Review: Fort Collins Chocolate Stout

I'm not going to enjoy every beer I try, but I don't take pleasure in posting negative reviews or 'slamming' a beer on here.  Unfortunately, this one really disappointed me.  Dustin and I picked up a 6-pack to enjoy during our latest home-brew day, and we settled on this one because we were brewing a stout, and it was a new one to me!  I've had several previous beers from Fort Collins, and all received decent reviews from me.  I enjoyed their Pomegranate Wheat a good bit and their Rocky Mountain IPA was really good.  This Chocolate Stout though... totally missed the mark. 

The look of it wasn't bad... a typical dark brown color and the off-white head characteristic of stouts and porters.  The aroma smells malty with just a little bit of chocolate. Not bold at all, a little bit medicinal.  The taste is way off.  It's bitter but not in a good way you'd expect from chocolate. In fact, there's not much chocolate flavor at all, just a medicinal bitter flavor that kills any enjoyment the other flavors might impart.

It's thin, bad aftertaste similar to the bitter taste.  Maybe I just got a bad bottle, it certainly happens that things go wrong and bad beer gets out on the market?  I have a few more from the 6-pack, so I'll give it a return visit later and see if the bad feelings hold true, or if I just had some bad luck.  Considering it has an overall rating of B on BeerAdvocate, I think there's a good chance I just caught a bad bottle, or bad batch. 

My Rating: D+

BeerAdvocate: B

And with that one, 21 down in 2011... a new low on the 2011 ratings, but I'll give it another shot to make sure.