1001 Beers

Beer No: 88
Page No: 655
Category: Dark

Day 10 of the World Cup...nothing too outrageous today other than Italy being forced into a tie with New Zealand.  The commentators were comparing it with the massive upsets of years past, but they just tied, didn't lose, so I don't really think it was that big of an upset.  Now if North Korea upsets Portugal, that's a big one, but a New Zealand / Italy tie?  Eh.  Paraguay beat Slovakia like they were supposed to and Brazil beat the Ivory Coast like they were supposed to.  So nothing too special.  I'm just getting all geared up for the final games on Tuesday through Friday of the round robin round.  I'll look at the match ups tomorrow for those.

As for this Italian beer, it certainly is unique, unfortunately, I just didn't find it that appetizing.  1001 Beers states that the "moment of inspiration" for this beer came when Sergio Ormea, the founder of Grado Plato was watching a documentary about the Allied landings in Sicily during World War II.  The sight of American soldiers throwing chocolate bars to the Sicilian children, whos only sweets until then had been carobs, stuck in his mind.  So we have this strange mix of chocolate and carobs in a dark ale that tastes more like unsweetened cocoa than anything else.  The aroma and taste start out well, but unfortunately, the finish of the beer just drags it down.  I had hoped for more, but was left wanting.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Grado Plato Chocarrubica by Birrificio Grado Plato

Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 4/10
Palate: 2/5
Overall: 8/20

Rating: 2.5 / 5.0

Had from bottle from HiTime Wines. Popped swing top cap and immediately had foam over the edge. Caught quickly in a tulip, pours dark brown/black with a surprisingly small head after it gushed over. Aroma is heavy chocolate, spices, sugar, and malts. Taste starts nice, ends poorly. Get big time chocolate and malts, hops are pretty well hidden and some alcohol at the end. Taste and finish is almost like unsweetened cocoa - dry, bland, just something seemed off. Kind of a watered down chocolate / cocoa blend that just doesn’t sit right. I’ll pass on this one in the future.