Willy Wonka could have been a deer. I don't think it says anywhere explicitly that he's a man, so maybe Deer Bear have an interesting point.
Either way, man or deer, i'm pretty sure Willy Wonka wouldn't have let this get past quality control.
Not to say that it's a bad stout, it's just a little bland which is a little disappointing when it promised so much. Billed as a sweet stout filled with chocolate and praline flavours, making it the perfect beer to sample on an Easter Sunday.
After all when else would you try it? Easter is about chocolate (unless you're more spiritually inclined) so a beer that is named after an entire factory is the perfect choice.
The aroma is very chocolatey which bodes well, with a touch of metallic aroma but that isn't too uncommon in stouts. It's very light, weighing in at just 5.9% which is definitely on the weaker side of the stout spectrum.
That's not necessarily a bad thing, stouts don't need to be thick and heavy. Chocolate Factory pours quite thin as a result of this lightness, with chocolatey scents bursting forth.
The taste is definitely chocolatey, but it's more chocolate shack than chocolate factory, with none of the massive chocolate hit that I was expecting. I couldn't get any praline either, although it is very smooth and flavoursome, just a little one-dimensional.
The aftertaste is where more of the chocolate sweetness comes into play, with that coated-mouth sensation you get after you've smashed 2 Easter eggs in one sitting, but without the satisfaction.
The bottle is unique, with a deer that's either cosplaying as, or is the real, Willy Wonka. It's a cool looking deer too, it really pulls off the wacky-chocolate-factory-owner-chic look that Wonka was known for.
Packed full of information on the back and side, with the sweetness, bitterness and strength scales all having different symbols a really nice touch.
It's one of the more vibrant bottle labels, but all of Deer Bear's bottles look to follow in the same vein with lots of vibrant colours and either bears of deer in character on them.
We got this one in a Beer52 box, but it's currently unavailable on their site and although it is findable online, I haven't been able to find anywhere that actually has it in stock.
Read into that what you will.
