Brewer's Choice 2022: Chocolate-Dipped Cherry Imperial Stout
Boulevard Brewing Co.

 

 

Black in color with no light penetration. There’s no discernible head on top. The aroma is of sweet bourbon and tart cherries. I’m tasting tart cherries, sweet bourbon, and vanilla. The mouth is thick, chewy, and boozy.

12 oz bottle acclimated to 52°F and poured into a stout glass.

Pours an impenetrable super dark brown with a 1 finger foamy British khaki head, dissipating quickly and leaving minimal lacing.

Initial aroma is alcohol and huge maraschino cherry. Smelling again yields milk chocolate bar notes.

After agitating I get medicinal alcohol and some maraschino cherry.

Initial taste before swallowing is cherry with a hint of medicine, a definitive alcohol burnz and a touch of cinnamon and butter?

After swallowing I first get sour dairy for a moment, followed by high alcohol burn, and some maraschino cherry which becomes slightly medicinal, almost like cinnamon, and lasts into the finish. I get a lot of molasses and raisin. High alcohol, not burn, but high alcohol. I also find a nice chocolate taste that takes a moment to develop but lasts into the finish.

Feel is maybe a little thinner than I would have expected? Not a bad thing but unexpected. The carbonation does fade quickly, however, so it does feel somewhat flat.

Overall I think it's very good! I think the flavors were great, but I think a little more chocolate would have been nice.

Not one I would buy again. It was good but at the price I paid for it I'd personally rather buy something else.

 

fake cherry chocolate profile. the barrel aged stout is completely hidden, no malt no coffee etc, and the sweetness is thru the roof...

overall I think this is a bad experiment. this beer maybe good if you share 1 bottle with 3 person. 1 bottle for 1 person is too much, I can't handle the sugar

mix fake cherry chemical with barrel aged stout is just a completely waste of money

 

It’s a sipper. The chocolate cherry is forefront.
Overall a good beer.

Best by 8/23/24

I’ve been sitting on this on for a few months, planning to save it for a bitter cold night to warm me up, but I guess I’ll take it on this rather warm night instead. I tend to trust Boulevard to have a nice execution on these big beers, but I also know cherry in a Stout can be a challenge, so hopefully this works out for them

Pours almost completely pitch black with a finger of dark tan head that quickly fades to a ring and leaves minimal lacing

Holy fucking booze. This nose is just overkill of artificial cherry and booze. I’m picking up on aromas of cherry cough syrup, sweet bourbon, burnt sugar, fusel alcohol, light milk chocolate, and molasses

It’s still not great in taste, but quite the improvement over the aroma despite the medicinal vibe. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting cherry medicine, chocolate fudge, molasses, sweet bourbon, brown sugar, and light caramel. The swallow brings notes of cherry cough syrup, fusel alcohol, burnt sugar, molasses, cocoa powder, nutty malt, and caramel

A medium full body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a thin and boozy beer. Finishes neutral with a boozy heat

This isn’t the worst beer I’ve had, but it’s not great. The finer notes are all masked by a heavy booze note. Disappointed as this could have been much better

Poured into a tulip.

Pours dark and nearly opaque brown/black. Limited head. Even less retention. No lacing.

Aromas of bourbon, vanilla, cherry, and tobacco. Very little chocolate. Sort of like a chocolate-cherry cordial with some boozy bourbon sauce poured over it.

The flavor is similar but less authentic. Some artificial cherry and vanilla presence. The booze is pretty present on this one, but not unexpectedly so. It comes off more like a dessert drink than a beer.

Smooth and drinkable, but nearly cloying as it warms.

A bit too much booze presence. The artificial flavors make it seem gimmicky in some ways. Lots of flavor, but not sure I'd repeat.

 

A - Pitch brown pour with thin cherry colored lacing hanging out on top with no carbonation.

S - Chocolate cherry cordial aroma with light roasted chocolate malt base. Overall aroma comes across as artificial.

T - Up front? Booze...followed with more booze and artificial cherry with an underlying choclate malt that gets more booze.

M - Big medium body with total warming in the back of the throat.

O - Cherry boozy. Boozy....and more cherry.

The word is CHERRIES! and this one brings everything but the pit! Pretty flat pour, no lacing as the glass empties. Opaque black is the color, it absorbs any available light. Nose is, as mentioned, cherries - with some noticeable barrel fumes. Taste delivers those cherries, with the choco taking the backseat. Swallow is of sweet-tart cherries, and dominant, rather on the sticky-lips side.

Rather enjoyable, though i'll dispense the remaining vessel sparingly.

I think this mixed-6 of barrel-aged holiday stouts is a freaking win. I hope Boulevard continues this and other breweries follow suit. $21 for the sixer seems like a decent deal too.

Cherry stouts aren't usually my thing by here we go - dark/opaque black pour with a fizzy dark mocha head. The maraschino cherry pops out on the nose and palate but there is a good amount of chocolate ganache, dark cocoa and mousse as well, with some detectable alcohol warmth and some roasty char balancing the flavors out. Doesn't quite get into the cough syrupy category with the cherry component, which I appreciate. Decent stuff.

Pours very dark with a tan head, Smell is of fruit and alcohol. Taste is of alcohol with maybe some chocolate on the swallow.Feels thin for the style.

Brewer’s Choice 2022 Chocolate-Dipped Cherry from Boulevard Brewing. Mixed six-pack of 12 oz bottles from Franklin Beer, Franklin, on 08/12/22. $23.00 (Including tax) = $ 0.319/oz. Reviewed 12/12/22. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Rear label stamped “Please Enjoy By 23Aug2024”. Served at 55.2 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 57 degrees.
Appearance – 3.5.
First pour – Ruby Brown (SRM 24), opaque.
Body – Ruby brown (SRM 24), opaque. Under direct light, a large quantity of precipitate is visible. When rear-lite, opaque with light penetration only at the edges - ruby.
Head – Average (Maximum 3.2 cm, aggressive center pour), cordovan, high density, quickly diminishing to a 0.4 cm crown with a thin cap.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 4.5 – Distinct dark chocolate followed by weak cherry, no hops, no yeast. On the exhale, bourbon is evident.
Flavor – 4.5 – Flavor follows the nose – chocolatey, slightly sweet, no hops, no yeast. No ethanol (15 % ABV as marked on bottom) aroma or taste. Cherry appears in the after taste but is rapidly shouldered out by bourbon. Neither tannin nor vanillin are found. Mild gastric warming occurs. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Finishes lightly bitter.
Palate – 4 – Medium, creamy, soft carbonation. Leaves my lips slightly sticky.
Final impression and summation: 4.25 Very good although I would have liked an oakier presence to help balance the chocolate/cherry sweetness. I just wish this was available as a stand-alone case.

 

 

 

Not my favorite in the Brewer’s Choice series. Lightly boozy, cherry chocolate.
The beer has be tasted at warmer temps at least 50°, otherwise it will taste like cough syrup when cold. The flavors come out with warming.