Holy Brew ➯ A cocoa infused ale from the BeerBazaar Brewery

Holy Brew cocoa infused ale
from the Beer Bazaar Brewery:
Tastes of chocolate, caramel,
hazelnuts and bread.

Holy Brew from the BeerBazaar Brewery in Kiryat Gat delivers what it promises.  No doubt.  It's called a "cocoa infused ale" (5.5% ABV), brewed, fermented and matured with cocoa and cocoa bean shells from the Holy Cacao artisanal chocolate factory.  Other ingredients include oats, vanilla and maltodextrin, a food additive that improves the texture and mouthfeel of beverages (among other uses).  

Whatever is in the mix, it works.  I had Holy Brew along with fellow IBAV Tasters Bat Sheva, Manny and Oded, and this is what we had to say.

The beer pours out a dark amber color, and Oded immediately smelled roasted coffee.  Wait, coffee?  Yes, we agreed that the first whiff into our nostrils was coffee, not cocoa.  Maybe a little weird, but pleasant.  The taste, however, delivered on strong chocolate, caramel,  hazelnuts and bread.  

Bat Sheva averred that the cocoa blended well with the beer flavors, and I could only agree.  I found this an enjoyable and balanced cocoa beer.  Oded said that it was not to his taste, but admitted that it successfully delivered what it should.  "This is a high quality beer," he added, "well made, even though I don't particularly love it."              

Manny, too, "appreciated the quality, but it's not the beer for me."

So that's our verdict.  If you are a fan of chocolate porter, chocolate stout, chocolate anything beer, you're going to take great pleasure in BeerBazaar's Holy Brew.