Morrison’s Chocolate & Vanilla Stout
This isn’t the first chocolate beer I’ve tried, but it is the first supermarket own brand version which has been ‘enhanced’ with chocolate. Morrison’s have added both chocolate and vanilla flavours to the beer. Not something I really thought well of, if I’m honest.
If you don’t drink a variety of beers you may think that stout is a thicker, more ‘chewy’ beer in the style of Guinness. This stout (and others like it) is very much more like a real ale, with a light body and a lack of any real effervescence, although you do get a decent head on your pint when you pour.
A good sniff does reveal chocolatey aromas, and these are backed up by the first mouthful. It’s a beery chocolate flavour, but chocolate nonetheless. I was nothing less than relieved to find that the additions made to the flavour of the beer were suitably muted. I did detect notes of vanilla, but the chocolate notes from the malt didn’t seem to have been obviously enhanced, and the beer was a well balanced brew with an excellent interplay between sweet, light top notes and sharpness from the hops. Served at room temperature, this beer was both tasty and refreshing.
I quite liked this beer, but found myself wishing I’d had a bottle of another, unenhanced beer to hand for immediate comparison. Although it is a supermarket own brand, I’m not entirely sure how widely available this beer is. You’ll just have to browse your local store and hope for the best, but if you see one, it’s worth taking home.