Yesterday we were at our friends Paul and Sandi’s for beer, food, and (after the fact) football. Paul had promised a beer that would blow me away, one that I would not expect. I had to write about it (and take pictures), naturally, which I’m always happy to do.

I can truly say I didn’t expect them to produce a bottle of Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence—the 10th Anniversary 2007 limited edition stout brewed by Brewery Ommegang out of New York. They found it at The Bier Stein in Eugene and, well, a find like that you can’t pass up.

From the brewery’s story of this beer:

On October 13, 2007, at out Brewery Tenth Anniversary Party (Waffles and Puppets) we introduced Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence Stout to the world. Chocolate Indulgence comes with a thick tan head of foam resting on top of the rich onyx-colored liquid. The aroma immediately speaks of dark chocolate and dark malts. The gentle herbal nose of Perle hops compliments the darker notes, making the beer savory to the senses.

The label says it’s made with “real Belgian Chocolate” and it’s brewed to 7% alcohol by volume.

Appearance: Opaque black-brown, with a light brown head, creamy and leaving nice lacing on the sides of the glass.

Smell: Dark chocolate, cocoa powder, bittersweet chocolate… deep and rich.

Taste: Reminds of the Dagoba dark chocolate I have (which I received along with another stout)—rich black, pure chocolate without any sweetening—dry, bitter, dark, pure unsweetened chocolate. Everything about the beer screams “chocolate” but don’t look for a candy bar flavor—it’s the real thing.

Mouthfeel: Dry, lighter than I’d expect—I expected a full body, it’s more medium. Long, dry, chocolate finish—very nice.

Overall: Long, drawn-out bitter character—almost like it’s bittered with chocolate instead of hops, as Paul noted. I think the name is totally apt, this is indulgence in the extreme and a superb sipping beer. One I quite enjoyed.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B+. On RateBeer, it scores 3.6 out of 5, and is in their 90th percentile.