Review: Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence

Chocolate Indulgence (AC: 7%)
Brewery Ommegang

8.5 out of 10

For the 10th anniversary of its founding in October, Brewery Ommegang introduced its new seasonal chocolate stout, "Chocolate Indulgence." Ommegang touts the brew - packaged in a one pint, nine ounce bottle with a cork - for being made with real Belgian chocolate. Chocolate, when used as a featured ingredient, can make a beer's flavor overwhelming and its texture pasty. Ommegang keeps the cocoa in control, producing a fine stout with a complex bouquet and a continually changing flavor.

Chocolate mousse and raspberries stand out as the most dominant aromas. The raspberry aroma is atypical of a stout, which normally smells more like chocolate or coffee. However, Ommegang uses a special strand of Belgian yeast, which introduces the fruity note to a typically straight-forward brew. The brew's general aroma lacks the alcoholic tinge that sometimes comes with high-alcohol beers.

The beer pours a solid black with two full fingers of dark oatmeal head on top. Chocolate Indulgence's foam is a bit bubbly. It lacks the solid appearance of a Guinness head, but it's still an admirable and enjoyable sight.

The taste of Chocolate Indulgence starts with dessert flavors - black coffee and creamy peanut butter. Midway through, it evolves into a very smoky, almost meaty flavor. The beer likely pairs well with steak for a meal, or works just fine on its own as an after-dinner treat.

Unlike many chocolate stouts, Chocolate Indulgence can be tolerated for more than one glass. The heft and alcohol content of the beer style generally discourage drinkers from having more than a pint. However, Ommegang's variation is lighter than usual, leaving more room in the stomach for another glass or two.

Stouts that get better by the year

On Nov. 10, The Bistro in Hayward, Cal., hosted the West Coast Barrel Aged Beer Fest. The one-day event gave brewers from the Rockies to the Pacific a chance to show off their best (and most complex work).

One of the more popular concepts was to age a stout in a bourbon barrel, giving the heavy, hearty beer an even more powerful flavor. Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Six Rivers Brewing Co. and Stone Brewing Co. all submitted stouts to the bourbon (or whiskey) barrel aged competition.

Stone Brewing's whiskey barrel aged Russian Imperial Stout took second in the category. The brew matured to a whopping 10.8% alcohol by volume during its time in the oak barrel.

Creating "big" or "extreme" stouts appears to be a point of pride for many Western breweries.

The Great Divide Brewing Co., based in Denver, Col., makes a 9.5% oak aged Imperial Stout known as Yeti.


North Coast Brewing Co., from Fort Bragg, Cal., brews an 11.6% Old Rasputin X Anniversary Stout that ferments in bourbon barrels for up to one year.

The big, barreled beer trend stretches as far East as Michigan, where Founders Brewing Co makes its Kentucky Breakfast Stout (10% AC) by storing the brew in bourbon barrels for two years. However, a simple Beeradvocate search indicates that once you go farther East than Michigan, barrel aged stouts are few and far in between.

I'm not sure if the extreme stout is a good thing. According to the reviews I've read, these brews tend to taste more like brandy or whiskey than actual beer. Quite often, the review ends by saying that a slight hop taste comes in at the end, which appears to be the only attribute that distinguishes these beers from their distilled cousins.

The American habit of making things bigger and more innovative is certainly not something to undermine. However, beer is a simple pleasure.

The Europeans embraced the concept of good beer long before Americans, yet Europeans never decided to toy with their tried and true recipes. Americans, on the other hand, seem to be rushing to create the next crazy beer, something so off the wall that people will just want to try it.

Perhaps its the thrill of the challenge that motivates these brewers, because I can't imagine them brewing these high alcohol, strange tasting beers for the general public.

Taking Guinness global

Guinness took control of the global stout market for one reason: advertising.

