VANCOUVER, BC – Granville Island Brewing has announced the return of the popular winter seasonal Cocoa Loco, although its undergone a substantial change in recipe for this year’s edition.
Previously a 9% abv Imperial Stout, its now a 6.5% abv Porter, which means “you can expect a richer malt flavour, as opposed to a dark roast coffee flavour,” according to head brewer Kevin Emms.
Emms goes on to describe the beer as follows:
We chose cocoa nibs from Ghana, which create a dark chocolate flavour with a tone of orange and citrus. To add that extra “je ne sais quoi”, we went to the Granville Island Public Market to try a bunch of different spice options. Eventually we landed on green cardamom, which adds a nice orange fruit flavour of its own, plus a mild spiciness. The chocolate flavouring actually happens in the conditioning phase, where the beer stews in the cocoa nibs cold, meaning the chocolate doesn’t actually have to cook to get the flavour. For the spice, we add the green cardamom for just a few short minutes, in order to get that perfect, subtle flavouring.
Cocoa Loco Chocolate Porter will be available for a limited time in 650 ml bottles at the Granville Island retail store and select liquor stores in British Columbia.