The world's best flavored stout - - complex, great mouthfeel, hint of bitterness

I crack up when I read the beer reviews like the one below from the World Beer Awards, especially when parsed into sound bytes. I just wish I had the nerve to do stand-up comedy (how many times fans of this beer have told me "you were great last night"...), but I'd blush myself off the stage in a heart beat.  Still, here is my list of fun(ny) soundbytes from the WBA review:

• great mouthfeel
• creamy
• complex
• hint of bitterness
• great balance
• fresh vanilla aroma
• layered & inviting

Kudos to John "more hops" Maier and his crew at Rogue Ales in Newport, Oregon for brewing this elixir (which I adorn the label of), and for the other beers from Rogue Ales that scored WBA awards!  Yet another couple of awards in their caps. I'm thrilled Rogue Chocolate Stout beer was awarded World Best Flavored Stout  & The Americas Best Flavored Stout, according to worldbeerawards.com

Thanks to the contributors on Beeradvocate, this beer has 1800+ reviews with a score of 94,  (99 from The Bros!) and RateBeer which has 1877 ratings and a score of 99!

Rogue's 22oz (and 64, 101oz) bottle has food group symbols, as a suggestion for pairing this beer with food. The food symbols on Rogue Chocolate Stout are Beef and Dessert -- but I feel the strength of pairing this beer is with cheese!   Here are some of my favorite cheese pairings: 

• blue cheese from producers like Rogue Creamery, Jasper Hill Farms or the classic stilton from Colsten Bassett (UK).
• mature cheddars (with lots of crunch) like Upland's Pleasant Ridge Reserve,  Fiscalini or Beechers 24 or 48 month old reserve.
• new styles like Touvelle from Rogue Creamery (sort of jack meets cheddar...)
• classic goat cheese like Cypress Grove's Humboldt Fog, or MozzCo's Hoja Santa.  
• flavored cheese like Beehive's Barley Buzzed or Rogue Creamery's Chipotle Cheddar.
• a soft / bloomy rind like Cherry Grove's Buttercup Brie,  Kunik form Nettle Meadow farms, or Dinah from Kurtwood Farms.

I also love to blend this beer (Hole Mole')  and have also blogged some of my beer cocktail recipes in the past (Rogue Diplomat Gone Nuts) and will continue to blog new recipes here and on a new site, www.BeerMixology.com 

tags: @chocolatestout  @rogueales