Chocolate Beer ?

Matt Wiggins wasn’t sure if he wanted to say how many bottles of Boulevard’s new Chocolate Ale were in his fridge.

Wiggins, a 28-year-old from Fairway, didn’t want anyone to get jealous, or hate him, or accuse him of hogging an unfair share of the beer, which sold out within hours of its release Tuesday at liquor stores across the metro.

But OK, Wiggins said. He’s got eight. Eight bottles of cocoa bliss made sweeter by the fact that to get them, he drove to six liquor stores and called seven more.

As for those who tried but failed to buy Chocolate Ale, “I feel bad for them,” Wiggins said.

Boulevard’s Chocolate Ale isn’t just any beer. It’s the hyped-up brainchild of Steven Pauwels, the brewmaster behind Kansas City’s favorite beer, and Christopher Elbow, Kansas City’s best-known gourmet chocolate chef.

Boulevard produced just 19,200 champagne bottles and 350 one-sixth-barrel kegs of Chocolate Ale, a typical amount for beers in its limited-edition Smokestack Series line. And Boulevard owner John McDonald said that, for now, there are no plans to make more.

“I think we’ll probably talk about it,” he said. “Not this year, but maybe next year for Valentine’s Day.”

Chocolate Ale is cool, it’s rare and it’s got great timing on its side. The beer was released the week before Valentine’s Day, a day in which most of us want to consume chocolate or booze or a combination of the two.

All these factors brewed together to make Chocolate Ale one of the most coveted product in Kansas City. It’s like Beanie Babies all over again.

Stores can’t keep Chocolate Ale on their shelves. Mike’s Cut Rate Liquors in Waldo got three cases, or 36 bottles, at 3:45 p.m. Tuesday and was sold out within two hours. Tipsy’s Wine and Spirits in Mission sold out Tuesday afternoon too, as did Hy-Vee Wine & Spirits in Kansas City.

Consumers were thirsty for the ale. Maybe too thirsty. Some liquor stores imposed one-bottle or two-bottle limits. Others stashed their Chocolate Ale in the back room and only sold it to those who requested it by name.

Facebook, Twitter and beer blogs buzzed with Chocolate Ale fiends swapping information on where they found the beer and for how much.

The beer has been spotted for as little as $7.49 per bottle at Alvin’s in Lawrence to $16.99 per bottle at Grand Slam Liquors in downtown Kansas City.

Emily Hillman probably would have forked over $17 for a bottle of Chocolate Ale if she’d had the chance. Hillman, who lives in Waldo, called at least five stores on Tuesday asking if they had it. None of them did, and Hillman said half the clerks she spoke with told her they didn’t have any Chocolate Ale before she finished asking. It was frustrating, to say the least.

“I don’t think I’ve ever made this much effort to buy beer,” Hillman, 37, said, explaining that she really likes Christopher Elbow chocolates and just wants to find out what Chocolate Ale tastes like.

No one in Kansas City has tasted Chocolate Ale more than Pauwels and Elbow, who have sampled dozens of batches of the beer together. On Monday afternoon, Pauwels and Elbow met over glasses of their finished product in Boulevard’s tasting room and tried to remember how they first decided to collaborate.

Pauwels: “I eat his chocolate a lot.”

Elbow: “I drink his beer a lot.”

Pauwels tapped a keg of Chocolate Ale and poured two glasses. Each man dipped his nose into the cup and inhaled aromas of dark chocolate, vanilla and caramel.

“It smells like (cacao) nibs right off the bat,” Elbow said.

“Somebody told me that it smells like the chocolate flavor you have in coffee,” Pauwels said. “The cacao nibs, they’re a little burnt, right?”

“Roasted,” Elbow said.

Most chocolate beers are dark-colored stouts or porters light on cocoa flavor. Boulevard’s Chocolate Ale has a warm gold color and has an unmistakable chocolate flavor and aroma, thanks to rare cocoa beans from the Dominican Republic that Elbow selected and Pauwels added during the brewing process.

Those who haven’t tried Chocolate Ale yet still have hope. Those 350 kegs are being delivered to bars that sell Boulevard’s seasonal Smokestack Series beers on tap and should arrive today or early next week. Bottles and kegs of Chocolate Ale also are on their way to other states in the Midwest where Boulevard beer is sold.

To find out which bars might have Chocolate Ale on tap, use the “Beer Finder” tool on Boulevard’s website at boulevard.com. That will produce a list of bars that had, have or will have the beer. Call the bar to make sure it’s there before you go.

Or do what Hillman did. She found out from one of her neighborhood liquor stores that a shipment of Chocolate Ale bottles is expected today. She said she is watching 3-year-old son Oliver that day and doesn’t usually like to bring him on liquor store runs.

For a bottle of Chocolate Ale, she’ll make an exception.