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72 Imperial Chocolate Cream Stout
Breckenridge Brewery


Beer Geek Stats
| Print Shelf Talker
- From:
- Breckenridge Brewery
- Colorado, United States
- Style:
- Sweet / Milk Stout
- ABV:
- 7.2%
- Score:
- 87
- Avg:
- 3.86 | pDev: 10.62%
- Reviews:
- 160
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Nov 25, 2018
- Added:
- Jan 11, 2011
- Wants:
- 46
- Gots:
- 128
SCORE
87
Very Good
87
Very Good


Notes:
Just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Like its namesake automobile, this small batch beer is meticulously engineered for luxury and enjoyment. We start with a great, hearty stout recipe and add loads of dark chocolate – 200 pounds per 100-barrel brew. This Imperial Chocolate Cream Stout is the color of molasses and is full of rich, toasted cocoa notes with hints of dark fruit. 72 Imperial will delight the taste buds.
11 IBU
Like its namesake automobile, this small batch beer is meticulously engineered for luxury and enjoyment. We start with a great, hearty stout recipe and add loads of dark chocolate – 200 pounds per 100-barrel brew. This Imperial Chocolate Cream Stout is the color of molasses and is full of rich, toasted cocoa notes with hints of dark fruit. 72 Imperial will delight the taste buds.
11 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Reviewed by Jugs_McGhee from Colorado
3.32/5 rDev -14%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
3.32/5 rDev -14%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Reviewed from notes taken in Summer 2012:
Served on-draught into a pilsner glass. Cost was $3.00 USD.
7.2% ABV. Imperial stout.
APPEARANCE: Pours a half finger worth of head of khaki colour. Head consistency is okay - okay creaminess, fair thickness. Average (~2 minute) head retention.
Body colour is a solid black. No yeast/lees are visible within.
Looks appropriate for the style. Very conventional.
AROMA: Cream, roasted barley, robust dark malts, vague hints of chocolate. A mild aroma overall.
TASTE: Creamy flavours, roasted barley, dark malt/schwarz malt sweetness, and plentiful chocolate (suggesting specialty chocolate malt). Not particularly rich or vivid, but enjoyable. Could use more roast to provide more balancing bitterness for all that sweetness.
It's tasty but simple. Slightly imbalanced. Built decently. Not real complex or subtle.
TEXTURE: Smooth and wet. A bit too thick. Not quite soft or creamy enough to really accent the chocolate. Would be better with more dryness and coarseness to highlight the roast. Suits the flavours decently enough, but fails to elevate the beer as a whole.
OVERALL: Hides its ABV quite well. A tasty beer for what it is, but not unique or special. A solid offering from Breckenridge at this price, but overall it won't dazzle discerning drinkers.
B- (3.32) / WORTHY
Jul 19, 2017Served on-draught into a pilsner glass. Cost was $3.00 USD.
7.2% ABV. Imperial stout.
APPEARANCE: Pours a half finger worth of head of khaki colour. Head consistency is okay - okay creaminess, fair thickness. Average (~2 minute) head retention.
Body colour is a solid black. No yeast/lees are visible within.
Looks appropriate for the style. Very conventional.
AROMA: Cream, roasted barley, robust dark malts, vague hints of chocolate. A mild aroma overall.
TASTE: Creamy flavours, roasted barley, dark malt/schwarz malt sweetness, and plentiful chocolate (suggesting specialty chocolate malt). Not particularly rich or vivid, but enjoyable. Could use more roast to provide more balancing bitterness for all that sweetness.
It's tasty but simple. Slightly imbalanced. Built decently. Not real complex or subtle.
TEXTURE: Smooth and wet. A bit too thick. Not quite soft or creamy enough to really accent the chocolate. Would be better with more dryness and coarseness to highlight the roast. Suits the flavours decently enough, but fails to elevate the beer as a whole.
OVERALL: Hides its ABV quite well. A tasty beer for what it is, but not unique or special. A solid offering from Breckenridge at this price, but overall it won't dazzle discerning drinkers.
B- (3.32) / WORTHY
Reviewed by bbtkd from South Dakota
3.78/5 rDev -2.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
3.78/5 rDev -2.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Breckenridge 72 Imperial Chocolate Cream Stout, 7.2% ABV, 11 IBU. Pours thick and black, with a one finger tan head. Nose is chocolate, cream, and malt. Taste follows, slightly sweet, not much bitterness. Excellent mouthfeel, creamy with a bit of carbonation burn. Overall excellent.
Apr 28, 2017Reviewed by dacrza1 from New Jersey
4.09/5 rDev +6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
4.09/5 rDev +6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
DATE: February 3, 2017... OCCASION: celebrating what the doctors term a successful surgery for Mom... GLASSWARE: Guinness pint... dark black body as expected, with a half-finger of creamy brown head sitting confidently atop... cocoa bean, coffee bean, vanilla, band aid (in the vein of Islay scotch), cookie dough and bourbonesque suggestions.... dry at the start, mild through the mouth, and full at the finish... lingers with lactic sweetness... cola qualities make for an interesting palate... chocolate milk, slightly briny, vanilla and cookie dough--a dessertif for certain, with an alcoholic heaviness that belies its 7.2% ABV... worth the selection in my Wegman's winter pick six, flavorful and drinkable...
