Deep dark brown and black coloured body with a thick, rich deep brown head that starts at about three centimetres in height and fades quite slowly. Aroma of deep roasted malt, light coffee, some nuts, but a ton of citrus and super resinous hops with tons of alpha acids and a bitter bite, especially at the end. Medium to Full-bodied; Strong rich roasted malt flavours dominate with a chocolate (of course) and coffee flavour right behind with some pit fruit sweetness and a lot of caramel and rich toffee at the end that has a lot of body, but also a good dose of hops at the tail end that have some good complexity and a lot of bitterness. Aftertaste is deep and rich with the chocolate and roasted malt front and Centre, but the hops and bitterness from resin and grapefruit and citrus are somehow even stronger. Overall, a very interesting beer, but somehow it all works together, perhaps due to the lower alcohol content (listed at 5% only on the can). The can did not mention Hitachino at all (just BrewBase), and lists the [derived] style as a 'New England Sweet Stout IPA'. I sampled this 33 cL can as my first purchase after leaving French Polynesia on the second stop on my holiday and a welcome reprieve from the pale lagers (mostly) in Tahiti (and her islands), but this was very nice, from the Liqour Store (that obviously also sells beer) in Daimon, Tokyo, Japan on 03-August-2019 for 480JPY sampled a few minutes later in my hotel room here in Tokyo, Japan on 03-August-2019.

Brewbase Chocolate Soul 5% I’m pretty sure this is brewed at Hitachino, I’m more familiar with their hazy options so I’m curious to try this... I guess it’s a chocolate stout? No style listed on the CBM LUCUA menu. Deep brown color that verges on black with a tan head. The aroma is a floral chocolate while the light body has a sharp carbonation that’s a bit cola like. The sweet floral chocolate flavor matches the nose. All in all it is ok - on the sweet side. 3.4