Beer Review: East End Chocolate Covered Cherry

Serving Type: Draft/Growler

ABV: I can't find anything official online, but I'm pretty sure I remember seeing that it was 5.2 percent at the brewery.

Appearance: East End's Chocolate Covered Cherry Stout pours a very dark brown (very similar to chocolate, but who knew?) and has a ruby hue to it elsewhere throughout the body. The body also had a thick appearance to it. Stout lovers describe this look as "chewy" and this brew definitely had that. The head is an attractive beige and is very soft and frothy. There was enough retention for some lacing, but it all faded away fairly quick.

Smell: I was able to pick up some roasty and nutty aromas. These were two scents I wasn't expecting out of this. The ones I assumed I'd come across were the chocolate and the tartness of cherries. It really smelled like I had just cracked open a cordial cherry. So, my mouth did water at this point.

Taste: Once again I'll play on the cordial cherry thing. If there was such a thing as a cordial cherry in liquid form, this is it. It tasted nice and dark, It was also roasty from the darker malts. I can't forget about the sweetness of the chocolate and the tart cherries. Those two flavors made this beer. They meld well together as the beer warms. The sweetness was a tad too much for me much later in the drink, though.

Overall Rating: 

I think was brewed by East End once back in 2011 and again this past winter. If there's any left at the brewery location, grab a growler of it if you can before it's gone. If not, I hope it's back next year! This brew was really well done. It was as close to a cordial cherry candy as anything in this world can be without actually taking on that form. As really sweet candy tends to do with me, the sweetness in this did overwhelm me towards the end. That wasn't by a big margin, though.

Beer Review: Flying Dog Sour Cherry Ale

Serving Type: Draft

ABV: 4.7 percent

Appearance: Flying Dog's Sour Cherry Ale instantly reminded me of the old Raspberry 7Up my grandmother would serve at the kids table during Thanksgiving. It was a slightly hazy hot pink with plenty of visible carbonation. The head was white and thin.

Smell: I got a strong sense of tart cherries at the initial waft. I'm sure this wasn't a sour, but it smelled pretty close. A somewhat strong backbone of wheat was behind the cherries, giving off a sense of cherry pie.

Taste: The tartness and sourness of those cherries was prominent in the beer's flavor. The wheat flavor doesn't kick in until the after taste hits. It's a very interesting flavor when the wheat finally mixes with the tart of the cherries. It reminded me of a pie crust, which is in my opinion the best part of any pie. This would be awesome as a dessert beer.

Overall Rating: 

The body of the beer reminded me of pop or soda, depending on where you're from, but the combination of tart cherries and what reminded me of pie crust made up some big ground in the points department.