Double Chocolate Cherry Stout
Black Oak Brewing Co.

Having enjoyed Black Oak's "Oaktoberfest" seasonal, we headed to the brewery's retail store to pick up a couple of six packs as soon as their Double Chocolate Cherry Stout ("DCCS") was available. DCCS came in a brown 341 ml bottle and was 5.8% alcohol by volume. A production date of February 13, 2012 was stamped on the bottom of the six pack, which sold for $13.50/6, equal to $2.25 per bottle.

The beer poured an opaque black, and a fairly aggressive pour produced 1" of dark tan coloured head that dissipated within 2 minutes. The head resolved itself into a collar of foam and thin film, leaving considerable lacing down the glass. Despite the darkness of the beer, some carbonation was still visible. Its aroma was dominated by woody smoke and chocolate, with hints of cocoa. I didn't really notice any cherry in the aroma. The flavour began with lots of chocolate and smoke, transitioning to a subtle, tart cherry finish. A smoky, slightly bitter aftertaste lingered, but wasn't strong enough or long lasting enough to be offensive. I found that there was just enough tart cherry in the flavour to be interesting, any less and it would pretty well pass unnoticed....and it wasn't the artificial cherry Lifesaver flavour used by some brewers. Although still quite subtle, the cherry flavour did become more noticeable as the beer warmed. Typical of a stout, DCCS had a soft carbonation and I would describe it as medium bodied. I would certainly buy DCCS again, and the beer is reasonably priced.

Aroma: Chocolate! Sweet, boozy, stouty, bit of smoke, cherry

Appearance: Dark, light brown head, it's a stout

Flavor: Up front cocoa, nut overpowering chocolate, stout first, then cherry, sweet after, good balance of choc/cherry

Mouthfeel: Stoutfeel, smooth

Overall: Near perfect, good flavour, balanced, as advertised

 

 

 

12oz Bottle - thanks to cfrancis for this one

Appearance - The beer pours a black/brown colour with an average size frothy and fizzy light brown coloured head. I can't see much carbonation due the darkness of the beer and there is some great lacing on the sides of the glass. The head lasted for 5 minutes before it was gone.

Smell - Lots of Chocolate, malts, smoke

Taste & Mouth - The beer has an average amount of carbonation and I can taste lots of chocolate mixed with malts and a smokiness. There is also a cherry flavour, but it isn't cloying or in your face.. The beer finishes with a chocolatey slightly tart aftertaste.

Overall – I really enjoyed this beer. The taste is well balanced and is way more drinkable than I thought it would be. It really doesn't taste artificial the way that most of the other beers that have fruit in them do. I'd buy/drink this again anytime.

Got this one from kv84 while at home this summer. Thanks for the brews man, and thanks for coming out and sharing a few drinks with everyone!

From a bottle into a snifter.

APPEARANCE: Pours brown and yields a one finger, medium looking, light tan head with decent retention. Head fades relatively quickly to a decent wisp and ring. Black body with no carbonation evident. A splotchy wisp remains until the end leaving touches of lacing down the sides of the glass.

SMELL: Roasted and smoky malts with a nice chocolate covered cherry aroma as well. Cocoa powder comes through a little more as it sits. Medium strength and nice. As advertised as well.

TASTE: Roasted malts and some decent cherry notes. A touch of tartness as well, but well integrated. Cocoa powder and some bitter-sweet chocolate covered cherries again. Mild but lingering aftertaste of cherries, chocolate and cocoa powder. Enjoyable.

PALATE: Medium, slightly thinner body for the style, and medium, relatively prickly carbonation. Goes down fine and finishes slightly dry on the palate, This needs to be fuller and creamier, which would also help the prickly carbonation smoothen out a bit.

OVERALL: While the palate can be toughened up a bit, the rest of the experience was quite enjoyable. I’ve had this beer a few times down at Jane Bond Cafe, and always enjoy seeing it again. Give it a chance if you come across it on your travels. Thanks again for the bringing this one along Kv84.

Tasting notes from 1/8/11
Poured in to Duvel tulip

A - Dark black with a small amount of light brown head.

S - Bitter dark chocolate, tartness, light cherry smell and some sweetness.

