Southern Tier's Choklat

I'm not sure why, but I've been waiting for this one. I'm usually not a fan of chocolate stouts, but this one is well regarded and it's from a brewery that I can't get in Texas so of course that makes me want it more.

Deep opaque black with a moderate, medium tan head on even a hard pour. Small, slow bubbles apparent at the edge of the glass.

Smells great. Obvious chocolate that lingers between cocoa and semi-sweet and increases as it warms. Solid roasted malt backbone.

Bitterness hits you first, with a smooth, slow feel that feels like there's no carbonation. The chocolate comes next, almost as sweet as a Young's Double Chocolate Stout, but the 11% ABV and huge roasted bitterness keep it in check. Young's is like drinking a cake, this isn't subtle, but it's balanced.

This is not an every day beer. It's not that it's too big, but it is too chocolatey. Young's is sickly-sweet, this one is just chocolately. It would be good to split the bomber iwth friends as a dessert beer. Then hit the straight-up stouts, or maybe even straight-up coffee.