This limited release from Sapporo and apostrophe’d Japanese confectioner Royce’ is a strange Belgian nightmare; multiple vices backsliding into a brown can of depravity. Hops bitterness and cacao bitterness are perfect partners, malty and chocolate-y sublime and congruent combinations. Beer and chocolate works together.
But these two really don’t.
The pour is black with a quick-fading, soapy tan head. The taste is like stirring Nesquik through watered down Guinness. This would be a great place to start if you wanted to wean your kids off cola and straight onto stout. It’s sweet like candy rather than rich – the aroma of milk chocolate is there, but it doesn’t carry into anything more complex when imbibed. For a beer that weighs in at 5% alcohol by volume, the booze flavour seems to be front and centre – maybe the chocolate brings it forward?
I’m not at all against a novelty beer and Japan seems to do a good job of filling every drinking niche with unnecessarily innovative liquids. The wonderful flexibility in brewing is that if you want your beer to taste like juniper or coriander or in this case, chocolate, you can just dump it in and see what happens. The style guide can be prescriptive (if you happen to be a brewer that is driven to win awards) but the reward in any brewing should be in the drinking.
Royce’ other crossover product is chocolate coated potato chips. I’d serve them with this beer as a reminder that both ideas are an injustice to their constituent parts.
ABV: 5%
Price: Y264 from a 7-11.
I love chocolate but don’t think I’d really love this. I’d rather stick to drinking stout and having dark chilli chocolate on the side!
certainly sounds pretty full on. i’ve tried a Moo Brew Dark Ale from Tasmania http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com/2010/02/mumu-grill-boutique-beer-tasting-dinner.html which actually worked OK but the chocolate taste was subtle. :-)
@grahamisawesome https://lastappetite.com/beer-and-chocolate-sapporo-x-royce-chocolat-brewery-bitter/
I drank half a can of Royce’ Sapporo before pouring the rest down the drain. The microbrewery Doppo in Okayama prefecture also brew a white chocolate and a black chocolate beer every year around White day,it’s not much better than the Sapporo.
The special edition chocolate soda that came out a bit earlier this year was also pretty vile.
I wonder if they will bring it back next year?
Great!!!!!!!! taste!! genius brewer.
Well blended and brewed–tastes refined and NOT like said mixed nesquik and beer.
Brewed with Cacao and great aroma.
and also try all the Munich beers like the Augustiner, Loewenbraeu etc.
Sounds intriguing but I think I would prefer to keep my love of chocolate and my love of beer as two separate entities!
hi, love the blog! just wondering where i can buy prahok in melbourne? esp around the footscray/ western area of melb?
hope you dun mind me solicting info but i have no idea where to start…
thanks!