Hauser's Heat of the Moment
Hoppin' Frog Brewery

Mine must be old. I don't know how old. 2022, by the sounds of it. Whoops. It was on clearance when I got it.

Pours cola black-brown. No head for me, which is probably my fault. The aroma is pleasant - it's malty, chocolatey, with a bit of cinnamon spice, but not in an overwhelming way. Taste follows. The chocolate and spice mix is very nice and smooth, but there is a sort of bitter, baking chocolate aftertaste that then gets absorbed by a stronger hit of cinnamon. The spice is very tolerable. A touch tingly but nothing HOT. It does linger, though. It covers you in a sort of sticky, creamy coating that lets the peppers get to work. Quite pleasant. Touch of sweetness on the finish to balance everything out.

I did get a small, brief head on the second pour, and this is probably even older than 2022 (2020?). Whew.

 

Courtesy of @ozzylizard

Not sure when this was bottled, but best guess is 2022.

Nice amber hue to this on the pour. My aggressive pour ended up with more head than I would expect in a 12% ABV beer, but it lived a short life. The beer really coats the glass, leaving excellent legs.

Aroma is excellent. Super rich and chocolaty. While I don't get any of the hot pepper or cinnamon, it's not to its detriment. This really smells nice. An up close sniff was a bit of a mistake, as I immediately started coughing, so maybe that cinnamon is just hidden (or maybe the ABV is the cause). Either way, big fan of how this one smells.

Taste is a chocolate porter for the first few seconds before the cinnamon bursts through the door to crash the party, with the hot peppers playing the role of that friend that stays long after everybody else is gone and hangs with you until the wee hours of the morning. (In English, this has a super long finish with the pepper really lingering and slowly fading over time) This fully coats the mouth and has a really nice warming from the alcohol & peppers.

Overall, I'm enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would. I am usually not a big fan of cinnamon in beer, let alone hot pepper, as I find that most brewers use a little too much of it. Hoppin' Frog has done an excellent job here of creating a beer where any spice is really well balanced by the sweeter, malty porter components. Very good beer.

2023-11-24
22oz bottle served in a little Georgetown sample glass. I don't see a date on it. Received from @ozzylizard in NBS BIF #17, probably with the intention of stretching my comfort zone in the "cinnamon beer" direction.

Pours a dark brown, surprisingly clear, surprisingly not nearly as dark as I was expecting. Basically no head, just a thin thread of superfine head around the edge. Smell is chocolate, spice / cinnamon, and just a bit of pepper vegetation.

Taste is interesting. Stewed plums, pepper, relatively subtle cinnamon, and a slow spicy heat. Sweetened with chocolate and maybe a bit of maple syrup.

Mouthfeel is thick, sticky, chewy. Overall...it's not bad, actually rather good for a pepper beer or a cinnamon beer (let alone both). It's cold right now...I suspect as it warms up, that cinnamon's going to kick into high gear and not be particularly pleasing to my palate.

Hauser’s Heat of the Moment from Hoppin’ Frog. 22 oz bottle purchased at the brewery. $10.66 (including tax) ($0.485/oz). Stored at room temperature in store and at 40 degrees after purchase. Reviewed 27/11/21. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Undated bottle. Served at 46.2 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 50.9 degrees.
Appearance – 4.25
First pour – Amber Brown (SRM 18), clear.
Body – Brown (SRM 20), opaque. When rear-lite, slightly translucent, and distinctly reddish.
Head – Tiny (Maximum five mm, aggressive center pour), earth yellow, fizzy with short retention, diminishing to a zero to one mm broken ring of bubbles and no cap. Second pour produces no head, just a ring of minute bubbles.
Lacing – None. Seriously, was any expected at 12% ABV?
Aroma – 3.5 – No malt, no hops, no yeast. Weak chocolate, no cinnamon or chilis.
Flavor – 4.75 – Taste follows the nose but slightly sweet with a bit of chocolate and a touch of char, no malt, no hops, no yeast. Sweetness builds in the aftertaste. Chili peppers are present in a tasty format, NOT the torturous “I’ll burn the hair off your ass” format of so many flavor-challenged chili brews. No ethanol (12 % ABV, as marked on container) taste or aroma. Moderate gastric glow. Cinnamon (my favorite spice) is distinctly present. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 4.5 – Full, creamy, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4 After deducting 0.25 points off the top for an undated bottle. Otherwise, an excellent take on a good Mexican mole sauce, with flavors coming through, not buried by the heat. The palate is more of a creamy stout than a watery porter. Too bad the weak aroma pulls the total score down. Overall, just a damn good brew!

22 ounce bottle, no dating that I noticed on it but I think it was a late 2020 release. Served in a Hoppin' Frog snifter, the beer pours dark brown with about a half inch tan head that didn't stick around for long. Not much lacing either. Aroma is nice, the brew smells like chocolate, hot peppers, cinnamon, nuts and roasted malt. I think the taste is similar to the aroma, but there's also some cacao and earthy flavors noticeable. There's a good amount of heat from the peppers, but it doesn't overpower the other flavors at all. Heat lingers the longer I drink it. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's a bit creamy and coating with a moderate amount of carbonation. I thought this was good, recommend this one to people who like chile/spicy brews!

This pours clear brown, or almost chipotle red, but fills to 8 ball black with a short tan head that fizzles out quickly to a silky black surface.

Smell has a nutty tobacco roast that's suddenly sharpened by a pinch of cinnamon that shields a touch of chipotle spice.

Much rounder and thicker than I expected this porter to be, smooth chocolate malt pairs with sweet dark chocolate and a little nuttiness with a very nice cinnamon quality running cooperatively alongside, all dashed by a very fine bite of heat. As it warms there are little hints of smoke softened by banana skin-like vanilla, finishing a little sticky in the swallow. The earthy, savory quality of the roasted chile really comes through, particularly in subsequent bottles.

This all comes together so well that it really reminds of Jacques Torres Wicked hot chocolate. Really damn delicious.

Fresh out of the brewery, I believe it was only released within the last couple weeks. Dark brown liquidy pour, very light head that dissipates rather quickly. Leaves no lacing on the glass. I can smell cinnamon predominantly, although chocolate comes through a bit and a slight burn of the pepper. Taste is exactly as described on the bottle - chocolate first, followed by a mouthful of swishy cinnamon, resolving in a mouth-watering hot pepper that warms the cheeks and throat. Mouthfeel is medium, not as thick as I'd expect a porter to be. Overall, I have had beers that use peppers, but often they're not strong enough. And I'm really used to reviewers complaining there is "too much" pepper. Ballast Point Habanero Sculpin has been my favorite spicy beer, but Heat of the Moment might nudge it aside as I'm also a big fan of porters. It also doesn't skimp on spiciness. It's a full flavored sting, and i'm excited to be among the first in the world to try this unique beer. Proud to be from Akron, home to Hoppin Frog!