Hogs Back Brewery have collaborated with chocolatier Montezuma’s to create a lager brewed with the cacao nibs used in their ‘Lordy Lord’ dark chocolate. When I first read the description my first thought was ‘there is no way that works’. However, it sounded so weird I simply had to give it a go. It has actually gone on to win a gold award at the 2014 International Beer Challenge in the Specialty category.

The beer poured a slightly cloudy amber colour with not much of a head. A brilliantly strong milk chocolate aroma on the brew. It’s the kind of smell you’d get off of a chocolate stout. Very inviting in all honesty. The body is very much that of a lager. Thin and allows for easy drinking. Importantly, though, there are overtones of chocolate throughout the beer. The flavour reminds me more of that slightly artificial American chocolate, like Hershey’s, rather than a Cadbury’s.

A quick note on the bottle art: Not much going on in this design that would grab your attention. A fairly simple combination of both Montezuma’s and Hogs Back’s logos.

The important question when it comes to trying a beer and reviewing it is: would I buy it again? And when it comes to this chocolate lager I think the answer is a very solid maybe. While perhaps not my complete cup of tea, I can absolutely see why it has one some awards. While the two components of chocolate and lager are seamlessly blended, I do think the beer provides a decent vessel that carries a good chocolate flavour. I think it should be commended that that they’ve gone for an ‘out of the box’ style to combine the chocolate with and pulled it off. It’s genuinely not bad drinking and worth giving a shot if you see it on the supermarket shelves.

Score: 6/10

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Additional Information:

• Hops: Not Available
• Malt: Not Available
• IBU: Not Available
• ABV: 4.5%
• Gluten Free: No
• Vegan: No