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Amundsen Brewery is world renowned for their desert themed beers, so as I opened my latest box of beers for review this one jumped out at me straight away. Then, after reading the can my excitement grew seeing that this is a coffee, marshmallow, lava cake pastry stout.
This sounds like it could be a winning formula but the proof is in the tasting. Will Choczilla have me roaring with delight or roaring like an angry dinosaur? Read on to find out.
1. Name : Choczilla
2. Brewery: Amundsen Brewery, Oslo (Norway)
3. Hops : Not specified
4. Grain : Barley, Oats and Yeast
5. Aroma : Incredible aroma of sweet marshmallow, creamy milk chocolate and caramel fudge. Despite the description I did not detect much coffee on the nose.
6. Appearance : Pours a nice deep black colour with initial two finger tan coloured head that settles down to one finger head once the initial carbonation from the pour has surpassed.
7. Body : Medium bodied with a creamy, almost oily mouthfeel. Decent levels of carbonation present throughout.
8. Taste : This reminds me of having a chocolate bar that you let melt in the mouth. Same texture and levels of sweet chocolate/ caramel fudge. Despite the aroma the marshmallow is not quite as present in the taste and again the coffee is barely detectable.
Make no mistake this is a nice beer that chocoholics will no doubt be in their element with. To be slightly critical I would say that I was expecting more from the description on the can and the promise of such an array of flavours as the taste leant more towards sweet, milk chocolate caramel fudge rather than everything promised.
With Amundsen setting such high standards in their previous brews perhaps I had set my expectations a bit too high with this one as by my previous experiences with this brewery most of what I have had have been in the upper echelons of dessert beers. Choczilla in comparison does seem a little safe yet on the other side of the coin it is also pretty damn tasty.
I would say with Choczilla the best way to approach this is with an open mind and look at the beer first and foremost rather than who brews it. If you do this, I am certain that you will be roaring with delight as this is a rather pleasant beer indeed.
Our overall rating: 3.6/ 5.0
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