John: Southern Tier Imperial Choklat Stout! Talk about chocolate. Wow! Talk about stout. Wow. The byline for this brew is “The ancients called it ‘food for the gods’. I’m thinking this stuff has got to be in heaven! This is the darkest beer I’ve ever had that I really, really like. Black in color and intense chocolate in aroma this beer is made for chocolate lovers. If you like chocolate you’ll go for this Southern Tier Winter Seasonal. My first whiff reminded me of opening a Hershey’s kisses bag. The one that is marked “extra dark”. It was hard to put down to drink because it smelled so good. Deep rich smells of my favorite food. But it didn’t stop there. The mouthfeel was smooth (buy not syrupy) and the finish came with a carbonated “sting”. About half way through I thought, “This has got to have 2000 calories”. I really didn’t want to know. ST Chokolat isn’t for everyone only for those who love chocolate. On second thought I guess it is for everyone. If I get a break from buying new beers to review this will be on the top of my list for another round. Beware, this is a winter seasonal brew. Which means if you don’t get it soon you have to wait until the snows flying again. Grade: A-

Michael: There are some nights where you just have to have dessert, for dinner. With a late lunch in my bells, and a beautiful chocolate stout on my shelf, tonight easily became one of those nights.

As for appearance, typical. It was a deep, deep brown with a nondescript tanish head that quickly dissolved into a bubbly hoop of foam, just kissing the rim of my glass. As for smell, wow. In the words of my wife ‘that is the most chocolatey thing I have ever smelled.’ Agree, my wife, agreed. Not only chocolate, though, there were fruits in spades as well. Costco sells these chocolate covered acai/blueberry/blackberry things and it smelled like that, seriously. There was an overall sweetness, but the chocolate was incredibly dominant. It tasted heavenly. While not initially the most smooth stout ever, the flavors were simply bursting. There was chocolate and dates and roasted malts and burnt cocoa beans. There were hints of vanilla and a pleasant alcoholic sweetness, the finish like something grandma would have enjoyed in secret. A slightly bitter ending, it is not the bitter of hops, but rather of a bittersweet chocolate, dark and inviting.

Chocolate has a long and even sordid past, used as currency in one age and fought over in the next. Described as the ‘food of the gods,’ this beer seems to be just that. I’m glad I had dessert for dinner tonight. Wow. Grade: A