Tav and other beer snobs- can you help me figure out what this beer was?

[LeftyMom]

A friend of the hostess brought this really awesome beer to a party a while back, it was dark, almost chocalatey in flavor and had a pretty high alcohol content but didn't really taste like it. I asked the guy who brought it what it was, because it was awesome and I'd love to buy some more, but he'd also brought some Eye of the Hawk and brought that out next, so whatever brain cell stored that little factiod did not survive until morning.

Any guesses about what it might have been?

[flvegan]

1. "choca"?

[LeftyMom]

3. Shut up, fatass.

:P

[NightWatcher]

2. there are only about a million stouts or porters, sorry. wish I could help

[LeftyMom]

4. If it helps narrow it down, I think it was from someplace in NorCal.

shrug

[Pierre.Suave]

5. I have no idea

but if you liked that one you may want to try some Tilburgs Dutch Brown Ale.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/184/9946/

[Gormy Cuss]

6. Can you describe the bottle?

It sounds like a porter or stout but as NightWatcher wrote there are many of them out there.
Mendocino Brewing makes a stout called Black Hawk (all the Mendo brews are named for birds.)


on edit: another good NorCal stout is Old No. 38 from North Coast Brewing in Ft. Bragg.

[mopinko]

7. well, like others have said, lots of breweries out there.

here is a small brewers' group page- http://www.norcalbrewers.com/

what you had was probably a chocolate stout. although you can get chocolate esters from the brewing of a roasted malt, it is popular to add some cocoa beans to really pump up that chocolatey flavor. stouts can be high alcohol, but the other strong flavors tend to blunt the flavor.
maybe if you check a few of the websites, you will spot that label art.

[DarkTirade]

8. There are a whole lot of chocolate stouts out there.

And most of 'em that I've tried are pretty good. :)