Bison Organic Chocolate Stout | Bison Brewing

3.28/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Enjoyed with a kobe beef burger at the Flamin' Grill in Sacramento, heck of a place by the way. The organic label is lost on me, I care about my beer being organic about as much as I care about it being free-range or vegan. Whatev'

Pours a nice dark, albeit thin, black, with not much head. The smell comes through with chocolate, roasted notes, a little bit of coffee. The taste is strong with nice bittering chocolate, however, it is conflicted with an overly metallic taste. Really not all that great. Would have preferred a lot more thickness, and frankly a little more alcoholic substantiation.

Not a bad beer, not that good either though, but still worth a try. Without the metal it would be pretty good.

 712 characters

3.82/5  rDev +10.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Pours black as an oil slick with small mocha colored head that is gone pretty fast,love the rich aromas going on deeply roasted malt along a real cocoa presence almost like a mocha coffee with a touch of molasses.A real drawback on this beer is that it seems pretty thin and watery for a stout wich makes it easy going down but Iam not sure if thats what I want in a chocolate stout.Anyways there are some nice flavors roasted coffee and bitter chocolate with a burnt finish.Outside of the mouthfeel this is a real nice offering I would drink again.

 549 characters

3.18/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Appearance – Black with a nice, tanned head. It didn’t show much retention but, when it was up, this was a real good-looking beer.

Smell – Very dry-smelling burnt malt with some nice chocolate cocoa notes. There’s a bit of coffee in here as well.

Taste – The cocoa comes up front along with an early bitterness. The malt base shows up mid-stream and the Stout finishes with the big West Coast hoppy finish that I just don’t care for.

Mouthfeel – Very bitter and medium-bodied.

Drinkability – This was an easy-drinker. I’m not a fan of the hopped-up Stouts, though.

 585 characters

3.5/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

4.02/5  rDev +15.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

a) nearly opaque with dark amber showing around the edges of the glass; short, dark tan head that doesn't linger; no lacing to speak of

s) immediate cocoa with some dark fruit; coffee and molasses also apparent

t) deep, dark, intense, and bitter (kind of like me); a touch of dark, fruity sweetness; maybe some mild herbal hops coming in at the end, or it could just be more bitterness from the cocoa and roasted barley

m) nice and thick, as it should be

d) it's surprising to drink a chocolate stout that doesn't taste like dessert (I'm looking at you, Young's); this is a unique beer that does a fantastic job putting a new twist on the style

 648 characters

3.53/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

22oz bomber. Black pour with dark brown hues and a light tan head that becomes a ring around the top. Aromas of somewhat roasted malts with a nice big cocoa aroma. Toasted grains and a bit of toffee. There's also a slight coffee bitterness here too.

First sip brings a big roasty malt followed by a rich cocoa flavor. Coffee flavors come through as it moves down with a smoky accent. Not much for hops coming through here at all. Finishes with a touch of lingering chocolate.

Mouthfeel is between medium and light bodied. An easy drinking stout that borders on a porter in body. Either way I thought it was a good beer, but not as robust and flavorful as I expected.

 668 characters

3.5/5  rDev +0.9%

3.5/5  rDev +0.9%

3.72/5  rDev +7.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

12 ounce bottle, pours darkest of browns, not black , with just the slightest bit of line shining through the edges. Low carboantion, minimal head and no lacing. Nose is strongly dark chocolate. Sort of dull flavorwise, chocolate is all over the place, just a hint of snappy hops on the back side. Low complexity, nice if you like dark, gooey and sludgy stouts. Leaves a chalky taste on the palate, cant say I'd look foward to quaffing more then one of this stuff....

 467 characters

3.04/5  rDev -12.4%

3.08/5  rDev -11.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

Dark, dark brown pour with a brown ring of bubbles for a head. Cocoa and coffee aroma. Taste is a split between burnt coffee with roasted malt and watery chocolate. Not well balanced. Finish is surprisingly smooth. These organics are always lacking in something, this one being body. Good, not great.

