Most people, if told they could buy three cans of chocolate beer for 1480 yen (about 15 bucks) would probably just say 'meh' and move on with their lives. Fortunately for the guys at Sapporo (Japanese beer giant) and Royce (Japanese chocolate company) there are two types of people who are not going to say 'meh' to getting their hands on this limited edition malt flavoured chocolate beer. The first type are suckers (born every minute), and then you've got the suckers with blogs (a bit rarer, born only once a day).
So anyway, unlike some websites who will just post about this second hand, I'm actually sipping a chocolate brew right now to get me in the mood for this article. Let's get started.

Chocolate beer? Huh. Another crazy Japanese product right? The gimmick factor may appear to be high, but this is not the first time chocolate and beer have been partnered up before. It seems there have been numerous attempts by various companies to make both chocolate beers and beer chocolates. So is this 'Chocolat Brewery' breaking new any new ground? Hardly. It turns out that the actual origin of chocolate was supposedly as an alcoholic beverage way back when the Aztecs or Mayans first started messing around with it, which makes yet another chocoate flavoured alcoholic drink seem pretty unoriginal....
So if not originality, what was the impetus behind this then?
Well apparently the target of this drink was mainly women, which makes sense I suppose. If you're a man, chocolate beer isn't something you sit around drinking with the guys while watching the football game or playing poker. The only way a guy would be caught drinking this is if he was, um... doing reseach of some sort. Yeah... that's a good excuse...
So why the focus on the ladies then? Well apparently, it turns out that here in Japan, they are drinking less beer these days, and Sapporo is hoping to educate a new generation of girls on the joys of getting wasted by hiding the evils of alcohol behind a screen of yummy chocolate.
Let's have the verdict then! Thumbs up or down?

First things first. As you can see, the can comes in a nice metallic chocolate colour and the beer itself is very dark, it almost looks like *gasp* liquid chocolate! Ok but let's cut to the chase, what does it taste like? I'll admit I expected this to be an epic failure, I mean beer goes with nuts, beer goes with chips, beer goes with steak, pizza or hamburgers, but chocolate...? I was therefore quite surprised to discover that it's not just good, but really good. The chocolate is thankfully not sweet like I was dreading, but is rich, deep and slightly bitter like pure chocolate should be. It also doesn't just compliment the beer, the malt and chocolate seem to be deeply entwined. You can tell the chocolate wasn't just added or mixed in later. The smell of rich chocolate when you open the can up is also a nice touch, and in no way seems artificial. So thumbs up! Very nicely done Sapporo and Royce!

So maybe now you're thinking to take me at my word and get some for yourself? Well you won't find it in any store. The only place you can get it is online, on Sapporo's website. Unfortunately for you, Chocolat Brewery was only available for a short time, and sadly, that time is now past.... The only way you're going to get any now is to beg me for my last can! Bidding starts at 1000 yen.

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