Bottle/Tap: Bottle

The other night I had a funny craving: a cheeseburger with bacon. Stopping by the grocery store, I picked up ground beef and smoked bacon, then headed home. While grilling I applied barbecue sauce to the burgers and even grilled the bacon. To top this all off I decided to have a Trout River Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. Remember this: dark beers go great with smoky grilled foods.

I’ve had two other beers that advertise chocolate on the label: Sam Adams’ Chocolate Bock and Rogue’s Chocolate Stout. Both of which were very good and reminded me of melted Hershey bars.

I opened the Trout River, poured it into a glass, and was immediately struck by the aroma of chocolate. Since this is a stout it was obviously jet black in color with a little foam on top. It looked very appealing.

Oatmeal is a common ingredient in most stouts, and there was a hint of oatmeal here. Actually, if you added raisins to the chocolate and oatmeal, you’d have a pretty good cookie recipe. There was a little taste of bitterness, but for the most part this stout was very smooth.

Thankfully, the bacon and burger were grilled to perfection by yours truly, and the smoky flavors were only complimented. I never though I’d have chocolate for dinner, although I have had cake for breakfast, so I guess it all works out.

Overall, I really enjoyed Trout River’s Chocolate Oatmeal Stout much more than their Red Ale, which I’ve had before. The time of year is approaching when darker, full bodied beers will be more common place, I’m just trying to jump the gun.