Saltaire Triple Chocoholic

Stout and Porter are decidedly winter ales, I personally enjoy them all year round though. If you are going to try a seasonal beer then this one is a great choice. The hearty warming nature of darker beers such as these do complement the colder darker months, something very comforting about them. Of course chocolate is a great comforter also so if you need something to lift them winter blues here it is! Yorkshire have made great traditional bitters for a long time and in recent years have started making some more unusual beers such as this. Saltaire breweries have been making this beer for a little while now and the first time I tried it I was I was hooked, not literally I'm not an alcoholic! The idea of a chocolatey porter enhanced with more chocolate works a treat, I'm someone who isn't a fan of adding ingredients to the traditional brewing ones used for centuries but in this case I have made a definite exception. They also do a great range of other beers but those are beers for another blog.
The colour was dark, I mean really dark! Lovely reddish brown edges to the main black body but otherwise exactly what I expected and was hoping for. The nose lept out with unsurprisingly chocolate, a real strong milk chocolate. The smell wasn't pungent though it was light and creamy and had a sniff of malt about it. The first sip was different, to begin with there was a swift edge of minerally flavours likely due to the calciums they add. This quickly gave way to the milk chocolate flavours which were fluffy and bright, the finish was dry and bitter but still chocolatey sweet much like a dark chocolate. The end left a mild pleasingly malty flavour and of course a strong chocolatey taste. The fizz was good but short lived, the only thing I could ask for with this beer would be a stronger longer fizz but its not a real complaint. This beer is excellent, if you enjoy a good stout and want something to alleviate the cold January blues give this a go.