Onidensetsu Chocolate Stout is a 6.5% stout from Noboribetsu Brewing in Hokkaido. It contains no chocolate (WHAT!), however. And is also spelled “Chocolat” on the bottle. Someone’s been drinking on the job.
Onidensetsu Chocolate Stout Aroma and Taste
“Endeavour to brew quality beer”, it says on the bottle. “Full bodied”, it proclaims. Ho ho. Hokkaido breweries and their funny English-writing ways. Onidensetsu Chocolate Stout pours out politely, with a beige head that almost makes it to the top of the glass- almost- before settling down in resignation and a decent 2 centimetres of foam (Two Centimetres of Foam is my Three Inches of Blood tribute band).
Despite being chocolateless, choc-free if you will, Onidensetsu Chocolate Stout still manages a bitter chocolate nose. There’s also a sourness to it as well, but you’d be sour too if you were a beer called “Chocolate Stout” (or “Chocolat Stout”, for that matter) and didn’t have any chocolate in you. I’m still expecting it to taste like a melted Dairy Milk bar even though I know I’ll be disappointed if I continue down this road.
Cheers! (Everyone’s asleep so I cheersed the fridge instead) Much like a Quorn burger or fake vegetarian bacon, the lengths they’ve gone to simulate chocolate without going so far as to put any in have produced some unusual flavours. As you would expect, there’s the bitter, cocoa sugary flavour of chocolate malt, and also a roast coffee edge to it. The odd sour flavour remains too, but isn’t as widespread as the nose would suggest. It’s hoppy, which I wasn’t expecting but makes a nice change- usually beers like this tend to go all out on the sweet chocolate angle and neglect those dank lupulin nugs. Finally, there’s a smoky flavour too, as the immolated malts would tend to produce.
As it warms up the hop flavour becomes more forthcoming, and a milky aftertaste emerges as well. Interesting!
Onidensetsu Chocolate Stout: The Bottom Line
Onidensetsu Chocolate Stout is actually really tasty! And what do you know, it is full bodied, just like it says on the bottle! I really enjoyed this good, thick, bitter stout.
Where to Buy Onidensetsu Chocolate Stout
Onidensetsu Chocolate Stout can be bought online at the following places: