food

Something dark and bittersweet is brewing in Japan for Valentine’s Day — chocolate beer

16 Comments
By Kay

If you enjoy beer, I’m sure you’ll agree that beer has no season — a cold glass of beer in the hot summer can be life-savingly refreshing, but a beer in the dead of winter along with a piping hot dish like nabe (Japanese hot pot), can also be heavenly.

One of the reporters from our sister site Pouch introduces us to a unique beer that you may want to savor slowly after a nice meal. It’s a special 2013 line-up of chocolate beer, and it’s available only around Valentine’s Day in Japan.

Produced by the Sankt Gallen Brewery based in Kanagawa Prefecture, this so-called “chocolate beer” surprisingly isn’t made from real chocolate or cacao/cocoa. It’s made mainly from a combination of high temperature roasted chocolate malt and regular roasted base malt, which gives it a distinct rich flavor, not to mention the dark chocolaty color, all quite different from the typical light, golden-colored beer that we’re accustomed to. And in case you’re wondering, many women in Japan go crazy buying chocolates (some of them quite expensive too — Pierre Hermé, Jean-Paul Hévin and Pierre Marcolini, to name just a few of the chocolate brands popular in Japan) for Valentine’s Day, hence the chocolate beer promotion at this time of year.

This year’s chocolate beer line-up was released on Jan 10, and our lucky reporter had the chance to sample some of the dark, bittersweet drink and even received some tips from the folks at Sankt Gallen on how to make the most of your chocolate beer experience.

Our reporter first tried the Imperial Chocolate Stout, which we could say is the classic chocolate beer (if there is such a thing as a classic chocolate beer), priced at 630 yen for a 330ml bottle. Chilled and fresh out of the fridge, the beer tasted almost like a cold espresso drink, the fluffy foam on top the texture of creamy frothed milk. Hmm…the beer may be a little bitter for some people’s tastes, although drinking the foam and the actual beer together would probably make it go down more smoothly.

But wait. According to Sankt Gallen’s chief operational director, Nobuhisa Iwamoto, chocolate beer changes flavor depending on the temperature. We left the Imperial Chocolate Stout at room temperature for about 10 minutes as suggested, and…magic! The beer really did taste smoother and milder, like red wine that has been allowed to breathe.

According to Iwamoto, chocolate beer is best enjoyed like a glass of brandy. Having tasted the chocolate stout, we could certainly agree that the beer would be nice to sip slowly with a piece of bitter dark chocolate or a delicate chocolate truffle, and better yet, in a cozy warm room during the cold winter.

If the Imperial Chocolate Stout is a little too bitter for your liking, there are also some “sweet” chocolate beers available as well. There’s the Orange Chocolate Stout (525 yen a bottle) that contains oranges in addition to the chocolate malt, a creation based on the chocolate covered orange-peels known as orangettes in France. Mmm…yum, a beer inspired by a French confectionery, what more can a girl ask for?

There’s also the Sweet Vanilla Stout (450 yen a bottle) which contains a type of vanilla from Papua New Guinea commonly used by top patisserie chefs. This drink is sweet with just a hint of bitterness and may be a good choice even for those you not too fond of beer.

Now, for further advice from the brewers on how best to enjoy chocolate beer.

Pour the chocolate beer into a wine glass (or any glass with a wide opening). The ideal temperature is 10°C-13°C (50°F-55°F), so if the beer is straight out of the refrigerator, you may want to leave it standing for a while. You can also try warming the glass with your hands and experimenting to see what temperature is the best for you. Some people actually prefer to let the beer mature for a few years before drinking it, like wine or brandy.

Sankt Gallen is selling their chocolate beer now through their website (Japanese), where you can also check out information on restaurants serving chocolate beer, and for those of you with a sweet tooth, even delectable looking deserts made with the sweet brew.

So what do you think? Would you be willing to try such a “chocolaty” beer, or would you rather stick to the regular stuff? Whatever your preference, a nice glass of beer after a day’s work is always a welcome treat, isn’t it? Well, we certainly hope many such treats come your way. Cheers!