Its famous "Guinness is good for you" ads in the 1930s and 40s convinced stout drinkers worldwide that the brew not only made them mentally feel better, it improved their physical state as well. The slogan, it turned out, was based on a survey conducted in the 1920s. People told the beer company that they liked the stout because it made them feel good. And so the legend was born. In addition to the clever copy writing, Guinness also used simple cartoon characters, including the now-famous toucan to promote the beer.


Since then, there have been a variety of memorable Guinness ads.
A 1994-95 ad known throughout Ireland featured a man doing a dance routine while his Guinness settled.


The most recent American Guinness ads included the "Brilliant!" series, as well as the current campaign which features miniature beer men kicking symbols inside the stout. The campaign aims to promote Guinness' head-forming routine, which makes the beer look alive momentarily.


The newest European ad, however, takes a different approach. Shot in Argentina, the commercial--"Tipping Point" shows a line of used items--shelves, paint cans, tires--knocking each other over in a domino effect. The end result is a replication of a pint glass filled with Guinness, made out of used books. The commerical cost 10 million Euro and included no special effects.

Guinness' message may be that it plans to continue its international campaign and leave behind its most reliable markets--Ireland and England--where sales have dropped in recent years. Hence it teters between going back to the areas it knows best versus exploring the new and exciting regions of the globe.

In any case, check out the commerical. It may not make you want to have a Guinness, but you can talk about the feasibility of the commerical over a pint.

Strange stout: Hakim Stout

Hakim Stout, brewed by Ethiopia-based Harar Beer Factory, provides stout drinkers with a strange proposition. Can a Russian Imperial Stout produced in a country with a large Muslim population and an incredibly warm climate really work?

Judging by the online reviews of the beer, I'm guessing Hakim Stout didn't cut it.

Most of the reviews on Beeradvocate said the stout lacked both the body and the maltiness to qualify as a full-fledged Russian Imperial, or as any sort of stout for that matter. Other reviews noted the lack of head on the poured beer and the clarity of the beer--both are bad signs, since stouts are typically foamy and opaque.

Nearly all online reviewers put heavy emphasis on the sugary sweetness of the brew. Though Russian Imperials should have a dark fruit/molasses taste, it should not be the dominant flavor.

For the experience of saying you consumed a beer from Ethiopia, it's worth picking this rare brew up. However, for the purpose of enjoying beer, look elsewhere to find a strange stout.

The sentimental stout

Castle Milk Stout, brewed by South African Breweries or SABMiller--as in Miller Lite and MGD--ran a series of ads I can only describe as odd by American standards.

Whereas Budweiser or Sam Adams or Keystone (yuck) ads try to appeal to the hipster in every American with something sexy, chic or comical, these commercials actually present an altruistic message to their audience.

Granted, the commericials still endorse the idea of tribal kingdoms, but let's take societal advancement one step at a time.

Check out both commericals and see what I am talking about.

Proper Half and half

For beer drinkers who'd like to get some of the stout flavor without the girth in their beer, mixed drinks like the half and half or black and tan work great.

This video shows you how to make a half and half (where the beers remain separated). Both of these drinks involve a stout (a dry Irish like Guinness works best) and a lager (historically Harp or Bass.



As you can see, making a good half and half requires some patience and touch. If you pour the stout too quickly, it'll mix with the lager.

If the two should happen to mix, that's not a huge problem. Most bars (though not all) consider the mixing of the two a black and tan. Either way the drink tastes great.

Variations on the theme include:
Guinness and Blue Moon (A Black and Blue)
Guinness and Magic Hat anything, probably #9 though (Black Magic)
Guinness and Sapporo (Black Sap)
Pretty much any creative name with the title black in it is conceivable.

Strange Stouts: Cerveza Potro

Pierhead Purchasing, a beverage importing/exporting giant, recently added a new brew to its arsenal: Cerveza Potro, a Mexican stout (or porter, according to brewer Cerveceria Mexicana) with 4.7% alcohol by volume.

