Urban Chestnut Brewing Company Chouuteau Joe

**Aroma:** “High fruity note similar to a Belgium with cherry, figs, raisins, orange. A candy-like aroma, perhaps like a cherry sucker. Toasty malt. Slightly oxidized. There is also a sweet milk chocolate aroma. Lots of malt sweetness. Slight coffee. A creaminess is present on the nose.” **Flavor:** “This comes across like a Belgian dubbel. High cherry note up front with a medium sweetness that slowly fades into a low bitterness with slight acidity. A light roast in the middle of the sip. The bitterness toward the end of the sip transitions into the aftertaste. Thin-to-medium body that is cut by the carbonation. Same esters as on the nose with some dark roast chocolate and toasted bread notes. Finishes with an interesting combination of the sweetness from the esters and a low-medium carbonic acid dryness. This beer has a flavor of vanilla cola.” **Overall:** “It’s enjoyable and sweet, but is this a stout? I get more fruity Belgian-like notes. As it warms, there is a bit of chocolate toward the very end. This could be a stout, but not a sweet stout. The aftertaste is too dry and astringent. A confusing beer for a sweet stout, given all of the strong Belgian-like esters and the carbonic ester finish.”

**Aroma:** “Notes of chocolate up front, with some creamy milk sweetness. The roast malt dominates on the nose, with a tart black-cherry ester and slight clove. It’s roasty, earthy, and oaky, with tobacco and a campfire smokiness.” **Flavor:** “Burned roast hits up front, and the roasty malt character carries through the sip. Some milk and chocolate sweetness sit behind the roast, with notes of licorice, cherries, plum, and other dark fruits. It’s a very earthy beer with fruity esters potentially from the hops, but for sure from the roast. Notes of oak, pine, and the big hops bitterness leads to a dry finish. The body is a bit thin.” **Overall:** “Overall, it’s a ‘punch you in the mouth’ kind of stout that delivers on a roast-forward presence. The more I drank, the more it grew on me. The roast has a finesse with some evident fruit flavors, in both aroma and flavor, but the burned characteristics really shone through. Reminded me of sitting at a campfire on a cold winter night, with ashes flying and coals burning.”

**Aroma:** “Notes of dark toffee, roast, sulfur, and coffee up front, as well as earthy floral notes. Raisin, plum, and prune esters become more evident as it warms. Very light molasses adds sweetness.” **Flavor:** “This beer is so creamy and sweet up front, and it carries through to the finish. Lots of molasses, with burned roasty notes, toasted bread, and milk and baker’s chocolate. Dark fruit flavors of raisin, plum, prunes, and cherry are present, and a vinous character carries into the back and finish. It’s somewhat one-dimensional because the fruit esters dominate.” **Overall:** “While there is some malt complexity, the fruit and molasses syrup-like flavors dominate. The body is a bit heavy. The combination of roasty malts and dark fruits makes this a pleasing drink for a cold night. A very enjoyable beer.”