Report, Original Article and Photos by: sweetsholic Source: Sankt Gallen (Japanese)

You can see the list of restaurants serving Sankt Gallen chocolate beer and related sweets here.

Read more stories on RocketNews24. -- Japanese Foam Jockey Gives Drinkers Beer Heads That Cause Westerners to Froth at the Mouth -- Bottoms Down? Asahi Unveils Efficient New Beer Tap -- Kirin Launches Frozen Foam Beer in Tokyo Restaurants

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16 Comments
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Sounds awful.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

I love chocolate and I love beer, but this can't be good.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

A few years ago Sapporo Breweries produced a chocolate beer for valentines day and I picked up 3 as a curiosity. They were actually delicious. but sadly when I went back to get more they were sold out. I wonder if these will be as good? Sapporo breweries has the advantage of being right next to a major chocolate factory, so expertise is on hand.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Wow I'd love to try this! I can't even begin to imagine how this would taste.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

There is nothing new about chocolate in beer. Many stouts have included chocolate for years. Phred Kaufmann in Sapporo has an amazing collection of beers for those lucky enough to live there. There are many pubs in Tokyo that stock his beers.

His Imperial Chocolate Stout is a little expensive, but truly amazing.

I also recommend his Higuma (brown bear) and any of his wide selection of Rogue beers.

http://www.ezo-beer.com/eng/index.htm

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Beer does indeed change taste according to temperature.

So does wine.

Red wine mistakenly served chilled in an ice bucket is tasteless.

Take it out of the ice, let the temperature come up to between 10C and 15C, open the bottle and let the wine breathe for half an hour and the taste magically changes.

This is not confined to chocolate beer and wine.

Room temperature Budweiser is totally undrinkable.

So is room temperature Coca Cola!

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Kamakura brewery has produced a Valentine's Day chocolate beer for some years. I bought one just a few days ago. Not really my sort of thing, but for a one-off, it's quite fun (more of a dark beer with a hint of chocolate, from what I remember of the last one).

2 ( +2 / -0 )

no need to let red wine breathe. Just pour it into a decanter and then back into the bottle and the job is done. After all, how much can it breathe through an opening smaller than a 1 yen coin?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I had chocolate beer from a chocolatier in Strasbourg over 10 years ago.

It was... interesting, to say the least.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

SImondB-san,

no need to let red wine breathe. Just pour it into a decanter and then back into the bottle and the job is done. After all, how much can it breathe through an opening smaller than a 1 yen coin?

That's why you need to give half an hour :)

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Every year, it's the same thing ! I wonder when the Japanese people will understand the REAL meaning of Valentine's Day ? It is for the boys to give the girls something but only among lovers and/or married couples... Maybe those who make chocolate beer know this and make it for the girls ? (In western countries, there is no such thing as "White Day"...)

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Must be a Japanese guy who thumbed me down...

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

I tried a Belgian beer a few years ago, that billed itself as chocolate beer; I can't recall the name now. It wasn't bad, with an interesting aroma but too sweet for my taste (as are many of the Belgian and other fruity beers). I like many stouts and porters, but I'm just not a fan of beers/ales that are too sweet. It's a matter of taste, quite literally.

And @FightingViking, it might have been a Japanese girl, unhappy at the thought of her yearly chocolate making/buying/giving being unappreciated.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

"Guy" or "girl" some people sure want their chocolate... !

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I wonder when the Japanese people will understand the REAL meaning of Valentine's Day ?

They totally understand it's a commercial celebration.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I first thought the Japanese Valentine was weird but then they have White Day, so we dudes give back chokoreto to the gals, but never confuse GIRI choco with GERI choco, which I DID, later found out GERI means diarrhea in Japanese and what the Japanese girls want is not GERI but GIRI choco, or maybe in English Dude, I gave your ass choco for Valentines so now you give me some back on White Day or else??

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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