Chocolate Manifesto - Flying Monkeys (Canada - Ontario - Barrie)

Chocolate Manifesto - Flying Monkeys (Canada - Ontario - Barrie) 10.5%

I was amazed by the intensity of the aroma, dark chocolate and milk chocolate primarily but with hints of tobacco, espresso and the slightest hint of dark fruit.

The flavour is of the same forceful character. Strongly chocolatey as designed but also dark fruit, some hints of dark cherry and other dark fruit, as well as a certain nuttiness. There is a cool, creamy, freshness to the flavour and though there is a long chocolate aftertaste and the beer is very sweet I don't find Chocolate Manifesto to be cloying or particularly heavy.

This is an exceptional beer, the kind that makes me happy to be a beer geek and to try new and innovative beers. There are lots of chocolate infused beers out there, I really like this one.

The Brewery Market in Hintonburg Park - July 5th (Canada - Ontario - Ottawa)

The Brewery Market in Hintonburg Park - July 5th (Canada - Ontario - Ottawa)

Don't let the line discourage you.

Last Saturday, July 5th, in the glorious sunshine I had the chance to attend the Brewery Market in Hintonburg Park here in Ottawa. The perfect weather and popularity of the event meant that I had to wait in line for about 35 minutes to get into the park but once inside the park was hardly crowded (though it was at its official capacity and hence the lineup and wait to get in) and beer lines moved swiftly. Unlike a typical Beer Festival, the Brewery Market is modelled after traditional, family-friendly beer gardens so full pints are sold (at $6 a piece) rather than sample sized glasses and there is no charge to get in. Breweries on hand included Beau's, Beyond the Pale and Covered Bridge Brewing as well as a few others.
 

On a day this nice you can see why people would want to enjoy craft beer in a park!

For the me, a cask version of Covered Bridge Brewing's Double-Double, a sweet chocolate stout, was the finest beer I had that afternoon but honourable mention goes to their Eternally Hoptimistic. Double-Double sweet had a herbal, yeasty cask touch with lots of chocolate, a bit of an earthy maple touch and subtle wood tones. It carries its alcohol quite well but you can still tell that it is strong, 7.4%. In addition to dozens of different craft beers on top, there were also plenty of yummy eats on the menu.

Mmm... Lentil burger.

The next Brewery Market will be held on Quebec side of the Ottawa River on July 24th. Another Brewery Market in Ottawa will happen in September, please check out their website for further details. I had a wonderful time and certainly plan on attending again. If you are in the area I suggest you head on out for the next which will be held rain or shine.

Sinha Stout - Lion Brewery Ceylon PLC (Sri Lanka)

Sinha Stout - Lion Brewery Ceylon PLC (Sri Lanka) 8.8%

Black and utterly opaque in a glass. A vigorous pour generated a inch of mocha foam that settled quickly but did not completely dissipate sticking around the edges and and left some nice lacing. The aroma is chocolate heavy with some coffee, and a touch of grape or perhaps more like raisins and prunes. There is something also a little milky, like you'd find in a milk stout in the aroma. No signs of the 8.8% alcohol in the aroma until it warms up just a little. There is an issue with the aroma though, it is a little bit musty which may be as a result of a little oxygen tagging along in the bottle during the travel time from Sri Lanka to Ontario.

Milk chocolate flavours but a bit of a thin mouthfeel with some taste of alcohol in the finish. Ah, but let it warm up a little bit and the mouthfeel is there as well as the chocolate flavour, dark fruit, some leather tones. Also the finish is more smoke and dark chocolate with some alcohol, but not much, and just a little of that musty flavour. The aftertaste is dark fruit first and then some chocolate.

Overall, Sinha Stout is actually pretty good considering it was only $2.15 and it is 8.8% ABV. It is not the best stout but the only real knock on it is that is was musty and thin at times.

Young's Double Chocolate Stout (United Kingdom)

Young's Double Chocolate Stout (United Kingdom) 5.2%


A deep black in a glass with a finger's width of tan head. Dark chocolate, smoke, and coffee all apear in the aroma as well as light fruit tones like dark cherry.

This stout uses actual dark chocolate as well as chocolate malts so it is no surprise that chocolate flavours lead the way as well as a smoky bitterness from the chocolate malt that keeps this stout from being very sweet. The smoke lends itself to some subtle wood tones that are supported by an appetizing grain flavour from the malty body. There is a little bit of fine sediment towards the bottom of the bottle probably from the added dark chocolate. It also make a really good beer cocktail (or beertail) when mixed with Fruli.

Black Chocolate Stout - Brooklyn Brewing (USA - New York - Utica) 10.0%

Black Chocolate Stout - Brooklyn Brewing (USA - New York - Utica) 10.0%

Thickly black and opaque in a glass with a short tan coloured head. A deep dark chocolate aroma with toffee, dried fruit tones and some hints of earth - sweetness and bitterness intermixed but with bitterness coming out on top. Hints of alcohol come through as a suggestion of wood tones.

Dark chocolate is the first flavour along with a high alcohol hum that carries with it lots of dried red fruit tones and more than an inkling that some floral hops tones might be underneath all this delicious malt. Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout is also pleasantly earthy and has an almost charred finish of smoke, espresso and dark chocolate that is quite nice and just what I expect from an Russian Imperial Stout inspired brew. There are some sweet points that fade in and out providing a nice counterpoint to the primarily bitter primary flavours of dark chocolate, espresso and dried fruit. An excellent beer, really an impressive brew for special occasions rather than a session and although, Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout is delicious on its own, it could probably pair nicely with some chocolate heavy deserts.