A classic British chocolate bar, gone long before its time, sounds like the perfect hit of nostalgia to turn into a heavy stout.
On paper the flavours work really well together, and they're not uncommon in brewing at all: chocolate, caramel, peanut butter; all have been used frequently in stouts around the brewing world which should make this a match made in heaven.
BeerINK say this is an annual beer, but the only nostalgia the 2022 version brings back is the disappointment of finding out the chocolate bar had been withdrawn from the corner shop shelves.
The aroma defnitely hits like a Starbar, which gave me very high hopes for this beer. Unfortunately though it's let down by the flavours and the texture. The flavour is way too heavy on the peanut, which is the main flavour and doesn't really allow the caramel to come through at all.
There's little to no sweetness, with the bitterness from the chocolate just exacerbating the earthier flavours from the peanut which without being balanced by sweetness, make it quite a difficult beer to finish.
The texture is thin for an imperial stout and there's a lot of carbonation which again removes some of the mellow smoothness that the caramel could bring to the table if it was obvious in the flavour profile. The aftertaste is nutty and bitter, not in itself a bad thing but when it's the only flavours you've experienced other than fizz, it's a little disappointing.
Designed on the iconic packaging of the chocolate bar, main part of the can is a yellowy caramel-style print that is segmented by the purple bar down the front of the can, mimicking the Starbar wrapper.
There's a lot of information on the can including the collaboration brewery logos and a brief description of the beer on the back, along with information about the beer, what it's brewed with and what's in it from an ingredients perspective.
This beer had high expectations, but sadly didn't deliver on them. I don't know why the balance was so off, but the peanut was way too overbearing which didn't allow anything else to come through which is a real shame.
Regardless, i'll be keeping an eye out for the 2023 batch when it's brewed.
