My affinity for Shiner beers stretches back to when we first started visiting the Outer Banks on vacation during the summers. I never really thought of Shiner as craft in the same way you would think of Lagunitas or Sierra Nevada or New Belgium as such. I liken it more to Genesee or Matt’s, a blue-collar regional beer that has been around forever.

The Bock is Shiner’s flagship, though they make a damn good pale ale (White Hare) and a highly enjoyable summer seasonal made with pink grapefruit. It’s a solid brewery with a good range that is rolling out nationally. And, it has quietly become one of the largest brewers in the country. According to the Brewers Association 2013 Top 50, Shiner’s parent Gambrinus (which brews three other beers with smaller profiles) is the fourth-largest craft brewer and 10th largest American brewing company.

This year marks Shiner’s 106th year of beer brewing and they brought back their anniversary beer series to commemorate it. In the past, the birthday beer has stuck around. The White Wing and Wild Hare ales each started as birthday beers. For this year, Shiner brewed its first-ever stout and a chocolate stout at that.

From the moment you twist open the bottle you are hit with chocolate. Not bitter, not dark, not milk, but cocoa powder. Just for fun, I cracked open the can of Hershey’s cocoa powder in the baking cabinet and it had nearly the same scent.

I’m not sure it’s possible, but the flavor was even more intense. You might expect a chocolate stout like this to be creamy like Terrapin’s Moo-Hoo, but it was more like a Yoo-Hoo, the chocolate drink as ubiquitous with the tri-state area as tepid water hot dogs. The creaminess of a milk stout was missing. Instead, I felt as if I was drinking chocolate mixed with water. The body was thin, but smooth.

Gimmicky beers are just that: gimmicks. It’s a good first offering from a brewer not used to making stouts. I don’t see the chocolate stout hanging around like previous anniversary beers, but for a one-off gimmick to celebrate its 106th year, Shiner did okay.

Brewer: Spoetzl Brewing Company

Beer: Shiner Birthday Beer

Style: Chocolate stout

ABV: 5.0% IBU: 20

Container: 12 oz. bottle

Price: n/a (purchased as part of a mixed six-pack) Point of Purchase: Wegmans, Dewitt, N.Y.

To The Eye: Inky black with a thick tan head from a hard pour. Lacing remains throughout.

To The Nose: Cocoa powder.

To The Palate: Light-bodied and very chocolately, reminiscent of a Yoo Hoo. Clean on the palate.

Aftertaste: Chocolatey, like the aftertaste of a glass of chocolate milk.

Boozy Factor: Pretty insignificant.

On a Scale of 1 to 10, with 10 as highest: 7.0