Double Chocolate Milkshake Stout
Rochester Mills Beer Co.

 

 

Best chocolate stout I've ever had. Taste and feel is sweet, creamy chocolate milk. Very smooth velvety. Got it in the "12 days of Milkshake Stout" Christmas box.

Pours a very thin chocolate brown. First impression is that is smells a bit like pudding. I get lots of chocolate on the start that falls off to a flat cocoa powder mouthfeel.

Can / Nonic pint glass / No food pairing

16 ounce can, best by date of 07/02/21 stamped on the bottom of the can. 2020 vintage, part of the 12 Days of Milkshake Stout sampler pack. Served in a Spiegelau stout glass, the beer pours a very dark brown color with about an inch tan head. Head retention and lacing are both good. The brew smells mostly like milk chocolate, vanilla and cream. Taste is pretty much like the aroma, with milk chocolate, vanilla, cream, caramel and bready flavors. Reminds me of chocolate milkshake and chocolate icing, but not overly sweet. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's a bit creamy and coating with a moderate amount of carbonation. I thought it was a good overall brew, glad I was able to try this one!

 

 

A- This one pours a fairly opaque dark brown that reminds me of an old fashioned root beer color....almost black but still shades of brown noted. The carbonation seems to be plentiful, yet small, with tight bubbles rising to the top of the liquid. The head is medium tan in color, pours densely , but does settle rather quickly, only leaving a thick ring around the inside of the glass. Overall it looks like a stout!

S- Oh man this smells just like chocolate milk and/or a freshly made chocolate milkshake....I don't think I've ever smelled something that resembles chocolate as closely as this does so well....it makes my mouth water just on the aroma alone! Ok to try and break this one down on the nostrils......heavy cocoa, milk and dark chocolates, whipping cream (freshly beaten into a topping) and/or cool whip, vanilla bean, egg/sugar/butter mix (the best part of making a cookie batter...for those who bake lol), melted vanilla ice cream, fudge toffee truffle, almond nuttiness, and huge caramel on the finish.....it really is hard to find the 'beer' aromas in this one, but I am loving it so far!!

T- Ahhhh, this is where the balance between dessert and stout all comes to a head! Aside from really all of the aforementioned aromas finding their way onto my palate, I now taste the chocolate and black malts used, which provide a soothing bitterness at the back of my mouth, black coffee, pure cocoa powder and burnt brown sugars/molasses that all bring the sweetness down a notch or two. Now back to that same sweetness......plenty of melted milk chocolate, cooked vanilla bean, heavy cream richness, chocolate ice cream, buttery yeast, sugar cookie, dark chocolate nibs and ever so slight dark dried fruit (raisin/fig). On the finish, there is some muted Earthy bittering hops, that linger, and after a burp, these are noted more so....the cocoa and hops linger for a minute or so after the swallow.

M/O- Medium/full body, with smooth creamy carbonation, yet with enough zip to quench my thirst. Alcohol is pretty much non existent and for as rich a drink as this one is, I find the drinkability factor to be quite high, and I'm glad I'm not sharing this one, even though it would make a perfect milk stout for that purpose. I think this along with 85% Lindt, with which I am enjoying with, makes a splendid pairing and highly recommend trying it! This may be one of the finest Milkshake stouts that Rochester Mills has in their repertoire and Im certainly going to look for this one again in the future!

 

 

 

 

 

16 ounce can into tulip glass, best before 6/26/2020. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and rocky light khaki head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Nice dense foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big milk chocolate, cocoa, caramel, vanilla, toffee, cream, butter, fudge, nuts, biscuit, and dark/brown bread/crust; with light notes of licorice, dark fruit, smoke, char, herbal, wood, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/black/bready malts, cocoa nib/powder/butter, and light earthy hop/fruity yeast notes; with big strength. Taste of huge milk chocolate, cocoa, caramel, vanilla, toffee, cream, butter, fudge, nuts, biscuit, and dark/brown bread/crust; with light notes of licorice, dark fruit, smoke, char, herbal, wood, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Light pine, herbal, woody, grassy, roast, charred bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk chocolate, cocoa, caramel, vanilla, toffee, cream, butter, fudge, nuts, biscuit, dark/brown bread/crust, licorice, dark fruit, smoke, char, herbal, wood, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/black/bready malts, cocoa nib/powder/butter, and light earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; with an awesome roast/hop bitter/sweet balance; with no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering hop/char bitterness. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/bready, and lightly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 5.75%. Overall this is an awesome flavored milk stout. All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/black/bready malts, cocoa nib/powder/butter, and light earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the mellowly bitter/roasted/drying finish. Very smooth, soft, silky feel. Awesome balance of rich malts, lactose, and cocoa nib/powder/butter flavors. Light earthy hops and fruity yeast. Light residual sweetness with lingering dryness. A really enjoyable offering, and impressive spot on English style example as expected.