Snownami
Northbound Brewpub

Notes from February, 2016:
Utter blackness. Cocoa-tinged head, starts huge, drifts down, leaving lace.

Raspberries pop out of the nose. A little sweet, a little tart. Nice and fruity. Chocolate flavors hang just below.

In the mouth: bigger, raspberry-er, sweet-er. Some tannin-y textures coming through on the palate. Rich and full-bodied, but not quite as complex as I'd like.

I find this listed as a milk/sweet stout on BeerAdvocate. The 8.5% had me pegging it as an Imperial Stout, but none of the depth of flavors we'd expect from one of those is here. Of course not, but it's what I keep wanting.

Here's what the website says: Our most anticipated beer. This won a silver medal in the World Beer Cup 2014 for a reason. A Double Chocolate Raspberry Stout that uses cocoa nibs, Belgian Chocolate, and raspberries to create a rich and robust stout with enough sweetness to make you savor every sip.

Tested from a 750ml jar at home.
Beautiful looking beer. Nice tall very fine thick fluffy head that lasts a long time that leaves plenty of lacing.
taste: plenty of raspberry and chocolate, silky smooth. Milky too maybe. not all that sweet, has some tartness too.

I like it. not something you drink every day thou. one 10oz pour is enough for the day. 750 ml is too much for one person to drink in one session.

Poured from 750ml bottle into glass. 2017 vintage.
Black colored body, with a tiny sliver of dark mahogany highlights when presented to light. Long lasting creamy tan head. Wide coverage of lacing left behind.
Raspberry fruit aroma, with muddy, earthy chocolate smell.
Taste follows smell, tart raspberry up front, followed by earthy, chalky chocolate. Certainly not a sweet beer, but does have the berry and chocolate hint. Really dry finish.
Starts with a thin mouth feel but repeated sips tighten up the entire mouth and throat, and make the beer seem a little thicker. No carbonation expressed in the mouth.
I can respect the brewer's effort but it is a beer that earns its likeability grudgingly. Pours really a beautiful glass of beer with its cola black color and thick tan head. Really has a mellow blend of fruit and chocolate that swirl around and accent each other. Bottom line, it's not a sweet desert beer, but rather a sipper beer that delivers a long lasting positive drinking experience. A mature beer, and I would say limited to a select palate (not wonderfully expressive up front and takes some time for the positive attributes to be recognized).

This is a great beer. You can taste both the chocolate and raspberry, but it is not overly sweet. Very smooth; a great winter beer.

Black color with thick tan head. Smells strongly like raspberries and chocolate, very fruity and chocolatey. The flavor immediately is very rich chocolate, almost like syrup but not overly sweet and then moves into a raspberry flavor. With these flavors, I would expect it to be overly sweet, but it is not surprisingly. The mouthfeel is extremely thick and rich, very solid at 8.5% and no boozy flavor.

Black with tan head. 2017 vintage.

Big raspberry flavor up front. Lots of cocoa and chocolate showing. Rich. Light roast. Caramel. Hershey's syrup.

Not as thick as I'd like, but otherwise a very nice treat. Enjoyable!