Beer Wednesday: Cherry Chocolate Stout by Stone, Jason Fields and Kevin Sheppard, and Troegs

A new beer is available from the Stone collaborations series, and I was really excited to give it a try. You don't see an ambitious flavor mix like 'Cherry Chocolate Stout' every day, so I was pretty excited about this one. The short version: it tastes a lot like a beer version of a Cherry Coke. Make of that what you will.




The long version: this is a sweet stout (not unlike a milk stout in that regard) with Cherry Coke flavors and very little carbonation. It has a medium-light body, which surprises me because that goes against the grain of most stouts. There are very few coffee or roasted malt flavors in this stout; it is instead dominated by a syrupy sweet flavor which is balanced a bit by a slight bitterness of chocolate.

To me the flavors were agreeable, and I liked the beer. However, it lacks the depth and complexity of flavors which characterize the best stouts - a rich, dark chocolate, bitter coffee, or roasted malt for example. A fuller body would help add depth of flavor as well. Alternatively, a more carbonated beer might have popped more on the tongue.

Regardless I found it up my alley and would recommend it to fans of sweet beers, or those who want to try an unusual flavor combination in a stout. It cost me $2.49 for a 12oz bottle and has 7.3% ABV.

I imagine there would be a wide range of reactions to this beer. A quick look at its Beer Advocate reviews confirms this: they range from A to D-. So, there's that. The ratebeer scores are extremely positive (98 out of 100). Other interesting reviews of this beer can be found at San Diego Magazine (calls it one-dimensional), the great Dos Beerigos (they found it more bitter than sweet like I did), and The Full Pint (calls it 'dessert-like').

If you've tried this, what did you think? Have you had any Stone collaboration beers recently?