Joe-Joe’s Chocolate Vanilla Creme Stout
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

 

From the 16 oz can in a snifter via Jamie and Jeanette! Cheers!
This decent little stout pours a dark brownish black with dark tea highlights
and a nice head of light brown foam that settles to a thick ring, thin dusty layer,
and sports some nice lacing. Nose of chocolate syrup, cream, vanilla, and
dark roasted malts dashed with brulee. Flavors follow the nose with literal
chocolate syrup, vanilla cream, subtle brulee, and dark roasted malts with
a touch of coconut that keeps popping up. Mouth feel is medium full leaning
towards full, smooth, moderately rich, moderately coating, medium light
carbonation, and finishing sweet with a medium bitter malt note.

Overall, a decent little brew but keeps me thinking of artificial chocolate.

Cheers

Poured from a can into a snifter
Appearance – the beer pours a deep brown, bordering on black color with a one finger head of dense tan colored foam. The head has a fantastic level of retention, fading very slowly over time and leaving tons of foamy and streaky lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma is massive of a cocoa powder smell mixed with lots of vanilla crème and notes of roasted and toasted malt. Along with these smells comes some strong notes of coffee and a bit of a woody and earthy smell.
Taste – The taste begins with a super sweet dark chocolate flavor with the sweetness being a blend of vanilla crème, molasses, brown sugar, and milk. It really does have a Oreo cookie like vibe going on. The cookie nature of the brew remains strong throughout the taste profile, with a bit more roasted malt and some light coffee joining in throughout. At the end there it gets even sweeter and sorta cloying, leaving one with a dense and heavy dark cookie stout taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body is super heavy and thick with a lower and more moderate carbonation level.
Overall – Way too sweet. It does have an Oreo cookie flavor for sure, but it is a bit artificial tasting and just too over the top. Not really my jam.

Too chocolatey. Hershey’s syrup with alcohol.

 

 

Poured from a 16 ounce can dated 10/02/2025 into a snifter glass.
L - Pours a dark brown, almost black color with a slight tan head that dissipates quickly.
S - Smells of chocolate and vanilla.
T - Tastes like liquid fudge and vanilla.
F - Thick creamy body with minimal carbonation.
O - If you like creamy chocolatey stouts, you will love this stout. I thought it was great.

Joe-Joe's Chocolate Vanilla Creme Stout has a very thin, beige head and a dark brown appearance, with no lacing. The aroma is of cocoa & dark bread. The flavor shines with dry chocolate, vanilla, cream, and brown bread crust. Sweetness is fairly high, and bitterness is low. Joe-Joe's Chocolate Vanilla Creme Stout has a high-medium body and a mostly-dry finish.

RJT

16oz can. Poured out an opaque, jet-black color with a small, khaki-colored head of foam. It smelled of vanilla, chocolate, toffee and cream. Sweet chocolate taste with vanilla and creaminess.

 

Pours dark black with minimal, chestnut head. Taste is very well balanced (if a touch sweet), with strong notes of vanilla, cream and marshmallow. Flavored stouts of this kind often fall flat, with washed out and artificial tasting flavors, but not so in this case. A thoroughly enjoyable stout for the holiday season.

 

 

Black in color with no light penetration. There’s a fingernail of creamy brown on top. The aroma is of vanilla and cocoa. I am tasting vanilla, cocoa, and lactose. The mouth is relatively light and approachable.

4-pack from Trader Joe's

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque in the glass with a one finger khaki head with good retention and light lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, vanilla, fudge and some lactose; smells like chocolate cake batter. Flavor follows, with mildly sweet dark toasted malt, vanilla, lactose and chocolate; chocolatey finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. This promises a vanilla and chocolate stout and definitely delivers. Although the flavor profile is very much dessert, it is only lightly sweet with a somewhat dry finish. I was expecting a possibly cloying dessert stout and was pleasantly surprised. The chocolate flavor is high quality and the vanilla is well balanced. The body is a bit thin for the high ABV, but is satisfactory and supports the flavors well. Trader Joe's one-off holiday beers can be hit or miss, but this is one of the good ones. Nicely done.

 

16 oz can poured into a snifter.

A: A semi-aggressive pour yields black liquid and three solid fingers of light brown head. Bubbles are small and this creates a creamy texture. Retention is superb, and the head hangs around with some height for the whole duration. Thin sheets and collars of lacing.

S: Lots of confectioners sugar up front, and that fake sort of Little Debbie's cream. Chocolate cake and chocolate sauce. Black cocoa powder. Sugary lactose. Mild green and oily hops with a bit of steeliness. On the whole, it does smell like a Ho Hos snack cake.

T: Big wave of Hershey's chocolate syrup up front. Chocolate cake with fudge sauce. Vanilla and confectioners sugar, and artificial cream. Lactose. Mild undercurrents of roast and a bit of coffee and dark chocolate, but they are largely washed over by the sweetness and lactose. Some balancing hop bitterness, just to keep things drinkable. Oiliness and a bit of steeliness, but it is pretty slight. Finishes with a lot of chocolate cake and Hostess cupcakes.

M: Rich and heavy mouth feel, full and creamy. A bit coating with all the residual sugar, but not sticky. Fine-bubbled carbonation provides a bit of lift.

O: The concept was to create a beer with the flavor of an Oreo cookie-like snack. They did a pretty damn good job of that, but in my mind's eye I get more Little Debbie Swiss rolls or hostess cupcakes. It's a big and sweet beer, but stays barely drinkable enough to work. The flavor tastes a bit artificially desserty, but that's the concept. I actually found myself liking it quite a bit, and I'm not the type that normally goes for big sweet pastry stouts. Credit where it's due- this is just a nailed concept and a good beer for what it is.

16z can stamped Cookies & Cream 8/26/---smudged
Deep brown, khaki head is a full 2+ fingers in height. Settles in to a solid ring with light lacing, low retention.
Nose abounds with a full (but still pleasant to my vanilla-biased palate) vanilla and cream. But then some smooth chocolate notes, slightly sweet.
Flavor is fairly sweet and the vanilla really carries its weight but in a balanced way. The chocolate notes are mildly sweet with a smooth lactose creaminess that works well here.
Mouthfeel is medium, smooth, with low carb.
Overall a fairly sweet ride.