Schokobier

Schokobier
Freigeist Bierkultur - Vormann Brauerei, Hagen-Dahl
0,33l
5%

Right, as you might have gathered, I am on a little alcohol hiatus. It wasn't really planned.. after New Years Eve I was busy and then it somehow developed into a tipaton tammikuu (An alcohol free January). I have gotten a tremendous amount of great est objects for my birthday though, so I have to start somewhere. Today's baby I owe Dr. H. again who is doing his best to find rare gems for me to test and indeed, this might be one of those. It apparently is brewed for the 20th anniversary of the chocolate museum in cologne. Now I ask you WHY HAS NO ONE EVER TOLD ME ABOUT A CHOCOLATE MUSEUM?! *wipes drool off the keyboard*

Right ... where was I. I truly am not sure what to expect from this gem. I have had chocolate stouts - or so called chocolate stouts -  but this seems to actually have cacao as the ingredient. As the bottle is dark brown I can't guess whether it's gonna be a brown brew or a golden one.

The standard bottle holds a cap by the Vormann Brewery which seems to also be over 125 years old. My guess is that Freigeist Bierkultur brewed it at Vormann Brewery for the museum.

The label itself is nicely done, maybe a bit retro and depicts a chocolate version of colognes cathedral.

I can't find out whether the cacao was used in the brewing process or whether it was added later on. To go along German Purity law I'd guess it is the latter but no idea.

I picked my standard tasting glass for it.

It pours nice and easy, not as oily as some stouts. It comes with a nice dark hazelnut finish and not much foam. I actually had to use some tricks to produce foam at all. It dissipated rather quickly, leaving a fine layer of minuscule bubbles and an island of bigger ones in the middle of the brew.

Aroma-wise this isn't the best thing I have ever smelled. I can indeed smell the cacao but it reminds me more of accidentally sniffing in a pack of powdered cacao than the nice smell of a bar of chocolate.  Once one manages to ignore the very strong main aroma, there are faint plum tones and even marzipan hues... alas all covered by the rather unpleasant main small.

Time to give it a try and see whether my sense of taste still works after months of relaxation.

All I can say that this is... interesting. the dark aroma that was detectable is covering most of the present facets. It is rather tart by itself with a bitter sidetone that takes over in the aftertaste, surely stemming from the cacao.
Ratebeer is a bit mixed about it just like me. Apparently the Freigeist people are known for weird things and yes this wins as weird.

Thank you for the bottle Dr. H.!

Prost!

DMW