I’ve certainly had enough chocolate beers in my day. Chocolate stouts, chocolate porters, chocolate bocks, etc. It’s rare indeed, though, to come across a chocolate beer based on a lighter ale, but such is the case with Robinson’s Chocolate Old Tom Ale. Rather than being based on dark beer, Robinson’s Chocolate Old Tom is, as they say, “Made with The World’s Best Ale.”

I’ll let Robinson’s elaborate, from the bottle label:

Old Tom is a legend amongst ales. First created by the Robinson family in 1899 it has won almost every brewing accolade including being voted THE WORLD”S BEST ALE. In this ale we have blended OLD TOM with delicious chocolate specially made by the renowned chocolatier Simon Dunn. The result is a deliciously indulgent drink-warming and velvety smooth.

I was intrigued by that “World’s Best Ale” bit. Is such a think even possible? I find it hard to think so. There are just too many good beers in the world, now more than ever, and a lot of them are ales. Then too, you’d really have to try ALL of the world’s different ales to decide which was best, wouldn’t you?

Apparently, they got the award for “World’s Best Ale” from “The World Beer Awards” competition that you can read about here. I am highly skeptical of such proclamations and beer competitions, and this sort of thing does not really impress me, but we’ll see for ourselves I suppose how good Robinson’s Chocolate Old Tom Ale really is.

Robinson’s Chocolate Old Tom Ale has an alcohol content of 6% by volume according to the label and the bottle advertises this as being “strong ale.” By today’s standards, it does not indeed seem so strong, but there is a tradition in England of this moniker, and in fact in comparison to mild ales of 4% or less it is even true. I paid $4.99 for an 11.2 ounce bottle, which is rather pricey.

Robinson’s Chocolate Old Tom Ale is a different beer altogether than most chocolate beers I’ve tried. As I explained, I knew this was not a dark beer going in, but was still surprised to find this one is based on more of an English bitter. The beer is flinty, buttery, a little toasty at first; then comes the dark bittersweet chocolate. That merges nicely with a sharp hop bitterness, and the whole affair finishes long and dry.

This is a very drinkable beer, but obviously lighter in body than say, Young's Chocolate Double Stout I enjoyed it very much as a noble sentiment, and it was certainly worth a try. Not something I would really buy again at the price, however.

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