Boulevard Smokestack Series: Chocolate Ale
One of the brightest stars in a city filled with culinary treasures, Christopher Elbow has been hand-crafting masterpieces in chocolate for more than ten years. In that time the reputation of his artistic delicacies has spread around the globe. Elbow’s sweets are distinguished by their use of unusual and sometimes surprising flavors and ingredients; in that adventurous spirit we joined forces to bring you a very special Chocolate Ale.
Chocolate Ale is full of surprises, beginning with a glowing amber hue. The aroma is given over to earthy, fruity cocoa, with just a hint of hops. Smooth layers of dark chocolate intertwine with threads of caramel, vanilla, and nutty malt as the flavor warms and rounds to a bittersweet finish.
Chocolate Ale is full of surprises, beginning with a glowing amber hue. The aroma is given over to earthy, fruity cocoa, with just a hint of hops. Smooth layers of dark chocolate intertwine with threads of caramel, vanilla, and nutty malt as the flavor warms and rounds to a bittersweet finish.
3.5
426 reviews
Kansas City, United States
Community reviews
Bottle. Clear amber, light beige head. Cacao, chocolate, and vanilla notes mixed with lager. Finish is sweet. Not that great.
Draft. Pours orange with a white head. Kinda sweetish cocoa nibs, though not very strong. Generally sweet, with a moderate sweetness lingering through the finish. Good enough.
Doesn't smell or look particularly chocolatey. Taste does a better job of following suit, like a tootsie roll. I have to remind myself it's an ale, not a stout like most chocolate adjunct beers. Overall okay, interesting but not great.
Bottle. Golden, light brown. Nice three finger head. Nice chocolate flavor. Really good.
12 ounce bottle bb 20 Dec 2019; indicates 8.4% abv. Mostly clear, orange-copper brew with a sizzling head that settles to an enduring film of cream. Nose is metallic vanilla, booze and a bit of cocoa. Flavor has more of the same plus a touch of toasted oak. Light-medium body has medium-high fizz and a balance of sorts. Way too much vanilla which makes it seem really boozy at just 8.4%.
10 oz at Star Bar. This is fairly clear light brown with a little white head. I feel like the intention here is to let the chocolate shine and yeah, that's an understatement. It's not super sweet or milky but retains a boatload of crisp nib flavor. I get cacao, a flake or two of Count Chocula, and a subtle nuttiness. Well excuted, as I would always expect from Boulevard. It all boiled down to personal preference for me on this one. It tastes a lot like chocolate without crossing into drinking chocolate territory but also keeps beer/malt character subdued.
The Aromas are dark malt, toffee, and a little less chocolate. Flavors are like nose slightly more sweet than bitter not overly, strong carbonation gets in the way. Chocolate is maybe too subdued. Kind of a ho-hum beer.
May 25th, 2015 - The big surprise here occurs when a chocolate ale pours a more like an IPA in color, slightly hazy and light brown with very little head to speak of. The aroma is a little tangy, with raspberry and hazelnut notes, and a gentle floral layer that reminds me of Hawaii. The palate is quite foamy, starting bright with some graham cracker sweetness. This is also a curious extension of the mismatched expectations in appearance and color. The tanginess is bright but not fruity (mango, perhaps) with some almond and almond butter extensions. It's a weird but good beer, and pushes the envelope on flavors without using extreme methods like barrel aging.
26.12.2017, 0,75l bottle (best before 12.2014) @ home:
Nice fizzy-creamy mediumlasting head. Aroma is slightly dry sour-ish mineraly, weeds, hay, grass, minerals, old dusty cellar, alcohol, bark, hints of dusty cocoa and grain. Taste is slightly dry sour-ish mineraly, weeds, grass, bark, minerals, old dusty cellar, dusty cocoa, alcohol, paper. Medium bitterness, slightly dry and harsh mineraly mouthfeel. Probably way over the top, still not my cup of coffee.
I was a bit surprised when I first poured this beer. I was expecting a dark, porter like appearance, but it had a lighter, cloudy presentation. Nose was reminiscent of a Belgian Quad with faints hints of chocolate. Taste was very quad like, sweet and very enjoyable. Nice beer!
Bottle dated best by 9/2015. Pour is a cloudy and murky light brown with a thin off white head that leaves little lacing. Aroma is loaded with dark stone fruits. Dates, raisins, and figs are abundant. Chocolate, molassas, and oak barrel as well. Some vanilla and chocolate are also there. It smells like a quad almost. Taste is chocolate, dark stone fruits, brown sugar, and candi sugar. Thinner than I would expect and still a lot of carbonation.
Tootsie roll chocolate heavy, which sounds so so but works pretty well. Sweet caramel and fruity as well. Yellow amber pour was a surprise. Decent dessert beer.
Murky Amber pour with a thinning light beige head. Medium nose full of light fruity undertones, boozy Amber malt, and a lift bit of semisweet cocoa. Smooth and nutty chocolate flavor that’s not overly sweet of chocolaty, just kinda tempered cocoa and mild mellow Amber malt on a slightly boozy warm malty backbone, and a light bit of fruitiness. Mellow warmish, semisweet, slightly fruity finish. This isn’t a chocolate ale so much as its a mild Barleywine with light cocoa notes.
Reviewed March 27, 2014.
A: Pours a dark amber color. The head is about two and a half fingers high, and pale yellow in shade. Very fluffy and soft-looking, the retention is quite good. On the other hand, no real lacing is left behind.
