Jason Fields & Kevin Sheppard / Tröegs / Stone Cherry Chocolate Stout
San Diego homebrewing duo Jason Fields and Kevin Sheppard submitted their Cherry Chocolate Stout for this year’s Stone March Madness Homebrew Competition and AHA Rally, taking top honors out of 40 entries that were judged. As a result, they earned the opportunity to make a dramatically scaled up version with Brewmaster Mitch Steele on the 120-barrel Stone Brewing Co. system.Once the beer was decided on, an additional brewer had to be selected to complete the collaboration. Deciding to bring in John Trogner, Head Brewer of Pennsylvania’s famed Tröegs Brewing Co.
3.7
316 reviews
Escondido, United States
Community reviews
Bottle from Henry’s in Eastlake: Poured a pitch dark black color while a brown layer of foam gently retreats its way down leaving the liquid naked without a head. In the aroma, my nose detects a bold aroma of bitter dark chocolate, roast malts, strawberry ice cream and only a hint of cherry. However, the cherry becomes more apparent in the flavor, but the roast malts clearly dominate. Also, there is a bitter flavor of chocolate, but in my opinion, the chocolate becomes a bit astringent. The palate is watery and as for the finish, there is a strong aftertaste of cocoa powder or the taste of ground coffee bean.
12 oz bottle at City Beer in San Francisco, served in a snifter. Pours black with a minimal tan head that fades to a thin remnant. On the nose, there are nice notes of dark chocolate and cherries, along with toasty malts and a slight earthiness. The flavour is medium sweet with big cherry chocolate liqueur notes. It dries out towards the end, finishing with roasty malts and loads of dry dark chocolate with a slight herbal accent. On the palate, it is medium-full in body with a milky texture and soft carbonation. Overall, this is a nice cherry chocolate stout with a beautiful simple nose. The body and finish were slightly disappointing, however. 2012-02-17
12oz bottle $3.99 Dark black like a stout should be, decent head. Smells like chocolate liquer to me with only the mildest hint of a dark cherry, meh. The flavor was a little better, malts, dark chocolate but I couldn’t taste the cherries at all. I’m glad I only bought one bottle.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 08-09-2011 17:39:14
Pours coffee black with a thin cocoa head. Smells alcohol and some chocolate. Tastes slightly sour from the cherries...light alcohol. A tiny bit watery on the end of the palate.
Dark beer with a short lived brown head. Dusty chocolate and cherries in the nose. Subtle sweet cherry with milk chocolate, burnt toast, roasted grains and some vanilla notes in the flavors. Smooth, rich mouthfeel. Nice use of fruit in a stout.
Bottle from last summer, pours black with a nice tan head. Cherries in the nose. Pleasent mild sweetness of cherries with molasses, followed by some toasted chocolates. Clean finish. It’s ok.
Pours dark unclear chocolate with a deep, dark cocoa head. The aroma brings sweet, light cherry notes, a little to be desired on roasted malts, and just a tad of sweet chocolate. The flavor starts out with a bit of juicy cherry sweet and zinginess and a bit of creaminess on the body. The chocolate comes later on the tongue at the end, subtle but nice. Light overall, but delicious.
Bottle from DiarmaidBHK - pours pitch with a milk chocolate head. Aroma is more chocolate then cherry, and malty. Taste starts bittersweet, gets progressively more bitter as it warms. Overall, solid, but a bit overhyped, IMO.
Bottled. Pours dark, smallish head. More chocolate than cherry with maltiness etc. Pretty good.
Old review, Bottle. Pours black with creamy khaki head and lacing. Aromas of cherries, cocoa, smoke, and plum. Taste is sticky dr pepper, cherry juice, milk, and smoked grains. Good but cant drink alot of this.
Black with big, creamy, chocolate shake head / Deep, cough syrup nose of chocolate, tobacco, and cherry / Medium to full body, a touch syrupy and inky, mostly dry with a hint of sweetness, with decent hop balance and lightly bitter, finish / Intense flavors of odd candied cooked cherry, tobacco, dark roast coffee, prune juice, and bittersweet chocolate / Ultimately the odd, medicinal cherry and prune flavor doesn’t quite work.
12 oz, big thanks to Tim. Opaque ebony with a lasting quarter inch of foam. Smells of milk chocolate, cherries, cream, prickly green herb, and char. Taste is the same great combination, plus some caramel and prune. Hints of iodine and tobacco on the finish. Medium heavy body is chewy but only lightly sticky, has light carbonation and a great balance. Dangerously easy to drink.
Dark brown, nearly black pour, tan head with a little red thrown in. Roastiness, chocolate cherry and a little coffee. Bottle has been aged for a little while, and some alcohol flavor has come in on the back end. A really good beer. Cherry and chocolate are wonderful together.
A - Pours a dark brown-black color with a finger of frothy chocolate head with a touch of ruby mixed in. The head fades down fairly slowly leaving behind some nice lace.
S - Aroma is a mix of roasted chocolate malts and cocoa with cherries, some coffee and a touch of other dark fruits.
T - Starts off with some roasted cocoa with some cherry sweetness and a bit of lactose. Through the middle, some coffee flavor comes through with some more cherry flavor and a bit of other dark fruit sweetness. The finish is a mix of cherry, cocoa, coffee, and a bit of bitter dark chocolate.
M - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Feels smooth and a touch thick with a roasted and sweet finish.
