This week I am trying out two different Stouts. Samuel Adams Cream Stout and Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout.
One of the first things I noticed between the two, is how strong the Black Chocolate Stout is. 10% Alcohol by Volume. It has a decent punch to it for sure. Comparatively, the Samuel Adams Cream Stout label also indicates that it is “brewed with extra portions of roasted chocolate and caramel malts, roasted barley and hand-selected English hops.” The Black Chocolate is definitely the stronger tasting of the two, I find the Samuel Adams to be slightly more hoppy, and the Brooklyn slightly more malty.
Here is what Wikipedia says about Stout beers:
“Stout is a dark beer made using roasted malt or barley, hops, water, and yeast. Stouts were traditionally the generic term for the strongest or stoutest porters, typically 7% or 8%, produced by a brewery. There are a number of variations including Baltic porter, dry stout, and imperial stout. The name porter was first used in 1721 to describe a dark beer popular with street and river porters of London that had been made with roasted malts. This same beer later also became known as stout, though the word stout had been used as early as 1677. The history and development of stout and porter are intertwined.”
Here is what Wikipedia says about Chocolate Stouts:
“”Chocolate stout” is a name brewers sometimes give to certain stouts having a noticeable dark chocolate flavour through the use of darker, more aromatic malt; particularly chocolate malt — a malt that has been roasted or kilned until it acquires a chocolate colour. Sometimes, as with Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, and Rogue Brewery’s Chocolate Stout, the beers are also brewed with a small amount of actual chocolate.”
To be perfectly honest, I can’t pick a winner between the two. They taste so different, and the Brooklyn Stout is much stronger. So, if you are looking for something more subtle, go for the Sam Adams. If you don’t mind getting knocked over a little faster, go for the Brooklyn.