Beer of the Week: Young's Double Chocolate Stout

While ordering the name of this beer, Young's Double Chocolate Stout, is a mouthful, once you have a taste you can see that it is worth the effort. Similar to Boddingtons, cans of this beer have a nitrous capsule that gives the faux foam that makes it extra creamy and frothy. Although this makes it quite tasty, I much prefer it from a bottle or on tap, but both are hard to find. Often the best way to hunt it down on tap is at Irish or British pubs in the winter, when they have it as a special selection at places like the Telephone Bar & Grill. The beer itself is delicious not for it's creaminess, but rather it's unusual chocolate flavor. A dark Irish stout in every sense of the word, the beer is infused with a dark bitter chocolate flavor that accentuates each sip and makes for a finish that is distinct and much different than any other beer out there. For me, it drinks like a Guinness that has a dark chocolate bar melted into it. If you are one of those people who likes the taste of beers with a fruit finish (cherry wheat for example), but are too embarrassed to get it without being called a girl, then this beer is perfect. The fruitiness is replaced by a deep and savory flavor that pairs well with the dark bitterness of an Irish stout.

Number of Beers Drank in one Sitting: 2-3 because it is filling and rich
Pair with Food: It goes great with hearty pub food like fish and chips, french onion soup or a burger.

Chocolate Beer

Beer of the Week: Boddingtons

I first really became intrigued by Boddingtons when a friend of mind who drank it religious showed me what I thought was blasphemy in beer circles. He shook an empty can of beer, and it made a clinking sound because there was something inside of it with the beer. Apparently, I learned that Boddingtons has a small metallic nitrogen doo-hicky (scientific term) at the bottom so that when poured from a can it gives a nice head. This is referred to as a nitro can, or nitrogen can. What kind of crazy technology will they come up with next, beer that doesn't make you have a gut? Wine that doesn't stain your teeth? Tequila that doesn't make you wake up in jail?

After this experience I of course had to try the beer, both from a can and on tap. Needless to say whether it is the nitrogen or the fact that it's British, the beer is lighter than expected. Boddingtons has a very interesting balance of the lighter smoothness you might find in an ale, but also the bitterness you expect in a darker beer from England or Ireland. The ale is also surprisingly creamy, and flows similar in your glass to when you pour a Guinness (it is poured the same way too, although the wait isn't as long). Some would say the taste is a little bland, and that the whole nitrogen thing is a bit gimmicky, but I find it a refreshing alternative to some the other "creamy" beers that taste great going down, but fill you up really quickly. One warning, if you get a keg that seems low on nitrogen, or is a bit old, the beer can taste really bad, and makes you regret ordering it the instant you taste it. This actually just happened to me at a bar called Wharf, so beware!

Number of Beers Drank in one Sitting: 3-4 (Depending on how much you like creamy beer)
Pair with Food: Personally, I think the creaminess of the beer takes away from any food, but I could see it going with fish and chips nicely.

Beer + Nitrogen = Deliciousness

Beer of the Week: Newcastle Brown Ale

mmmm Beer. Ok, so I probably could say that about any beer other than Sam Adams (Sorry New England, but your taste in beer sucks). I order Newcastle anytime I see it's distinctive tap, it's like the sirens in The Odyssey even when I have decide to only have one. Newcastle for me is that perfect balance between a slight bitterness, and an aftertaste of sweetness that I love about a good beer. It is technically a "brown ale" although most people who aren't a bunch of beer snobs tend to group it in with other beer from England and Ireland like Boddingtons, Guiness, Bass and Youngs. Not to say I don't like the beers I just listed (maybe some future posts) but nothing compares to a well poured draught Newcastle, with some tasty "frosting". The slight hints of either chocolate or caramel nicely offset the bitterness, and although I don't know this for sure it seems to have a higher alcohol content than a lot of your average on tap beers.

Pair with Food - Possibly, but it is very filling and strong taste so not ideal
Average # drank on a night out - 3-4

Learn more about why you should let Newcastle get you drunk