wasn’t looking.

Cocoa Shake – Bourbon, Rye, Vanilla Edition is a menace to children everywhere. Alcohol soaked chocolate milk would be a short, accurate review. Chocolate milk is overwhelming & cut by Uncle Sal’s sly rye dump, which brings a slip of spice & plenty of alcohol. Mid-palate is destroyed by lactose, sugar, whatever, that cuts this down a few notches, limiting how much I’d put in the temple of my body.

One sip: stellar. Two sip: excellent. Three plus sips: my blood sugar is soaring. Fantastic as a sample, the sweetness wears out its welcome halfway through or less. Still a good brew.

 

Pretty excellent beer really. Great milk chocolate taste without being overly sweet or pastry. I appreciate the ingredient list on the bottle which include the core 4 plus only cocoa and vanilla. No extra sugar, cookies or garbage and it taste so much better than some prairie bullshit.