Young & Co. Brewery PLC
7.75 out of 10
When I drank a bottled version of Young's Double Chocolate Stout, it tasted chalky and incredibly chocolately. The beer aspect of the stout completely disappeared. Had that been my only experience with Young's, this beer would've received a failing grade.
Fortunately for the beer's reputation, I found Young's Double served on a nitro-tap at The Blue Tusk in downtown Syracuse. The inclusion of nitrogen made all the difference for the brew.
Unlike my bottled version, which produced a heavy beer with a very foamy, big-bubbled head, this nitrogen tap version produced a very smooth brew with a tight half-finger layer of tan head. The actual beer, as with seemingly all stouts, was as black as night. A layer of foam remained throughout the consumption of the beer, and large blobs of off-white foam extended up from the liquid until the very last sip.
As advertised, the brew smelled like chocolate, specifically a heavier fudge or mocha version. A faint hint of alcohol also mixed in with the chocolate smell.
Young's tastes like chocolate syrup at first. The strong cocoa flavor draws out into a dark, roasted coffee taste, which lasts until the brew's taste disappears. There's very little complexity to this beer, which can be seen as a good or bad thing, depending on what you expect out of your brew.
The most distinguishable attritbute of Young's was its smoothness, which can be credited to the nitro-tap. As mentioned, above the chalky, heaviness of the bottled version made the texture to much too handle. With the addition of nitrogen, Young's feels far more enjoyable on the palate. The brew still leaves a bitter coffee/dark chocolate aftertaste on the cheeks and throat, but that's due more to Young's English influence.
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