D - Very drinkable. Nice balanced stout with the cherry flavor at a really nice level. I could drink a whole lot of this one.
2nd bottle I’ve drank of this I have one more I’m going to age longer. Smells of chocolate and cherries also getting a slight cinnamon smell. Appears pitch black with a thin tan head. Tastes of chocolate and cherries with a slight roasted flavor. Chewy on the palate so it has decent carbonation. Overall it was an awesome collaboration and suprisingly tasty after a year of cellering. I wish a brewery would brew something like this year round.
Pours a solid black with a short brown head and some lacing. The aroma has a great sweet cherry aroma with an equal amount of chocolate. The flavor has a nice balance of cherry and chocolate up front, with a sweet middle and a subtle chocolate and dark malt aftertaste.
Draught.
Black with a brown head.
Rich, roasted aroma, chocolate, coffee, dark fruits, smoke, cherries, hops.
Semi-sweet, full bodied, medium bitterness, creamy CO2.
Rich, complex, roasted taste, chocolate, cherries, coffee, tobacco, ashes, smoke.
(2012-05-01)
Serving: 12 oz. bottle from State Line Liquors. It pours pitch black with a large, tan head. The nose has lots of roasted notes with some coffee, dried cherry, alcohol, and grain husk. The flavor has a mix of light berries, roasted malt, bittersweet chocolate, some cherry skins, a little obvious alcohol, and coffee on the back end. The flavors never quite blend together well. The cherry tastes artificial with a weird tartness cropping up as the beer warms. Oily texture with a full mouthfeel, slightly softer carbonation, and a finish that lasts too long considering the flavor. I can’t say I cared for this one.
Black with thin brown-reddish head. Aroma dark chocolate and port. Complex flavors of vanilla, tobacco, leather and a bit of sweet fruit at the finish. Would have like for a more pronounced cherry profile.
This beer kind of sucks? Maybe its too old or just not very good. Aroma is decent with chocolate, weird medicinal cherry, and artificial sweetness. Taste is very strange herbally sweet and plastic with a background roastiness. I DPd my glass after a few sips.
Nice beer. Good, not great. Tasty chocolate & roasted flavor but the cherry is kinda flawed. (12oz bottle / Liquor Barrell - St Louis Park, Miracle Mile / 05/2012)
No real roast or dark malt flavors, cherry is slightly fake tasting and chocolate is milk chocolate type. Subpar
Pours dark brown with a deep tan mocha head. Aroma is deep chocolate but no cherry. Flavor is also fairly dark chocolate with a little dark cherry tart hiding underneath. It is not a marachino cherry flavor like I expected which makes this all the more subtle. Excellent beer. Thanks to Bellport Dave for this rare treat.
Pours tar black with a ran foamy head. Aroma of chocolate, roasted malt,and cherry. Cherry flavor with chocolate with hint of roasted malt. Smooth creamy moutfeel. Great beer!
From notes: Poured ink-black with a small, thin dark tan head and mild bubbling along the side of the glass. Chocolatey aroma with a faint note of dark cherry. Deep and full-bodied, with a touch of oilyness to it. A bit of a sweet cherry flavor up front that mixes nicely with a cocoa note in the finish. The combination of flavors lingers nicely onthe tongue. Definitely a winner.
Not the best cherry stout but not the worst. It is pretty good though nice cherry, not too sweet and some bitterness.
From notes. First reviewed 10/4/2011. Served on tap at Acre in a tulip.
Just from the pour I can tell this is a Stone brew. A thick, ebony black stout with a chunky thick mocha cap. Always good retention and lacing from their stouts.
Dark Belgian chocolate blends with medium roasted malt to dominate the nose. The cherry aroma takes a bit of a back seat.
Cherry comes out a lot more on the tongue. A slight tartness is not optimal, but there is a full chocolate and roasted malt flavor as well. Toward the middle, the cherry remains and combines with a mocha flavor that turns soft bitter by the end. Some vanilla comes in toward the end of the sip. The finish has some coffee and roasted malt notes as well as some lingering cherry.
The body is full and viscous, with carbonation that is soft and creamy. A soft acidity results from the cherries it seems, and there is smoothness that can only come from the lactose in milk stouts.
This is another solid offering from Stone. I would like to have this again sometime soon.
Gedronken in Brussel bij moeder Lambic, hij is zwart dus dan krijgt hij standaard 3 voor kleur, Ruikt en smaakt naar chocolade en kersen, heerlijk! Bruin schuim. Toch een koffie smaak, wat ik zelf iets minder vind.
This one was in my cellar for about six months now thought it was time to open it up. Popped the top and could smell some chocolate not picking up much of the cherry some good stout chocolate and coffee notes up front though. Pour the bottle into my Sam Adams perfect pint glass not much head a little mocha colored foam on top. First taste is chocolate up front a lttle dark resin sort of a cough medicine cherry taste at first I am going to wait till this warms up a little bit more. After the beer warms I enjoy more of the dark chocolate flavors but I am having a hard time finding the cherries. Overall I enjoyed this beer and have another in the fridge so maybe I can find the cherries in that one.
Bottle from 16 Tons. Pours the color of an ink blot with about an inch of mocha colored foam. Aroma of milk chocolate, roasted malts and hint of cherry, very nice. Flavor is similar but with slightly more cherry. Very smooth and easy drinking beer.