Everyone
68

Black Raven Chocolate Wild Experimental Ale

Black Raven Brewing Company
Redmond, WA, United States of America


Vital Statistics

Type: Wild Ale
Release: Limited Rotating
ABV: 10%
Bitterness: 67 IBU

From the brewer

This highly experimental beer is for those who enjoy chocolate with a cocoa content higher than 80%. Powerful bitter cocoa notes emerge from a base of chocolate and caramel malts through the tradition of secondary ferments used to commonly produce sour, field, and wild beer. Field beer could be defined as any beer that uses the naturally occurring flora, usually yeasts or bacteria, on an agricultural product as the life for any of its fermentation stages. Much of the flavor we perceive as chocolate comes from the wild fermentation of the cocoa pod. For this beer we re-animate those organisms but use them for secondary fermentation; this imparts rich cocoa, earthy complexity and a palate stretching bitter in a non-hop bitter way.

Average Scores

Overall: 68 (logged 10 times)
Draft: 68 (logged 10 times)

Who's been drinking this

Disappointed compared to previous times I've had it. Tastes like alcohol.
Sour tangy dry finish.
Smell of dry chocolate. Sour tang finish.
Same funky brett flavor as the Pour Les Oiseaux, but this time layered on top of a dry chocolate porter-like base. I thought it worked really well with the vinous and malty saison, but here it just seemed like a puzzle that I never figured out.