Brews and Blues Beer and Smokin’ Blues

Young’s Double Chocolate Stout

Here's another incarnation of dessert in a glass.  Today's offering is from Wells and Young's Brewing Company in Bedford, United Kingdom.  The Young's Double Chocolate Stout poured BLACK with a very thick and rich toffee colored head that stuck around and laced the glass for the entire drink.  When I first found this beer, I was a bit afraid what the flavor might bring being labeled a DOUBLE chocolate stout.  I feared it would be too sweet, but upon tasting this brew, the chocolate sweetness would fall into a category of just about perfect in my opinion.  There aren't a lot of beers out there to compare with this one, but it does remind me quite a bit of the Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock that I had a while back.  I won't put this beer at the same level as the Sam Adams offering, but it's definitely an extremely nice brew.  From the website:

Luxurious and at the same time with a hint of decadence, Young's Double Chocolate Stout has it all, delivering a satisfying, indulgent taste without becoming overly sweet.

Chocolate malt and real dark chocolate are combined with Young's award winning rich, full flavoured dark beer to craft a satisfyingly indulgent, but never overly sweet experience.

Pale Ale and Crystal malt, Chocolate malt, a special blend of sugars, Fuggle and Golding hops, real dark chocolate and chocolate essence are combined to deliver a stout with real credentials.

One of the main reasons I decided to try this beer is the simple fact that I'm planning on brewing a chocolate oatmeal stout very soon, and I'm trying to experience several different offerings in this realm before I brew my own.  There are a lot of specific techniques to getting these flavors, and I want to have a full understanding of what the finished products are like before I dig in on my own. 

As you might notice in the photo above, I also picked up a couple new glasses today.  This glass is designed to handle 16-18oz beers.  I also bought another tall pilsener style glass to use with my larger bottles of beer so the photos don't make the glass look so tiny...