Cherry Chocolate

Bottle at Growlers Pub West in St. Louis. The beer is a dark reddish-brown color with a medium thin light beige head that recedes quickly. Spotty lacing on the glass. Aroma similar to a cherry Tootsie Pop. Medium-bodied and sweet with cherry and chocolate flavors, plus a touch of malt. The finish is artificial cherry sweetness that does not linger long. Overall this one did not really click with me.

Sampler at Cardinal Liquors, Frankfort. They didn’t have this when I toured the brewery this summer, but here it is in the store again. Light muddy brown color. Milk chocolate scent. Taste is chocolatey as advertised. I lose a little bit of the cherry. Interesting that they played this on a wheat beer base. Keeps the texture lighter than some chocolate stout.

Smells weird, not quite like chocolate, not quite like cherry, but not entirely un-reminiscient of chocolate covered cherries. OK if that doesn’t make any sense, nevermind. There’s a touch of baked brownie. Soda appearance, lacking effervescense and head. Pretty smooth, slightly soft mouthfeel. Big chocolatey note dominates this. Cherry seems to arise both in the flavor and aroma once you start in on it. Light to medium body finishes light and off-dry, not quite watery. I expected this to have a brown ale/porter base, so I’m surprised to see "dark wheat". Interesting, and that base style contributes to the lightness without giving it a watery component. This is one of the more interesting creations involve fruit and wheat, and the addition of a chocolate aspect (malt or actual chocolate?) seems to work.

Bottle. Pours a brownish color with a half-inch fizzy head that dies down to nothing in short order. Aromas are--predictably--of chocolate and cherries, but have a surprise of a smokey, charcoal and peat note that seems a little out of place. Tastes about like it smells... Charcoal peat up front which then gives way to a slowly sweetening chocolate covered cherry finish. Different and not as horrible as I expected.

I imagined their smoked porter with cherry and chocolate. This beer has a much lighter body. It is light brown and there is no sediment. The aroma is good, it smells like chocolate covered cherries. Flavor does have real chocolate flavor like that recent Michelob beer. It should be darker and thicker. They should have been aiming for something like a Bells Cherry Stout.

Bottle at Shakespeare Pizza in Columbia, Missouri. This is literally a Brach’s Cherry Cordial in a bottle, complete with the dark (not milk) chocolate and cherry syrup flavors. Very little of the underlying malt and/or hops character was evident. A clever concept but nothing more.