Chocolate Beer

What is Chocolate Beer?

Chocolate beer is a beer that includes any form of chocolate or cocoa. It is usually made from dark malts. The base beer is most often a porter or stout, though other styles are sometimes used.

The aroma of chocolate beer features strong notes of chocolate, coffee, roasted malts, and sometimes hints of vanilla or caramel. The taste is often rich and sweet, combining nuances of chocolate, caramel, coffee, and roasted malts. The finish can be slightly bitter, balancing the sweetness.

The texture of chocolate beer is typically creamy and full-bodied.

Origin Story

It is known that even in pre-Columbian America, cacao fruits were fermented to make a beer-like drink called chicha. This drink was typically made from maize, but in some regions, cacao beans were used. Some researchers even believe that chocolate was discovered as a byproduct of making chicha from cacao fruits.

A chocolate flavour is frequently noted in dark beers, even when the beer itself doesn’t contain any chocolate (see chocolate stout). The flavour and aroma of chocolate comes from the dark malts, which are appropriately called chocolate malts.

It is known that Young’s Brewery was the first to add real chocolate to their stout recipe in 1997 in addition to chocolate malts. This beer was named Double Chocolate Stout.