I saw on Twitter that these guys were doing a “12 stouts of Christmas” thing and thought, what a great idea. So promptly bought the case!
The first I’m trying today (I’m a day behind, OK?!) is their Chilli Choc Stout (5.0%). They are using locally sourced chillies from the Upton Cheney Chilli Farm, the “Fruitburst Habanero”. Like the sound of it so lets give it a whirl.
The 500mL bottle opens with a short loud hiss. It pours dark brown/black with a dense dark tan head… this recedes slowly without lacing the glass.
The aroma is very interesting. There’s burnt coffee and chocolate notes, but something definitely different in there. I’m having to swirl it a few times and get a few nosefuls to pick it up – not obviously chilli, but definitely something spicy.
The mouthfeel is medium, I expected it to be thicker given how it poured. It is creamy on the tongue, and a little sweet. The roast flavours come out as you swirl it across your tongue, and yes, theres some definite flavour of expensive, very dark chocolate as the sweetness subsides. In terms of flavour, I can’t pick up the chilli – but then I notice that in the aftertaste, there’s a subtle but definitely present warming feeling that isn’t alcohol. Almost “black peppery” in heat rather than what you’d expect from eating a chilli.
One thing is certain – these guys know how to make dark beer. The more I drink, the more the chocolate flavours are coating the inside of my mouth. Very Christmassy! It’s massively complex! I keep having to swirl the drink across my tongue to capture the different flavours in there. Finally I notice the chilli on my tongue – it was hiding in the chocolate… sneaky!
The more I drink of this, the more I have a slow build up of chilli flavour right in the centre of my tongue. Clever!
This drink marries chocolate and beer together very well indeed. As well as the 5/5-rated Meantime Chocolate Porter. The chilli adds another, subtle dimension but I’d really love to see some more chilli heat in there. I guess they’ve had to cater it to the average palate – I love hot and spicy food, so to get more of a kick in this would really have been my cup of tea. The risk there then, I guess, would be it could push this beer into novelty territory – which it isn’t.
Rating: 5/5 (I’m going with a 5, in my heart of hearts I think it’s a 4.5. But I’m going to round up for Christmas)