Beer of the Weekend #11: Young's Double Chocolate Stout

The beer this weekend is Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, brewed by Young’s & Co. of London.


Believe it or not, I’ve been wanting to sample this beer for nine years…or maybe longer. It’s at least been since high school. My friends and I, bored and without anything to do on Friday and Saturday nights, would sometimes go to John’s Grocery in Iowa City to browse the massive selection of beer to kill time. We were still too young to buy so we made wish lists of the beers we wanted to try. Pathetic, huh?

The single cans and bottles of specialty beers — many of which were from England — were kept on a wooden shelf near the incline to the beer room. Back then I was clueless about the differences between the styles of brew, but for some reason I already knew dark beers appealed to me. One beer I knew that was probably dark — pitch black and savory — was in the purple and orange can of Young’s Double Chocolate Stout.

Though I’ve been able to buy beer for some time, I’ve been too cheap to sample YDCS. Until tonight. (It cost me $9. Grrr.) I got the stout craving midweek and went into the Beach BevMo! knowing exactly what I wanted. I only lingered for a moment (I’ll get to that later), but I think it was the quickest I’ve ever been in and out of that store.

Serving type: Four 14.9-ounce cans.

Appearance: Opaque black with a creamy, delicious head that did not dissipate. A quarter of an inch topped the beer the entire pint.

Smell: Cool hot chocolate. That’s what I got.

Taste: My first taste was of the remainder lingering at the bottom of the can (there’s too much to pour into a pint glass at one time). It was very chocolaty, reminding me of Hershey’s Kisses. As a cream stout, YDCS has a milk like mouth feel. It’s nothing like I’ve ever had to describe in writing. I’m not getting any hops but there is a hint of roasted malts and cocoa.

Drinkability: Right about now is when I want quit writing and just drink. YDCS is very smooth and drinkable, but I’d much prefer a cold lager for everyday drinking.

Fun facts about Young’s Double Chocolate Stout:

-Alcohol content: 5.2 percent.

-Serving temperature: 50-55°F.

-A food pairing recommendation, from Beer Advocate, is chocolate dessert.

-In the brewing process, real bars of dark chocolate are thrown into the mix.

-YDCS contains a floating widget, which collects the nitrogen used to compress the beer when it’s pressurized in the can, then releases it again to create the cascading bubbles and thick, creamy head after the pour. Most canned or bottled UK and Irish stouts contain a floating widget. Once, in college, when my friends and I bought a sixer of Guinness someone joked that the widget was an aborted fetus. He thought it was funny. I didn’t.

The Quiet Man’s grade: The beer is very smooth and delicious, but didn’t quite live up to my expectations. B+.

Next week I’ll sample a beer from the country crowned Euro 2008 champions — Germany or Spain. Tonight I browsed the German shelf (more like shelves, since there are three sections dedicated to German brew) to see if anything caught my eye, then made sure a Spanish brew was available. I saw only one. It’ll be my only option if the Spaniards win, but I’ll have a tough decision to make if the Germans prevail. That said, I’m cheering for variety — Germany. (Secretly, though, I’m torn. The Spanish haven’t won a major international title since the Euro finals in 1964. They always have talent but are never able to make it far. Plus, they have the most badass national anthem. “Marcha Real” has no words.)

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