Imperial Chocolate Cheesecake Milkshake Stout
Rochester Mills Beer Co.

16 ounce can, can't read the date stamp well but think it's stamped with a 23 on the bottom. Part of the 2022 Milkshake Stout box so probably not quite a year old. Served in a Spiegelau stout glass, the beer pours dark brown/black with a couple inch tan head. Head retention is good and there's a small amount of lacing. I like the aroma, the brew smells like chocolate, butterscotch, caramel, roasted malt, cream and vanilla. For the most part I think the taste is similar to the aroma, but with the addition of some dark bread, cream cheese, nutty and earthy flavors. It's sweet tasting but not as sweet as I was expecting which is a good thing in this case. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's smooth and slick with a moderate amount of carbonation. I thought it's a good pastry style stout, certainly worth trying if you're into sweeter tasting brews!

L: Dark Chocolate Brown, with a light brown 2 finger head. Carbonation a bit light, lacing scant but persistent.
S: Primarily Cocoa, with salt, butterscotch, malt, and minor hops notes and caramel notes. Quite pleasant.
T: Cocoa, with caramel, malt, milk, cane sugar, and some unidentifiable cheese flavor emulating the 'cheesecake'. Bit of a stretch, that last one.
F: A tad on the sweet/sticky side, but not alarmingly so. Perfectly acceptable.
O: This could have been a very good chocolate milkshake stout, but the kitchen sink 'cheesecake' reach really brings this brew down a notch. Good, but not good enough to ever buy again.

I got a can of this beer from a mixed Christmas holiday 12pck that I bought from my local meijer store. It poured an opaque dark with thin tan head that is leaving some lace. The scent had decadent chocolate notes. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink with chocolate malt base and cream cheese highlights. The mouthfeel was medium in body and had good carbonation. Overall it is a solid beer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A- Pours with the thickness of 10w30 motor oil and is is about as black as a stout will come in terms of color! The head is medium/dark brown, and with plenty of wee tiny bubbles that give it a creamy foamed appearance. Carbonation is much too hard to see but the lacing is moderate....lots of small circular shapes cling to the inside of the glass.

S- Heavy cream cheese and chocolate make up the bulk of the aromas, with initial heavy whiffs of toasted coconut, toasted marshmallow, roasted chestnut and/or hazelnut, cooked vanilla bean, heavy cream and a finish that showcases traditional stout malts, but a real lingering sweet chocolate dessert! Delectable on the nostrils!

T- Frangelico liqueur for sure with chestnut richness mixed in, with plenty of dark creamy chocolate, cocoa nibs, French press mocha coffee, some balancing and bittering black and chocolate malts , heavy cream, chocolate infused dry biscuit, background flavors of vanilla and cream cheese, marshmallow fluff and dark truffle filling. The finish is a combination of dry/bitter Earthy charred malt and burnt caramel/toffee. Simply a pleasure on the palate!

M/O- One of the few truly full bodied beers that I can remember and becomes heavy in the belly. Extremely full flavored and lingers for minutes after a sip, this is easy to gulp down but I am thoroughly enjoying consuming this slowly as anyone should really! The alcohol isn't even a blip in the scheme of things and I really feel like I'm sipping on a liquid version of chocolate cheesecake. I'm impressed with this brewery and look forward to having this sometime down the road. High marks indeed!

 

16 ounce can into tulip glass, best before 6/15/2020. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 1-2 finger dense and rocky khaki head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a large cap that lasts. Thick foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, cream cheese, vanilla, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, molasses, dark fruit, smoke, char, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/black/roast/bready malts, lactose, cocoa nib, cream cheese, and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast notes; with big strength. Taste of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, cream cheese, vanilla, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, molasses, dark fruit, smoke, char, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Light herbal, grassy, peppery, roast, charred bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, cream cheese, vanilla, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, dark bread/crust, licorice, molasses, dark fruit, smoke, char, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roast/bready malts, lactose, cocoa nib, cream cheese, and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; with an awesome hop/roast bitter/sweet balance; and 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 fairly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 7.5%. Overall this is an awesome flavored milk stout. All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roast/bready malts, lactose, cocoa nib, cream cheese, and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the mellowly bitter/charred/drying finish. Great soft/silky feel, not overly bitter/charred. Awesome balance of rich malts, cream cheese, lactose, and cocoa nib flavor complexity; with solid earthy hops, and restrained fruity yeast. Light residual sweetness with lingering hop/char bitter dryness. A really enjoyable offering, and impressive spot on English style example as expected.