S: Opening the cork reveals a borderline spectacular bouquet of dark chocolate. Then I pour it into the glass, and I’m left wondering - what happened to the chocolate? In the glass, I’m getting notes of vanilla, banana, roasted nuts, caramel, but minimal chocolate. I’m also getting touches of spicy Belgian yeast. Somewhat disappointing; if this smelled like it did from the bottle as it does now, it would be an easy 4+.
T: Some sweet dark chocolate opens it up, along with some caramel and vanilla. There’s a genuine white chocolate vibe with the flavor profile. It’s even brownie-esque at times. After that, this one stumbles somewhat - some fruity, mildly spicy yeast enters in the middle and finishes it off. The yeast character seems to lack definition (disappointing considering who makes it) and obstructs some of the nice chocolate notes.
M: Rather heavy on the palate, and quite sweet. This doesn’t have the deceptive drinkability Boulevard’s other 750s have. The carbonation is pretty low, as well - put simply, it’s a sipper, not a chugger.
O: A solid beer in small doses - the chocolate flavor (despite the disappointing aroma) is moderately prevalent, but it’s a bit of hard work to imbibe. If this were closer to a stout or even a brown instead of an amber/red, I’d like this much better. This is something that you split between 6 or so people instead of drinking by yourself.
Pours a reddish brown. Sweet caramel/roasty aroma. Roast malt/chocolate flavor with a touch of fruit and great finish.
A ruby/brown color with finger of white head. Strong smells of milk chocolate, reminds me of Nestlé chocolate syrup, oatmeal, a little earthiness. Taste is big chocolate taste, with some earthy hop oatmeal like tastes, smooth drinking. Ends in a slight bitter with caramel maltiness. Too gimmicky for my taste.
It's a year old, and this doesn't look, smell or taste of chocolate. It does however taste of sherry, cherries, and other fruits. $16/22oz
Aroma is sweet roasted malts, caramel, apple, pear and slight tart. Chocolate blend in and isn’t the main aroma which is what I like. Taste is rich malts with a nice blend of dark fruits and mellow chocolates. Balanced quite well. The high abv isn’t noticeable. Rich, complex and smooth. Appearance is a hazy amber with a medium pearl head that retains fairly well.
750 ml bottle from notes. Pours a slightly hazy deep amber color with a small off white head. The aroma had nice chocolate character, some caramel and hints of fruit. The flavor has more cocoa like chocolate, creamy, caramel, sweet, some earth and a background fruity character, I don’t know that this fits any category, ok in small doses but this falls below the Smokestack series expectations for me.
Dull blood orange in color. Decent carbonation. Akward almost chaulky mouthfeel. Tastes of malt and malt chocolate.
Pours hazy orange-amber with a small, thin bone-colored head that disappeared quickly. Aroma of citrus mixed with bittersweet cocoa. Maybe some nutty malt too. Body is medium-to-full and lightly syrupy. Mild astringency to the finish. Earthy flavor mixed with mildly bittersweet chocolate. Notes of citrus and nutty malt too.
Bomber - Light brown/rusty pour. Sweet malts and caramel, a little bourbon and some light chocolate on the finish.
Taste: bittersweet chocolate, roasted bean, vanilla,nutty, hint of sour yeast.
Dark Brown and mostly clear.
toasted malt and coffee with hint of hop to nose.
Medium/lite body.
Delicate tan head.
Taste a little like German Chocolate.
24 IBUs
The beer was well done but not my palate preference. Aroma of Whoppers and milk. Golden grown color and a medium palate. Flavor was malted and chocolate but not as pronounced as I expected. Slight hop bite at the finish.
Appearance: slightly hazy pale amber with one finger of fluffy light tan head, good retention and lacing. (3/5) Aroma: cocoa powder, vanilla, caramel, coffee, apples and mild dark fruit. (7/10) Taste: moderately strong sweet, moderate bitter. (6/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, medium duration slightly warming finish. (4/5)
Not convinced - there’s an edge on this that I can’t quite place, perhaps a citrus or fruit hop tone, that clashes a little with the chocolate. It’s not unpleasant, on the whole, but I can’t say I’d go looking for it again, either. (14/20)
Pours hazy copper colour with a little to no head or lacing. Aroma of yohoo drink.....but it’s actually nice. Tastes of yohoo, alcohol, and a little hope bitterness. Not a bad beer.
Poured from a bottle it is a clear amber color with an off white head. The aroma is rich, complex and quite chocolatey with a light vanilla and coffee flavor. Sweet and rich
A pretty decent brew. Pours a dark, murky toffee amber with a murky body, thick beige head and a steady stream of carbonation. The aroma is rich, complex and quite chocolatey with a light vanilla and coffee note. Sweet and rich with a dessert like profile. Nutty and caramel notes and a hint of fruit with a light hop accent. Chocolate and cocoa bean notes are throughout and rich. Nicely done!
750ml corked bottle pours amber in color with a finger of off-white head that leaves a few spots of lacing on the glass. Aromas of caramel and light chocolate with some hints of vanilla. Taste is light chocolate and caramel malty sweetness with a grassy hop bitterness. Light to medium bodied with decent carbonation. Not one of my favorites from this series, disappointing.
Bottle pour copper with moderate ecru head. Nose initially earthy and mineral, then trace dry coco, followed by some caramel and sweet fruit. Taste caramel, sweet malt, fruit like apple. Chocolate seems to be faint in the aftertaste. Not what I was expecting. Tastes more like a Belgian ale with just faint chocolate overtones.