Chocolate Cherry Stout (Limited)
Empyrean Brewing Company

Appearance – Dark brown clear body with a two finger head.

Aroma – Charred barley and cocoa nibs, slightly acrid, a little fruitiness.

Taste – Coffee and roasted malt with a light fruitiness. Didn’t pick up any chocolate.

Mouthfeel – Good body for a milk stout, balanced with the fruitiness.

Overall – A good beer, glad for the opportunity to try it out. Thanks Jared!

 

 

Got in a trade with The-Adjunct-Hippie. 12 ounce bottle into pint glass, best before 6/2017. Pours lightly hazy very dark brown color with a 2 finger fairly dense and fluffy light khaki head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a large cap that lasts the whole. Thick soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a good amount of streaming carbonation retaining the head. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of cherry, milk chocolate, cocoa, caramel, brown sugar, cream, brown bread, and light herbal. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of cherry, cocoa, and dark/roast/bready malt notes; with solid strength. Taste of lightly tart cherry, milk chocolate, cocoa, caramel, brown sugar, cream, toasted brown bread, and light nuttiness/herbal. Minimal herbal/roast bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of cherry, milk chocolate, cocoa, caramel, brown sugar, cream, toasted brown bread, and light nuttiness/herbal on the finish for a good bit. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of cherry, cocoa, and dark/roast/bready malt flavors; with a nice roasted bitter/sweet balance, and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Minimal dryness. Medium-plus carbonation and medium body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready, and slightly silky mouthfeel that is nice. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 6%. Overall this is a very good fruited chocolate stout. All around good complexity, robustness, and balance of cherry, cocoa, and dark/roast/bready malt flavors; very smooth and easy to drink. Not a ton of cherry, but had nice presence; without having acidic/syrupy character in the mouthfeel. A very flavorful chocolate stout, with complementing backing cherry flavors. A very enjoyable offering.

 

 

 

Empyrean Chocolate Cherry Stout, 6% ABV, 22 IBU. Pours medium viscosity and black, with a two finger tan head that leaves nice lacing. Nose is malty chocolate and slight cherry. Taste is mostly tart cherry, slight chocolate, and a bit of a carbonation burn. Mouthfeel is OK, but over-carbonation detracts. Overall very good.

 

Very enjoyable when taken on thy the whole. Rich flavors, not overly sweet. Tart cherry evades the "cough syrup" pitfall, and a decent round, reasonably rich milk stout base supports the cherry/chocolate tones. Mouth feel a bit "soda-y". A smoother, richer mouth feel would have fit better with the flavor. Still, really good when paired with a dark chocolate Klondike bar!

Dark brown-black pour with a 1 finger head, gradually receding to a sliver of grey-beige head.

Aromas of torched cocoa nibs, a hint of milk, amaretto, and cherry cough syrup.

It mostly tastes like an American Stout with some cherry tartness slapping the tongue at the end. The cherry flavor isn't really there much, it's suggestive and detectable moreso. The tartness comes across more in the feel, the tongue puckering upon itself at the very finale. Some oats and milk in the profile as well, but mostly classic roast malts in an American Stout style (a la Ballast Point Commodore, or Deschutes Obsidian).

Feel is roasty, dry, and smooth - I keep coming back to oats, though I'm not sure they were used here. The puckering punch of cherry is felt on the tongue as it soaks up tartness on the finish.

Overall, not a bad effort, and especially for its price point its worth picking up. I'll be enjoying the rest of these.