Chocolate Love Day/ Beer of the Week

If you’re from Kansas City and you love chocolate and beer, you are likely familiar with Christopher Elbow and The Boulevard Brewing Company, respectively.  If you’re in Boulder think Chocolove and Avery, or if you’re in Red Lodge, think Kings Cupboard and Red Lodge Ales.   Fancy chocolate and good beer.  So what do you get when you put them both together in one bottle?

 

In Red Lodge you get the Chocolate Stout, which is by far one of my favorite beers ever, especially when it’s served on nitro in Sam’s Tap Room.  In Boulder you get, well, I have no idea because I haven’t heard of any good beer-chocolate combos there.  But it would be a good idea.  You get where I’m going with this.

In KC anyways, Christopher Elbow and Boulevard are the best at what they do, so when they decided to team up and make a chocolate beer, it would be an understatement to say it was one of the most talked about beers in Kansas City.  You didn’t have to be a beer snob to know about it either.  The newspapers and blogs of Kansas City were all over this beer.  The exact release date was not known until about a three days before it was released, which only made the hype that much greater.  The well-stocked KC liquor stores were only getting about four cases each, and if you were not on a list days before the stuff went on sale, you were SOL.  Well, not totally, but it would have been tough.  So now, on this St. Valentine’s Day evening, your best bet of getting some of this sweet stuff is to take your lovely date to one of the few restaurants or bars that got the Chocolate Ale on tap.  For more info on where to actually get this chocolate nectar of the beer gods, check out this blog.  It's a great blog and the guy who writes it does a great job of relaying KC beer world happenings.

OK, now for my actual review of the beer.  When most people would think of a chocolate beer, they’d probably picture a stout, porter or something malty and dark.  Not this beer.  Chocolate Ale is a wonderful light bronze color, nothing like a stout or a porter.  Think of a pale ale, add a stupid amount of chocolate and get rid of the hops.  Most chocolate beers have just a hint of chocolate, and it mainly comes from the roasted malt anyways, but once again, not this beer.

 

This beer is all chocolate.  If you heated it up, you could toss some marshmallows on top and call it hot cocoa.  Frozen it would be a chocolate milkshake.  Totally chocolate forward, chocolate nose, chocolate middle and chocolate finish.  But somehow it’s not too chocolaty.  It’s just right.  If you do have the chance to taste this beer, sit back and sip slowly.  I have three left and would love to share some.   Come by, and we’ll pop one of these gems open.

*UPDATE*

It's now being sold on ebay for $75 a bottle, wow!  It's damn good but, thats a bit high.