Feb 04, 2017Reviewed by GuyFawkes from Illinois
3.79/5 rDev -1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
3.79/5 rDev -1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Poured from the bottle into a glass.
Black color.
Dark khaki head; frothy lace.
Milk chocolate nose.
Medium mouthfeel.
Cream soda meets chocolate taste. Not awful but pretty blah.
Nov 03, 2016Black color.
Dark khaki head; frothy lace.
Milk chocolate nose.
Medium mouthfeel.
Cream soda meets chocolate taste. Not awful but pretty blah.
Reviewed by Guppy314 from District of Columbia
3.34/5 rDev -13.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
3.34/5 rDev -13.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
From a bottle, pours a nearly opaque dark brown with a creamy khaki head. Molasses and malt aromas. Roasted sweet malt flavors really dominate everything else. Creamy decent mouth-feel. Overall, a nice beverage, but (for me) any chocolate flavor is entirely missing in action... disappointing since it's in the name. Alternatively, I found fantastic chocolate flavors in "Founders Porter" or even a very available "Edmund Fitzgerald Porter".
Aug 01, 2016Reviewed by ccg from Virginia
3.79/5 rDev -1.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.79/5 rDev -1.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
'72 Imperial Chocolate Cream Stout
Look: Thin layer of light tan foam, small amount of lacing. 3.75
Smell: tons of chocolate and roasted malt. 4.0
Taste: chocolate, malt, brown sugar. Not the strongest flavor, but pleasant. 3.75
Mouthfeel: Light and airy. Easy to drink, but could use some more body. 3.5
Overall: It may not knock your socks off, but it's quite a nice dessert stout. 3.75
Jun 24, 2016Look: Thin layer of light tan foam, small amount of lacing. 3.75
Smell: tons of chocolate and roasted malt. 4.0
Taste: chocolate, malt, brown sugar. Not the strongest flavor, but pleasant. 3.75
Mouthfeel: Light and airy. Easy to drink, but could use some more body. 3.5
Overall: It may not knock your socks off, but it's quite a nice dessert stout. 3.75
Reviewed by damndirtyape from Ohio
3.89/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.89/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
12oz bottle (no date, but I'm guessing a recent bottling) served in a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black and letting no light through. Thin tan rocky head with some fine persistent lacing noted.
Smell: Quite chocolaty - dark chocolate, cocoa powder, and vanilla.
Taste: Very sweet. Chocolate again, milk sugars, some bittersweet chocolate, a bit of leafy herbal bitterness, and a hint of char.
Mouthfeel: Smooth and approaching creamy, with some prickly carbonation. A bit of a dry finish.
Overall / Drinkability: A very sweet stout, but that's the point with this beer given the title. I think this would pair well with cookies, but it's good by itself as a dessert. I can only have one per evening though. Well crafted, but I think it needs a bit more bitterness to balance it out.
Apr 03, 2016Appearance: Black and letting no light through. Thin tan rocky head with some fine persistent lacing noted.
Smell: Quite chocolaty - dark chocolate, cocoa powder, and vanilla.
Taste: Very sweet. Chocolate again, milk sugars, some bittersweet chocolate, a bit of leafy herbal bitterness, and a hint of char.
Mouthfeel: Smooth and approaching creamy, with some prickly carbonation. A bit of a dry finish.
Overall / Drinkability: A very sweet stout, but that's the point with this beer given the title. I think this would pair well with cookies, but it's good by itself as a dessert. I can only have one per evening though. Well crafted, but I think it needs a bit more bitterness to balance it out.
Reviewed by deleted_user_1111368 from Delaware
3.96/5 rDev +2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
3.96/5 rDev +2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
12oz bottle into a 20oz stout glass.
L = Dark with a nice caramel colored head. Lacing and head both disappear rather fast.
S = Dark dry chocolate, slight malt smell.
T = Dark ..rich chocolate. A very slight after-taste that dissapates
F = Smooth, but not thick.
I've had quite a few chocolate stouts over the last year or so, and this is the richest so far. Would I drink this beer again.. yes!
Mar 21, 2016L = Dark with a nice caramel colored head. Lacing and head both disappear rather fast.
S = Dark dry chocolate, slight malt smell.
T = Dark ..rich chocolate. A very slight after-taste that dissapates
F = Smooth, but not thick.
I've had quite a few chocolate stouts over the last year or so, and this is the richest so far. Would I drink this beer again.. yes!
Rated by jimpyle48 from Virginia
4.29/5 rDev +11.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.29/5 rDev +11.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Sampled from bottle
Mar 02, 2016Reviewed by zfw from Texas
3.71/5 rDev -3.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.71/5 rDev -3.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Look: nice deep dark brown. Little to no head. Smell: cocoa up front, with dark malt. Taste: like the smell, dominated by chocolate and dark malts, with a bit of a (nice) boozy flavor. Feel: body is thin, to me, for a stout.
Opinions vary on stouts versus porters, but I would characterize this beer more as a porter versus a stout on both flavor balance and body. That said, it's a very enjoyable beer.
Feb 28, 2016Opinions vary on stouts versus porters, but I would characterize this beer more as a porter versus a stout on both flavor balance and body. That said, it's a very enjoyable beer.
72 Imperial Chocolate Cream Stout from Breckenridge Brewery
Beer rating:
87 out of
100 with
760 ratings
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