The PastryArchy Edition #23: Chocolate Cherry Dessert Stout
DuClaw Brewing Co.

 

From a 16 oz can get a chilled glass. Comparing this to a few other dessert stouts I've had lately, this is more carbonated and less syrupy. More roasty and less cloyingly sweet. I'm glad I got a four pack.

 

Not sure of the other reviews. I don't really smell or taste any cherries whatsoever to me. It's a very roasty Stout semi-sweet and smooth with notes of chocolate cake and coffee roast. Maybe it's just really balanced with the Cherry aspect? It's a really good Stout I could sip on it for a while.

 

Chocolate Cherry Cake Stout has a beige head and a very dark-brown appearance, with ruby highlights. The aroma is of dark-roasted malt and cocoa. The flavor is of those elements, with cherry tartness, sugar, and milk. Chocolate Cherry Cake Stout has a moderate bitterness and sweetness and a medium body. The finish is mostly dry.

RJT

This version includes the word cake, as in Chocolate Cherry Cake Imperial Stout on the label, but there's no reason to suspect that this is a different brew. With a careful pour at room temperature, the entire contents of a pint can fit inside a clear Imperial pint glass. The dark biege head was a little foamy, but it all worked out. Its color is dark brown, somewhere between black coffee brown and cola soda brown. The aromas of chocolate and cherry aren't overpowering, as the typical roasted barley of a stout leads. But, there's enough to taste to please. For a self-described Dessert Stout, this isn't too sweet at all. It may not be any sweeter than the usual Imperial. The chocolate is much more like dark chocolate and the cherry factor doesn't run much sweeter. Behind the flavoring, there's a mediocre Imperial Stout. It's not abundantly flavorful on its own, neither is it rich, nor smooth. The high ABV is disguised fairly well, the head was enduring and there was some nice stratified glass lacing. Overall, this is a pleasant, if not outstanding Imperial Dessert Stout. As long as you're not expecting a rich and sweet taste character, you shouldn't be disappointed.

 

16 ounce can, canned 04/12/22. Served in a snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with about an inch frothy tan head that stayed around for a while. Good amount of lacing, too. Aroma is nice, the brew smells like chocolate cake, cherries, roasted malt, coffee and caramel. Taste is similar to the aroma, but there's also some dark bread, earthy and vanilla flavors noticeable too. It's a sweeter tasting imperial stout but not overpoweringly sweet. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's slick and a bit creamy with a moderate amount of carbonation. This is certainly worth trying if you get the chance to, I know I liked it!

 

 

From the 16 oz can (I think maybe from Bluejacket74---not sure, but if
so CHEERS!). This solid little imperial pours a dark brownish black with a
nice head of tan foam that settles to a thick ring, thin dusty layer, and shows
excellent lacing. Nose of dark chocolate...bitter sweet, dark coffee, cherry, subtle
char, deep roast. Flavors follow the nose with dark cocoa, cherry, char, nice coffee
note, earthy malts, vanilla, and subtle cream. Mouth feel is full, smooth, lightly
slick, coating, rich, warming, and finishing with a nice bitter malt finish.

More of a stout drinkers pastry style than overly sweet malt bomb. Nicely
balanced and well presented. The way a dessert stout should be! Flavored but
not cloying. Very nice!

Cheers

 

 

 

Pours a dark brown color with a small tan head that lasts quite a while. Aroma of chocolate, vanilla and roasted malts. Taste is chocolate and cherry with a good alcohol warmth. Thick and creamy and s bit sweet.

Look: Pours like strong black coffee with a light brown head. Head retention is fair. Sticky foam lace clings the the glass.
Smell and Taste: Lactose makes this a quite sweet Stout. But then again what do you expect from a Pastry Stout? Not boozy @ 9.4% ABV.Resembles a chocolate covered cheery but light on the cheery. Has a dark chocolate, little bit bitter, aftertaste.
Feel: Goes down real smooth.
Overall: Very easy drinker.

 

Look: It pours very dark brown with a light brown head. Head retention is good.

Smell: It has aromas of dark chocolate and cherry. It is a bit sugary with vanilla and caramel.

Taste: It has chocolate flavors with caramel and cherries. There are some vanilla notes with low roast and cocoa.

Feel: It has a full body with a sweet finish, but not cloying.

Overall, well down and easy drinking for a beer with this alcohol level.

A- This comes out of the can a dark brown colour with cherry backed hues, with a couple of fingers worth of frothy foamy head, that retains reasonably well, settling into a thick-ish film over top the beer itself. Cant really tell what the carbonation looks like but the lacing is modest, with small pockets of foam clinging to the inside of my glass. Overall a decent looking brew.

S- Amazing chocolate cherry cake aroma....black forest for sure! Dark chocolate shavings, black cherries, creamed coffee, vanilla, chocolate icing, cooked brown sugar, caramel/dark toffee, mocha truffle filling.....there just isn't really any other way to explain the smells here....simply put, it smells of fresh chocolate cake that grandma just pulled out of the oven!

T- Super creamy and yeasty version of what I just talked about in the aroma.....could be substituted for a liquid version of house made chocolate covered cherries, or a black forest cake! Huge chocolate, slightly tart cherry, muted mocha coffee, caramel, maybe some malt richness and a finish that is sweet and lingers long after the swallow. Dont get much for hop bitterness or Earthy dryness but it sure is tasty!

M/O- This is a medium-full bodied brew with relatively smooth carbonation, this is a really easy going pastry stout style beer! The alcohol is truly non existent....I don't know if I've had a beer before this that hides the amount of booze within so well....this is 9.4% and even my wife, who does not like this kind of brew, said she couldn't taste the alcohol....this is dessert in a can! I think out of the few in this series to date that I've had, that this is the best so far and I'm betting that its going to be hard to compete with the aromas and flavors being as close to what DuClaw was aiming for, as this one brings......full marks and recommendations!