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The Chocolate Manifesto

    Brewery: Flying Monkeys
    Country: Canada
    Size: 75cl
    ABV: 10%
    Price: 249kr
    Systembolaget: 89130

    Craft beer is an expensive business. As craft beer has gone from strength to strength over the last 40 years, so have some of the prices. Like every other industry, you pay more for the premium products and it is not strange anymore to find small batch beers that are rather astronomical in price. When I was looking for beers to try for the easter and chocolate tasting, I wanted to try to find the most chocolate infused beer possible. A triple chocolate stout sounded perfect, but then I looked at the price. Even though it was a big bottle, the fact remained that it would still the most expensive beer I have bought into a tasting. Without trying it first and going by reviews online, I bought 3 bottles and hoped for the best. It went down well with the guests, but I must say I was somewhat less enthusiastic.

    The stout was deep brown to black with a chocolate khaki coloured head. Tiny bubbles frothed up but then gently died away. The body was not as thick as I expected. The aromas wasn’t just a hint of chocolate, it was more of a slap to the face with a cocoa bomb. Massive chocolate milk aromas emanated the glass, more akin to a milkshake than a beer. Smaller coffee tones were noted but this was all about the cream and sweet milk chocolate. The taste was a strange mixture of good and bad. There was a big hit of chocolate and minor note of roasted coffee that I expected but there was also something else going on that I didn’t particularly like. It was quite hard to put my finger on it but it had a plastic, synthetic like note to it. The carbonation was there but it was quite subtle. It dried out the mouth and left a bitter cocoa finish on the tongue.

    The guests at the beer tasting loved this. From their reaction I can understand why it currently has a score of 99/100 on Ratebeer. But for me, this wasn’t a favourite. The amount of chocolate they managed to cram into this beer was exceptional, and the milk presence with really nice. The plastic notes that permeated the beer though was off-putting and not to my taste. I might have got a faulty bottle and I’m willing to give this one another go, but for the moment I’m sceptical. I don’t think this is worth the money and you can get better milk stouts for far less money.