Guest Post by Eric Schlake
(Eric and his wife frequently visit local pubs and taverns and enjoy sampling microbrews and specialty beers. He will report here periodically on some of the beers tried in Punta Gorda. Today's selection is one sampled at the Celtic Ray)
On a recent trip to Celtic Ray, we sampled Young's Double Chocolate Stout, from the UK's Wells & Young Brewery.
While the concept of blending the flavors of chocolate and stout might seem odd to some, it is quite common for a dark roasted stout to pick up flavors of chocolate or coffee from the roasting process. The malt, typically barley, is dark roasted, as are coffee beans and cocoa beans for chocolate. Since the roasting process is similar, the malt picks up characteristics that are akin to what happens to coffee or cocoa beans in their roasting process. Young's, in fact, adds a small amount of chocolate to the brewing process, which is why they call it a "Double" chocolate stout.
If you are new to stouts, you may not recognize the chocolate notes in the beer. Instead, you may think it has a malted or coffee flavor. It is a fairly heavy beer, and is very smooth and silky.
Since it is fairly heavy, the bartender had us try a blend of half Guinness and half Youngs Double Chocolate Stout. Think "Black and Tan" (a mixture of half Guinness and half Bass Pale Ale) but with two stouts. This was a great combination, making the beer a bit lighter in the consistency, but still having much of the flavor of the chocolate stout.
Young's Double Chocolate Stout is always on tap at Celtic Ray, and is a great beer to sample during an evening out by itself or with dessert. We had ours with the bread pudding, which has now become one of our favorite pairings. This beer would pair well with any desserts on the menu, or with any of the stew type dishes, such as Guinness or Shepards Pie.
If you like dark beers, or would would like to try a good dark beer, give this one a try. It is an award winning beer, and recieves high marks from beer enthusiasts.
While the concept of blending the flavors of chocolate and stout might seem odd to some, it is quite common for a dark roasted stout to pick up flavors of chocolate or coffee from the roasting process. The malt, typically barley, is dark roasted, as are coffee beans and cocoa beans for chocolate. Since the roasting process is similar, the malt picks up characteristics that are akin to what happens to coffee or cocoa beans in their roasting process. Young's, in fact, adds a small amount of chocolate to the brewing process, which is why they call it a "Double" chocolate stout.
If you are new to stouts, you may not recognize the chocolate notes in the beer. Instead, you may think it has a malted or coffee flavor. It is a fairly heavy beer, and is very smooth and silky.
Since it is fairly heavy, the bartender had us try a blend of half Guinness and half Youngs Double Chocolate Stout. Think "Black and Tan" (a mixture of half Guinness and half Bass Pale Ale) but with two stouts. This was a great combination, making the beer a bit lighter in the consistency, but still having much of the flavor of the chocolate stout.
Young's Double Chocolate Stout is always on tap at Celtic Ray, and is a great beer to sample during an evening out by itself or with dessert. We had ours with the bread pudding, which has now become one of our favorite pairings. This beer would pair well with any desserts on the menu, or with any of the stew type dishes, such as Guinness or Shepards Pie.
If you like dark beers, or would would like to try a good dark beer, give this one a try. It is an award winning beer, and recieves high marks from beer enthusiasts.
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