 300 characters

3.23/5  rDev -6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A glowing, luminous black (is that even possible?) with a fine drift of foam atop that laces down the glass. Aroma of cocoa. The beer has quite a bite to it, not sweet and buttery and chocolatey as you might expect. Rather, it tastes of unsweetened baker's cocoa powder, not too far from mocha or even espresso. It's a bitter stout with ample hops whose herbalness marries pretty well with the cocoa to obscure the sweet roastiness of the malts. It's good, not great, and leaves an unpleasant chalky bitterness on the tongue.

 525 characters

4/5  rDev +15.3%

3.25/5  rDev -6.3%

3.25/5  rDev -6.3%

3.52/5  rDev +1.4%

3.75/5  rDev +8.1%

3.75/5  rDev +8.1%

3.62/5  rDev +4.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Dark brown, slight black appearance, tan head, not much to it, good chocolate presentation in the nose.

Texture is a little thin for a stout, but not to the point of being detrimental. Kind of one dimensional, chocolate, not a lot of roast taste, or coffee to this one. No hops. Just an ample chocolate and chocolate malt feel to it, slightly oily, and not much more to it.

A good introductory level stout, might appeal to those who like Guinness a lot.

 457 characters

3.98/5  rDev +14.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Appears a dark almost black with mahogany brown edges when held toward the light, tan head forms thick and creamy in texture with even fine speckled lacing left behind as it dwindles. Aromatics full of roasted dark chocolate and pseudo coffee notes from the dark roasted malt profile utilized here. Doesn't smell any more chocolate than any other stout but I guess they did add some Danish cocoa, according to the label. Light, herbal, friendly hop profile with creamy milk chocolate in the finish. Flavor brings it altogether seems light and airy in texture but the flavor rides a nice wave over the palate with mildly brash dark roasts finishing into a creamy milk chocolate crescendo, staying semi bitter sweet without going candy on me. Some may ask for more chocolate sweetness I'm cool with the cocoa addition to the boil with just the subtle flow going on and definitely more bitterness from the darker roasts rather than from hops which are evident but more light and herbal than anything else. Mouthfeel is medium bodied but texture wise creamy almost nitro draft feel to it, bitter dry finish with a touch of chocolate sweetness, carbonation is subtle and smooth on the palate finishes with the dark roasted malt bitterness lingering the way it should. Drinkability is definitely better than their IPA, this one brings you on a bit of a journey especially when living in the beer deprived armpit of Ohio where I currently reside.

 1,439 characters

3.95/5  rDev +13.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

undated 12 oz bottle served in a pint glass. Unfortunately, the brewers weren't able to get a 22 oz. serving in this bottle even though the label says "1 pint, 6 fl. oz".

Even with a rather gentle pour, I had to wait a few minutes to empty the bottle due to the towering tan head. Head has moderate retention. Liquid is opaque, appearing nearly black but with mahogany highlights at the edges given bright light.

S - appealing mix of cocoa and toasted malt, plus faint hops.

T - IMO, one of the best balanced chocolate stouts I've had, with plenty of cocoa flavor but with more toasted grain flavor than chocolate. Balanced sweetness, with both sweet and bitter components readily detectable. Some coffee notes. A little more richness and complexity and this be a 4.5.

M - exceptionally smooth and creamy; very good carbonation level ... BUT ... I'd like a little more body; beer is a bit watery in the finish.

 916 characters

3.73/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

This beer pours a dark brown. The head is dark tan. It fades fast leaving a good amount of lacing. It smells of chocolate, which I guess is good since it is a chocolate stout. It has slight sents of malts and coffee. It tastes very chocolatey. There is a coffee taste hidden behind the strong chocolate taste. This beer is full bodied and sweet. It leaves a chocolate taste on the palate. This beer might not make a good session beer because it is too rich. It is very good, but the richness of it will get to be too much. This beer is definately worth a try.

 559 characters

3.25/5  rDev -6.3%

3.48/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Bottle. Pretty decent little stout. Heaps of roasted bitterness, and bitter chocolate. Decent balance and flavour, not particularly complex, but tasty. As with all West Coast beers, theres a fair few hops in here, but it doesn't really unbalance it or anything, a nice stout.

 275 characters

3.5/5  rDev +0.9%