Southern Tier Choklat Stout

In a world where chocolate is cheaply made and mass manufactured, it’s easy to not be “big on chocolate.” It’s not until you sink your teeth into a high quality no bullshit hunk of chocolate that you can fully appreciate and understand where chocoholics are coming from. After trying the fancy pants type of chocolate, you can understand why Mayans referred to cocoa as the “food of the gods.”

I won’t go so far as to refer to the Southern Tier Choklat Stout as the “beer of the gods,” but I’m a few sips away from doing just that.

I had my eye on the Choklat as an after dinner beverage at Devil’s Den. After a flight of Belgian ales, the 11% ABV had me wary of ordering this magical glass of stout, but what would a Friday morning be without a bit of a hangover?

The appearance of this beverage was intimidating. I like to think it poured like an oil slick and that it could power a small vehicle or lawn mower. When you put your nose to the glass, I highly suggest you close your eyes and tell everyone around you to shut the hell up for a second. When you take your first sip, I suggest you do it alone in bed with lit candles and some Barry White on the stereo. Southern Tier has done an exceptional job of creating a beer you want to do it to.
In addition to chocolate malt, Southern Tier added bittersweet Belgian chocolate to this brew. Without knowing this information ahead of time, you figure out that real chocolate was used before you’ve even taken your first sip. The balance of bitter and sweet is perfect. It turns out that chocolate has been used in beverage form since ancient times. It’s ancient times that have inspired the creation of this stout as I learned from the Southern Tier website, “The Popol Vuh, the sacred book of the Maya, unfolds a complex web of mystery around a beverage known as xocoatl (ch-co-atle). At Southern Tier, we’re not surprised that hieroglyphs of the ancient Maya depict chocolate being poured for rulers and gods.”

It’s been said that chocolate releases certain neural transmitters in the brain inducing a sense of euphoria. This explains the Mayan obsession with the cocoa bean and how it was so valuable it could be used as currency. I never experienced the so called euphoria that came along with eating certain types of chocolate…. Until I drank this beer. I seldom use the word “oralgasm” but it seems like the perfect time to throw it out there (ok, it’s a lie. I use the word oralgasm every other day). If you‘re in any way a fan of chocolate you need to try this beer. If you’re not a stout person- well shit, even if you’re not a beer person, you’re likely to enjoy a glass of Choklat Stout the same way you enjoy a cup of hot chocolate after playing in the snow.