It was reviewed by Roger Protz and Tom Cannavan on beer-pages.com. The following a brief summarization of what they noted:

Color: Burnt toffee
Smell: Roasted cracked wheat, also fruity character
Taste: Roasted grain flavor, slightly medicinal?, finishes with berry flavor
Texture: medium-to-full body, dry finish

Cerveceria Mexicana first started brewing Potro in 1991 under the name Colt. With Pierhead--best known for its handling of Belgian Duvel brands--now in control, the brew will likely reach a larger audience globally.

As if a Mexican dark beer wasn't marketable enough, the stout/porter also comes in a strange bottle reminiscent of tequila containers.

Pierhead’s Director of Imported Beer, Michael Cook, told talkingretail.com that the introduction of a dark, complex beer in the market of Mexican brews--notorious for light, easy-to-drink beers like Corona and Dos Equis--will appeal to both young and elder beer drinkers.

“The Mexican beer category is currently flourishing, and Potro adds an entirely new dimension to the sector," Cook told the Web site. "As an artisan, old world style Mexican cerveza with a modern look it will appeal to beer aficionados as well as the young style set. We predict great things for the brand in the UK.”

A Nigerian Ode to Guinness

I don't know what to make of this song, "Small stout," by the Naija Bois. As I said in an earlier post, Nigeria is one of the top markets in the world for stout consumption and sales. I wasn't aware it had infiltrated their music content though.

Make sure to catch the religious message at the end too. It only makes the whole message of the song stranger.

How to make a stout

This is a pretty comprehensive four-part series of videos on brewing a chocolate stout. I've included parts one and two since they show the ingredients used in chocolate stouts and the beginning steps of brewing (which are pretty universal for all beers). If you want parts three and four, just search for the videos on Google.

(Video disclaimer: The brewer guy, Brian Vandemark, is very cheesy. Try to take him seriously though because it appears he does know what he is doing, even if he comes across like a creeper in the video.)



Part 1 analysis: The amount of chocolate ingredients used in stouts always blows me away. Listen closely: A half pound of cocoa powder and 1.5 pounds of chocolate malt are included.



Video 2 analysis: You can already see the chocolate coloration of the brew in this part of the video. The stuff he is making is obviously not the final product. In fact, it's not even alcoholic yet. But it's a good visual of when a stout starts to look like the beer you expect in your bottle.

The keys to the perfect stout pour are ping-pong balls and string?

Some person set up a ridiculous, Rube Goldberg-style beer pouring device. I'm not quite sure it would meet the standards for Guinness and company, but I'll at least give the person credit for devising this crazy thing.

Video Beer Review: Old Rasputin

Here's a random beer review of Old Rasputin, a Russian imperial brewed by North Coast Brewing. The two guys doing the review provide some useful insight on the beer, but for the most part they sound like nerds who are ignoring the women at the party.



Old Rasputin was the first Russian imperial I ever tried. It comes in little short bottles, which is what first drew my attention (along with the picture of always-creepy Rasputin on the bottle.) When I read that the beer had 9% alcohol in it, I was anxious to find out how much of a difference an additional 4% would make in a beer (since most American lagers are around 4-5% alcohol by volume).

Of course I was shocked as hell when two bottles of this had me feeling warm and fuzzy inside. The alcohol smell and taste overwhelmed me but I refused to let that be a deterrence.

In retrospect, Old Rasputin was probably a typical Russian Imperial, with flavors of chocolate, dark fruits and smoke playing a prominent role in both taste and smell. It received a 91 from Beeradvocate, which is a trustworthy site for beer reviews.

Video Beer Review: Brooklyn Chocolate Stout

This is an online video review done by Michael Lam of the Beverage Review. I don't have the technology or the know-how to do anything this cool. Listen to his review first, then check out my feelings on the stout below.



