The Young and the Chocolate

I think that chocolate stouts are one of those things you either REALLY like or REALLY don't care for. Chocolate flavors are in other stouts, but are not so terrible pronounced that it deserves a spot in the name, let alone adding DOUBLE to that name. I have found myself on the "REALLY like" side of the spectrum, having found a true blessing in the Rogue Chocolate Stout a few months ago. I wanted to see if the Rogue was a ah...rogue and not characteristic of the style, so I picked up the Young's Luxury Chocolate Stout. I got two versions of the beer - the bomber that was carbonated and the can which contained the nitrous pill.

The color of the brew was a nice pitch black dark color, with a toasted tan creamy head that sticks around for the party that will be coming to your mouth. You could definitely smell the chocolate, but not doublely so. There were some good roasted coffee notes too. Upon getting around to actually taste the beer, the coffee flavor was far more pronounced than the chocolate was, which is fine, just a bit odd when it's a "double chocolate" stout. You'll get some toffee flavor in there as well. The beer was very smooth with little aftertaste. The nitrous version was far more smooth and also less filling (the joy of nitrous), so you feel like you could polish off the four pack of cans in one sitting. Either way, this isn't a heavy beer - don't expect to feel like you just drank a loaf of bread. I would surely get this beer again. Just a note, I found this at Kelly's for $10 a 4 pack of nitrous cans, but found the same 4 pack at Sunflower Market on San Mateo & Academy for only $8.50. No reason to pay $1.50 more for the same beer if you can avoid it.

Appearace - 4.5/5.0 - Nice, pitch black, dark color; toasted tan colored head with good retention
Smell - 4.0/5.0 - Roasted coffee, dark chocolate, not overly strong, but enough to get a nice aroma going
Taste - 4.0/5.0 - Roasted coffee, toffee, subtle chocolate (odd for a double chocolate stout). Smooth, but with a sharper taste at the end.
Feel - 4.0/5.0 - Smooth, little aftertaste, not a heavy beer, mid body for a dark beer
Drinkability - 4.0/5.0 - Indeed, if I'm in the mood for a chocolate stout, would definitely think about this one again - I preferred the nitrous cans over the bomber.