T - Cherries are much more apparent in the palate. Tartness comes through as well as does some chocolate but it is definitely the secondary smell.

M - Medium body; moderate carbonation.

341ml bottle poured into pint glass nov1 2010

A dark brown with a light brown head that has decent retention and leaves a partial ring of lace followed by some patches

S faint coffee with loads of milk chocolate and the cherry's there but quite subtle

T chocolates a little darker in the mouth and the cherry comes out a little more and just the faintest hint of woody smoke , not completely dry but a little more sugar may have worked well for it

M could use some more bubbles and not as thick as the color would imply

D overall this ones pretty decent, I'd drink int again so that says something

just enough cherries to have a positive affect any less and it would go unnoticed and anymore and it would take away form the nice chocolate flavors. I could drink a few of these without getting board but for now I'll need to thank liamt07 for sending this one out west

Review is taken from notes. Had on-tap at Chancey Smiths.

A - Almost jet black appearance with a creamy tan head. The lacing was good, and the head had good retention.

S - The smell is dominated by cherries and slight chocolate notes.

T - Cherries are dominant in the taste, the name of the beer is certainly accurate. The chocolate flavours are subtle in the background, overshadowed by the cherries. Coffee comes out in the aftertaste, it compliments the cherry and chocolate nicely. Almost tastes like a desert, but isn't too rich. Very nice.

M - Smooth, the cherries are strong to give the edge a bite. It goes down really nicely.

D - Surprisingly drinkability. The flavours are subdued enough to retain very good drinkability, but are still pronounced enough to make drinking it interesting for the entirety of the glass.

Wasn't sure if I would like it, but it was great.

I agree with alpineclimber that this was certainly a stout, not a fruit/vegetable beer. It has all of the proper characteristics of a stout with the addition of cherries. It didn't feel like the stout was sacrificed to allow the cherries to dominate, more like the cherries were added to a solid stout background.

The classification kind of detracts from the beer's representation on here.

Thanks to TheSevenDuffs for this bottle.

A 341ml bottle poured into a chalice. A small head on a pitch black brew, the head quickly recedes.

A nice malty smell with a sour cherry note.

The taste is of chocolate, coffee, the cherry can be tasted in the finish.

A good medium mouthfeel.

Overall a pretty good beer. I am kind of wondering why BA has this labeled as a fruit/vegetable beer, to me this one is purely a stout that is infused with some flavor enhancers. It's a fairly rich beer and is perfect as a desert beer.

12 oz. bottle poured into an oversized tulip.

I wasn't expecting to be as impressed by this one. I'm kind of new to the stout game but this one certainly made me take notice. Opaque black seems to be the norm for this style and this certainly fits in. Not much of a head but some did stick around the sides of the glass the whole way down. Light carbonation (as an aside, I've found that I like my stouts somewhat flat; also, while I like most beer from the fridge, I actually seem to prefer stouts at room temp...go figure). Didn't notice any cherries in the aroma, all cocoa and coffee. However the cherries present as a tartness on the tongue and really made this quite light and refreshing for a stout. This is quickly followed by a blast of dark, bitter chocolate. Really a very tasty stout that lives up to its name but not in the syrupy sweet way you might expect.

One of my locals randomly had some of these for sale, so I helped myself to one or two.

Poured into a standard pint glass. Very dark chestnut brown, almost black. Thin, but stable mocha-tan head. A thick ring survived till the end, with some sheets of creamy lacing.

Nose is bitter chocolate, maraschino cherries, dark coffee. The nose certainly leads me to anticipate a sweet, syrupy brew, but I've been very happy with Black Oak thus far, so I'll trust them.

My faith was certainly rewarded - this brew is by no means sweet or syrupy, like the chocolate covered cherry taste I was anticipating. In fact, it's quite bitter and tart to the finish. The chocolate is unquestionably dark (80% and above), while the cherry flavor is that of the ripe, tart variety, rather than marachino. Notes of vanilla, caramel and roasted malt linger in the back, getting a bit stronger as the brew warms.

Mouthfeel is spot on - rich and creamy, with mild, but evident carbonation.

