The Chocolate Monocle
Third Moon Brewing

Got this from Emma & Terry. Cheers!

From a 473ml can into a snifter
Canned 22 September 2021
Collaboration with BreWiskey in Montreal
Imperial stout with chocolate, vanilla & lactose

APPEARANCE: Pours out clear black and somewhat syrupy, forming a small, thin tan head that disappears immediately. Black body with no carbonation evident. Thin scummy film and a slight ring is all there is.

SMELL: Roasted aromas, some leather and tobacco, pure chocolate as well, with some milk sugars and some alcohol on the nose. Bold.

TASTE: Roasted flavors, some tobacco and leather, with lots of milk sugars and vanilla cream at the swallow. Plenty sweet. Boozy as well. Bold finish of lactose, and vanilla cream, some pure chocolate, roasted flavors, some leather, as well as decent booze lingers on the palate. Plenty sweet with lots of lactose on this one.

PALATE: Medium body and lower levels of carbonation. Syrupy and a touch flat, goes down fine with a bit of a scratch and finishes sticky. Some decent heat lingers.

OVERALL: This is alright. It’s got a disappointing head and a flatter look, what with the head disappearing leaving just a scummy film. The nose and flavor are solid and the feel is okay. It’s certainly a sweet lactose brew but if that’s your thing, you’ll enjoy this for sure. Not bad, but not something I’d have to re-visit. Cheers!

 

Pours black with a finger of bubbly khaki foam. Sits still in the glass. Aroma is roasty and toasty malts followed up closely with lactose. Chocolate and vanilla bean add some depth, and both work to accent sweetness out front. Aroma leans into sweetness up front, with lurking bitter shadows provided by roasty malts. Flavor profile is roasty, toasty, caramely malts with hearty chocolate, vanilla bean, and lactose through the backend. It's malt lead, establishing a base, with chocolate sweeping in next. Chocolate is milk chocolate - like a candy bar. Vanilla bean is more subtle, adding some contrast to the vanilla bean. Vanilla seems to balloon in intensity as the beer warms. Mouth feel is medium-thick with a smooth, creaminess that resembles something like heavy or whole milk. Texture is consistent throughout. Overall, a decadent milk stout that stacks chocolate on vanilla for further sweetness. Despite the candy bar label, and taste, it remains quite smooth.

Served in a 15.5oz Speigalau tulip from a "473mL" can - darn Metric system.

Pours an extremely dark brown with hints of light shining through on the actual pour, but fully opaque once in the glass. Almost no head combined with nice legs hint at the high ABV.

Roasty notes are the first to hit the nose with closer inspection revealing the vanilla and a sweetness likely from the lactose. The alcohol is present, but not overwhelming.

On the tongue this is quite rich, with chocolate coming through right off the bat, followed by some nice underlying roasted malts that carry through the long finish. I would have guessed this was brewed with coffee, although that's not the case. There are hints of vanilla, but the taste is almost reversed from the nose where the vanilla was much more noticeable than the chocolate. The alcohol is fairly well hidden. Sweet, but not overly so.

Fully bodied with a silky smooth texture and subtle warming from the alcohol.

Overall, good beer.