Chocolate Rain
The Bruery

750 ml wax capped bottle, 2020 edition, 19.1% ABV, bottled 6/24/20. Served in a snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with not quite an inch tan head that didn't stick around for too long. Small amount of lacing. I like the aroma, the brew smells like chocolate, vanilla, bourbon and roasted malt. Taste is similar to the aroma, but with the addition of some burnt/charred malt, dark bread, oak, molasses and a bit of dark fruit. Mouthfeel/body is full, it's rich and coating with a moderate amount of carbonation. It's a little boozy but doesn't quite seem like it's 19.1% ABV either. I thought this was a pretty good overall brew, definitely worth trying if you ever get the chance!

2017 Vintage

My favorite brew.

 

Pours black with a thin, beige head. Chocolate, roasted malt, vanilla, and bourbon in the aroma. The same notes follow into a rich, malty taste. Warm finish. Well-hidden alcohol.

750 ml bottle into a tulip snifter. Bottled 7/8/21, had 12/12/24.

Pours near black and opaque, with no head and a few specks of cling. Aromas of bourbon, chocolate, light roast malt, vanilla- more as it warms, some marshmallow. Flavors of bourbon, chocolate, roasted malt, vanilla, light oak. Certainly smooth for the ABV, a very good full body, appropriately carbonated.

Might be showing a tiny bit of age, but it’s still really good. Pretty straightforward- barrel, chocolate & vanilla, but so well executed. A classic.

RFOB2014 0450

 

 

 

 

 

2024-05-26
750ml capped/waxed bottle served in a little Hoppin' Frog tulip-ish glass. 2014 vintage, #107pt2 12/5/13 15:09 002165 is faintly etched into the glass, label shows it at 18.5% abv. Gift to me by @2beerdogs in a face-to-face meetup which inevitably included an exchange of beer.

Pours dark brown, surprisingly not tarry black, with basically zero head on the pour. Nothing emerges afterward, either (which sometimes happens with huge stouts, in my experience). Smell is booze and chocolate. Searching around, I might get a little bit of charred oak and burnt coffee.

Taste is rich, rich chocolate. Booze is noticeable outgassing through the sinuses more than in the flavor itself, which is interesting. I get more toffee and vanilla in the flavor than I would have guessed from the aroma. Maybe some black licorice...but if so, it's fairly subtle.

Mouthfeel is surprisingly light...not to say it's light, it's just not dark matter like I would expect from the style, the brewery, and the abv. Very still, but not offputting. Overall, this is a very good ginormous stout that has stood up to a decade in the bottle quite well.

 

 

 

2021: 20.2% ABV. Bottle pour dark as a moonless night with quickly dissipating foamy chocolate milk head leaving a scant ring of tiny bubbles. Nose is sweet roasty malt with cacao and vanilla present. Taste follows with more nibs and beans and a bit of alcohol creep lingering on the finish.

 

 

 

750ml bottle at share, 2015 vintage. Near black pour, small beig e head fades away. Aroma is roasty, dark chocolate, boozy with light fruity accents. Taste drops in raisins and prunes on top of the sweet roasty malts, full and creamy. Pretty damn warm too. Everything I have heard about this beer is true. A real classic that has aged well.