Not at all what I'd expected, but nevertheless a great brew. Although it could have stood to be a little sweeter, I'll take this as it is. The bitterness might turn off folk who were expecting something tasting like Valentine's chocolate, but for the bitter stout lovers out there, it's a great pickup.

On tap at Volo. Pours a thick black (it somehow looks thick) with small tan head and some lacing. I get some chocolate and cherry in the aroma, but not as much of either as the name would suggest. I get more cherry than chocolate though. Flavour is a little bit tart, probably from the cherry, with a bitter finish. Mouthfeel wasn't quite as thick as the beer looks.

12oz into snifter.
Special thanks to liam07 for this!

A- Medium bodied opaque black pour. Half finger light tan head that disappears to thin bubbling ring. Lacing looks very sticky and promising!

S- Bitter roasted coffee, dark bitter chocolate. Faint raisins. Not sweet smelling at all, very faint cherries and tobacco.

T- Bitter roasted coffee, bitter dark chocolate. Cherries are there but in the for of something quite tart and refreshing. Faint hop presence. Quite refreshing for a stout. Still not sweet as I imagined in a chocolate stout.

M- Good carbonation, little thin for a stout, quite refreshing though.

D- Not too heavy, not to syrupy. Very enjoyable.

Thanks to liamt07 for sending me this one. I wanted to try a Cherry stout for quite some time.

The color of the beer is dark black with a nice creamy head on top. The head is not big. Its color is beige and sticks well to the glass. Aroma, I get mainly dark chocolate. I can't distinguish the cherry and wasn't expecting any. I think the cherry is there to balance the sugar from the dark malt chocolate. I really like the aroma, its inviting. The taste, I get the dark chocolate with a nice bitter finish you get with dark chocolate. It is well balanced and smooth in the mouth. Easy to drink too. And one of important thing, it lingers in the mouth. Nice.

I nice stout. Wish I could get this one more often. Cheers liamt07!

Pours a dark brownish black colour with a thin tan coloured head. Looks very good, no complaints here. Smells of rich chocolate and coffee, not as much cherry as I would have anticipated though. Tastes like bitter dark chocolate, coffee with a black cherry finish. Decent mouthfeel I would have like to see a more dominant presence in this department but I wasn't disappointed. Drinks well would certainly have this again should the opportunity present itself.

A nice looking stout. A finger's worth of tan head tried to stick around, its now a thin slick with some sticky lacings already present. Nice lacings.

A nice smelling stout too. Chocolate, cocoa, and cherries make up the bulk of the aroma. A musty earthiness also present. A touch more roasted character might be nice?

Yummy stuff. Nougat from the malt, then chocolate and cocoa. Cherries and a mild lactic tartness give a nice contrast to the rich malts.

Medium bodied and smooth. A nice creamy feel to this stout. Nicely balanced.

This is pretty damn tasty and drinkable. A nice stout that doesnt forget that its a stout. Chocolate and cherry are present to add depth and dimension and do so without detracting. This is something i would recommend trying, and would seek out again if available to me.

Thanks Viggo, no BB date.

Pours a nice dark stout, with a light head that is a reddish tan. Disappears immediately, leaving a ring that laces very lightly. Aromas are initially the molassesy roasted grain of a stout with a touch of that cherry underneath. As it warmed, it developed notes of coffee.

First sips are primarily full of roasted malts, with minimal other flavours. Thus far not impressed, but I put the beer aside to give it time to warm a bit more and develop character... Definitely still a stout, but the cherry came out as it warmed as a trat fruity flavour, not strongly just underneath everything else. If I had not known what it was it would have been a stout with an interesting underlying flavour. The cocoa is there, and the flavours balance well. It is good, just not really good.

Smooth in the mouth, but does not coat the mouth and linger as long as I would like a stout to...

Bottle:
Pours a dead black in the tulip...decent mocha cap reduces quickly but laces well...low cabonation

Aromas are pungent and complex, cocoa, roasted coffee and roasted grains, berry fruit, hay and a light mustiness.

Medium bodied for a stout, large dose of the cocoa and roast in the front then a rush a tart berry tastes and some spicy hopping...longish wet finish with light sweetness and some tartness and char. Excellent specialty porter that is very drinkable.