Chocolate River
Trinity Brewing Company

Chocolate RiverChocolate River
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From:
Trinity Brewing Company
 
Colorado, United States
Style:
Imperial Pastry Stout
ABV:
11%
Score:
90
Avg:
4.07 | pDev: 9.09%
Ratings:
75 | reviews: 17
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Sep 22, 2019
Added:
Jan 19, 2015
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  18
Heavy in roast, chocolate, and Special B malts this beer comes off with a unique and unexpectedly dry profile. Combining two Brettas, lends a milder barnyard, but heavily funky character accented by an apparent 'natural cork' flavor. Aging the beer on French oak barrels and allowing it to properly develop, attenuation is high revealing a light body and notes of astringency. Balance is created by the addition of three special golden ingredients: honey, golden raisins, and mustard seed.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 4.15 by Curt3 from Ohio

Sep 22, 2019
 
Rated: 3.72 by BeerForMuscle from New Jersey

Aug 29, 2019
Photo of HoppingMadMonk
Reviewed by HoppingMadMonk from New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Has an aroma of milk chocolate, alcohol, coffee,chocolate liqueur
Taste is similar, milk chocolate is very noticeable. Almost reminds me of yoo-hoo and the thin feel adds to that .
Aug 25, 2019
 
Rated: 4.1 by Jonathan-Morgan from Florida

May 05, 2019
 
Rated: 4.06 by Taphouse_Traveler from Florida

May 05, 2019
Photo of LampertLand
Reviewed by LampertLand from Canada (BC)

4/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Trinity Brewing 'Chocolate River' @ 11.0% , served from a 330 ml bottle
A-pour is black from the bottle to glass with a small tan head with no lacing
S-sweet chocolate , coffee
T-chocolate
MF-decent carbonation , full bodied , warming
Ov-if you like chocolate , indulge
prost LampertLand
Nov 29, 2018
Photo of beergoot
Reviewed by beergoot from Colorado

3.98/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Black body; thin, light tan head; sheets of foam down the glass. Roasted grain and baker's chocolate aroma. The taste leads along the lines of the smell; cocoa; some dark grain char; sweet overall but with a nice counterbalance of bitterness. Heavy body; chewy and velvety; mild grain husk astringency.

A delightful, flavorful and full-bodied imperial stout. It highlights the soft sweetness of the grains and has no perceptible alcohol heat or taste. Nicely done...
May 23, 2018
 
Rated: 4.12 by Ristaccia from Nebraska

Mar 16, 2018
 
Rated: 4.35 by hkyplyr73 from New York

Feb 02, 2018
 
Rated: 3.9 by RickyBfromCT from Connecticut

Jan 15, 2018
Photo of Vidblain
Reviewed by Vidblain from Minnesota

2.53/5  rDev -37.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.25
I'm puzzled by the disparity in reviews that I've seen here and elsewhere - primarily because the bottle that I've had is not at all good.

The beer pours with a very thick brown head. It appears to be quite heavily carbonated. I'm a little surprised. I wasn't expecting this from a chocolate and vanilla beer. I'd expected and hoped for something creamy and low carb. Bummer. The nose is strangely bitter. Milk chocolate, this is not. The taste confirms - this tastes like powdered baker's chocolate. Per the description - this beer should taste of milk chocolate and vanilla. I'm getting neither of those.

Per appearance and mouth feel - the beer is heavily over-carbed. Is this bottle infected? It did not gush when opened, and it is not sour. I'm confused. Regardless - this is a highly disappointing beer.
Jan 11, 2018
 
Rated: 4.28 by LXIXME from New Mexico

Aug 27, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by djrn2 from New Jersey

Apr 25, 2017
 
Rated: 4.23 by sanitarium16 from New Jersey

Apr 10, 2017
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Reviewed by jzeilinger from Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A - Pitch black pour and thin toffee colored lacing ring.

S - Chocolate and cream.

T - Chocolate cream, smoke, light char, bitter chocolate finish.

M - Medium body, silky, and a dry finish.

O - A nice beer.
Dec 15, 2016
 
Rated: 4.25 by whatname from Pennsylvania

Dec 09, 2016
Photo of Amguerra305
Reviewed by Amguerra305 from Florida

4.57/5  rDev +12.3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Pours thick and syrupy and sits opaque in the glass with nair but a hint of light at the extreme edges. Gets you excited for what's to come. Smell is chocolate forward but more on the milk chocolate side as opposed to the dark chocolate side with a slight hint of vanilla. Taste is very chocolate and cocoa forward with vanilla bringing up the back end. The maltiness of the base stout comes through in the middle as well. Overall though this is a bit of a chocolate bomb though not in an overpowering way, still pleasant. The mouthfeel on this beer is where it really falls short. Feels thin and too carbonated for the style, not thick and coating as the look suggested. Overall this is a very good chocolate adjunct beer that needs more body to make it truly world class.
Dec 06, 2016
Photo of Omisco
Reviewed by Omisco from Colorado

4.78/5  rDev +17.4%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.75
This beer should be way higher in rating in my humble opinion. It's possibly the most chocolate forward beer I have ever come across and I've tried a few in my time. The beer is a thick oily jet black, with no light passing through what so ever. The smell is crazy, straight milk chocolate and cocoa, mixed with some slight vanilla notes. I personally don't get any alcohol in the smell or taste. The taste is as follows bursting with straight cocoa, milk chocolate flavor dominating the palate. followed by some vanilla and roasted malt character. I really love this beer and I hope I can find it again. This is truly not something to pass up on if you like a sweet adjunct stout with the main adjunct being a dominating chocolate flavor. Keep in mind this is not like most chocolate beers that capture a bitter, dark chocolate kind of vibe. This is a very sweet, bright chocolate flavor. Almost akin to chocolate syrup. FIND THIS BEER!
Nov 04, 2016
 
Rated: 4.05 by WillieThreebiers from Connecticut

Oct 23, 2016
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Rated by Derek from Canada (BC)

3.84/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Damn that was pricie for an old beer.
Sep 17, 2016