Lam really emphasized the chocolate flavor. I didn't notice the chocolately flavor quite as much. Of course it was there, but I found the roasted dark fruity smells to be much more evident. Maybe I had my Brooklyn chocolate at a temperature that was too warm, which would cause a difference in the kind of flavors that stand out.

The alcohol taste snuck through at the end for me. Lam suggest on the video info that the range of flavors largely covered masked the high alcohol content (10%). Again, a difference in the temperature of the brew would change this aspect.

Lam ended up giving Brooklyn Chocolate a 93-95 on his scale of 100. I think that is overrating an otherwise average chocolate stout. I'd place the beer somewhere in the 85-88 range.

Like eating a loaf of bread in 2 seconds...

Guinness, despite all of its positive qualities, is not a beer worth chugging. It's very heavy (though not as bad as many think) and just generally has too much flavor to be consumed quickly.

This guy, unfortunately, couldn't care less.



(Video note: It is very dark for almost all of the video. If you focus on the actual beer though, you can see that it is a pint glass of black fluid with a creamy white head...probably Guinness.)

According to the video description, this chug (1.5 seconds) in March set a new Guinness World Record for the fastest consumption of a pint of stout. The previous record was 2.1 seconds.

New Release: Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout

The Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company, based in Chippewa Falls, Wisc., recently released its first stout--Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout.



The Big Eddy stout clocks in with a 9.5% alcohol content, which fits in perfectly with the industry standard for the stout style.

According to the Leinenkugel Web site, 11 different malts and three different hop varieties were used in the making of the stout. The effect of the malt and hop combintation is a stout with dark fruit, chocolate and toffee notes. The Big Eddy stout sounds about par for the course in terms of smell and taste.

The stout is the second in a series of Big Eddy brews. The first installment was an Inida Pale Ale released last summer. The series is named Big Eddy after a spring that runs through Chippewa Falls.

Unfortunately, it appears the stout will only be available in the Madison, Wisc. and Milaukee areas. Interstate distribution laws prohibit the use of direct sale from Leinenkugel to individual customers, so you'll have to find a local distributor to get your hands on the Big Eddy stout.

Seafood stout

Seafood paired with a stout seems perfectly reasonable to most beer drinkers. Seafood in a stout, however, seems a bit strange.

However, such a thing as an oyster stout exists. According to beer historian Michael Jackson, ground up oyster shells were included in some stouts in the 1920s and 30s. The idea of making a stout with oysters in it came from the long-time popularity of British and Irish dockworkers pairing their post-work beer with a bucket of the cheap shellfish.

Many breweries today in the United States and in the United Kingdom make oyster stouts, but few actually include oyster shells in the brewing process.

The only definitive oyster-including brewery concoction I could find was Bushy's Oyster Stout (based out of Isle of Man, U.K.)


Apparently Yards Brewing Company in Philadelphia used to make an oyster stout. Unfortunately, the name was changed to Yards Love Stout and oysters are now longer used in the brewing process.

A living legend but a dying breed

(Yes, this is the best picture I can find of a Courage Russian Imperial bottle. All the other examples are copyright protected. Damn internet piracy laws.)

Few beers get better with age. Most bottles actually come with expiration dates now to ensure that they aren't skunky when consumed.

One of the rare beers that is prized for its ability to age is the Courage Russian Imperial Stout.

Courage dates back to 1780, when it was exported from England to Eastern Europe and Russia. Brewers made the beer with a high alcohol percentage and a good portion of hops so that it could survive the travel.

Booze conglomerate Scottish & Newcastle now owns the Courage brand name and the brewery, currently known as Scottish Courage Ltd. and located in Edinburgh, U.K. The Russian Imperial itself is difficult if not impossible to find in the United States. In fact, thanks to S&N's hyper-corporate Web site, any information on Courage is essentially inaccessible.

The few factoids I could find about the beer are as follows:
-S&N stopped production of the Courage Russian Imperial some time in the 90s.
-Courage had live yeast in it, so it continued to ferment and develop with age.

Beer geeks consider finding a bottle of Courage in America the equivalent of finding the Holy Grail. Check out the beer reviews on Beeradvocate.com for evidence (just create a simple profile for the site if you need access to see the reviews).

Judging by the reviews, 1993 seems to be the latest batch of the brew you can find. Most of the reviews discuss bottles from the 80s or even mid-70s.

God Save the Guinness

England, the number one market in the world for stout sales (specifically Guinness), is growing less interested in the beer style by the year. The main blame for the decrease in stout consumption is a growing interest in ciders and spirits among younger drinkers.


(Video note: This was an ad aired in England during the Rugby World Cup. Guinness hoped that the Rugby tournament would stimulate struggling sales in the Queen's land).

A Nov. 11 story in the Off Licence News reported that stouts lost 1.1% of its market share in the overall sale of beer in England. The story reported that beer sales as a whole improved by only 0.3%, according to Nielsen Research.

Off Licence News' story said the prospect of improved sales look grim for the stout market in the coming year, namely because a poor growing summer limited the growth of primary beer ingredients. The Society of Independent Brewers said that the cost of barley went up 40% and the cost of some hop varieties doubled.

In 2006, Guinness--the de facto stout of England--suffered a 4% drop in sales and a 6% drop in consumption in Britain, according to a Dec. 2007 story in Drinks International.

Guinness need not worry too much about England. Despite the drop in Guinness' main sales market (and in Ireland--its second-best market), sales elsewhere in the world continue to grow. In fact, two of Guinness' fastest growing markets are Nigeria and Canada.

Recipe Corner: Stout pancakes

Using beer instead of milk and eggs to make pancakes sounded like an intriguing idea. Beer and pancakes are both bread-based substances. Both rely on yeast to develop. And the match made in heaven apparently ends there.

One recipe found online promoted Bison Chocolate Stout pancakes. The directions, accompanied by photos (see below), called for two things (three including syrup): the stout and pancake mix.

The pancake preparations follow essentially the order as regular pancake directions, except a bit more pancake mix is needed.

My judgment on the Bison chocolate pancakes remains remains suspended. However, Robin Davis, a reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle, weighed in with a rather negative review when she tried blueberry stout pancakes at Bistro 1650 in Oct. 2000.

"The aforementioned blueberry stout pancakes ($7.25), however, were just odd. The stout gives them a malty, almost foamy quality, that lingered a bit too long on the palate."

Review:Shakespeare Stout

Shakespeare Stout (6% AC)
Rogue Ales
4 out of 10





Not all stouts can be saved by a nitrogen tap. Some are too overdone to redeem. Rogue's Shakespeare Stout qualifies as one of such brews.

Shakespeare poured midnight black with a streaky brownish-tan head. Some parts of the foam were lighter than others, which perplexed me, but I just wrote it off as a weird side effect of heavy malting.

The beer smelled very hoppy at first. After a few seconds, the aroma of apricot or even of fruit roll-ups took over. For a beer touted as smelling like coffee or chocolate, it seemed to miss the mark.

My first, second and third sips of Shakespeare made me cringe. The brew stung my mouth with an overpowering apricot taste at first, but then hit it once more with a very strong, bitter espresso flavor afterwards. A quarter of the way through the pint, I was questioning leaving the beer on the bar and heading home.

Shakespeare left an oily film on my tongue, cheeks and throat.

With oily textures and fruity notes, the brew compared to Russian imperials. However, since I'm not sure of what style Rogue aimed for, I can only assume this brew was crafted with no particular variation in mind.

Shakespeare apparently earned a 99 out of 100 at the 1994 World Beer Championships, but I don't care. This stuff tasted like a garbage combo of rotting fruit, coffee grounds and a used bottle of Quaker State.

Review: Young's Double Chocolate Stout

Young's Double Chocolate Stout (5.2% AC)
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.