Mexican Chocolate Stout 2022
KettleHouse Brewing Co. (Southside Taproom)

Just got the 2023 release. Super hard to find and one of the best beers I've had. The habanero accents the cacao nibs perfectly with a classic Imperial Stout mouth feel. The chocolate mellows the spice of the habanero to make it a classic cold weather beer I wish was around all year.

16oz tallboy can purchased at Total Wine, in Spokane, for $4.79. Apparently it is a collaborative beer brewed with...a knife maker, Zombie Tools, in Missoula. Probably the oddest collab beer pairing I've yet heard of.

Poured into a snifter, this was a very dark brown, virtually black, with a creamy and long-lived tan head. Lots of lace.

Chocolatey and coffeeish in the nose, spicy cinnamon as well, with a definite aroma of peppers present.

Chocolatey sweet up front, with some coffeeish, bitter dark malt notes. Sweet and bitter, and with a spiciness from the cinnamon throughout and a bit of a bite from the peppers at the finish.

Fairly creamy mouth feel.

Pretty good delivery on what's promised in the name with this beer. Assertively peppery and "cinnamony" to the point where it might've been a chore to work through if in a bomber, but a tallboy can seems a better delivery vehicle. I'd hit this again.

this is way cool, done with zombie tools, who is not a brewery... look them up! whoa. anyway, this beer is outrageous, a really good imperial stout at its core, and hey! no barrel! it is however spiked with cinnamon, cocoa nibs, and of all things habanero peppers, which usually you just see the generic chili, or a dried pepper, but rarely the habanero, pretty neat. a couple of things jump out to me about this one. first the quality of the base beer, its lathery and frothy and rich feeling without being sugary, nice bitter roast to it but not overdone, a coffee note to it for sure, but there is no coffee, doesnt need to be, they let the malt do as much of the work as possible here and i think thats great. its also not sweet at all which rules. the added cocoa is just enough, its rich but still bitter too, almost a dark chocolate syrup or something, a little fudgey to me, in the best way possible, it marries into the grain amazingly well. there might be some oats in here too, its almost creamy. all of this, the roast, the cocoa, the malt, the body, set up the habanero and cinnamon super well, which not only go together nicely, but totally make this unique, the pepper is fleshy and fresh and even citrus forward, identifiable to anyone as habanero proper, its warm but its not scorching in the throat, and the taste is amazing in the beer, like i need a dark chocolate covered habanero in my life. i get like the seeds and flesh and membrane and all, but its not burning me, just warming going down, and not balanced or cancelled by grain sweetness either, so right. the cinnamon softens parts of the pepper but enhances others, it has the same exact linger, they seem bonded. the cinnamon makes this wintery and festive, just a little warming alcohol adds to that too. really impressive depth of flavor, full bodied without being slow to drink, and very complex. also notably absent is vanilla, i feel like all or most of these bring on a ton of vanilla, without it these ingredients pop more, and new flavor synergies can be more easily appreciated. love it.

edit: this one is ageing really well too, four or five months later its mellowed a little on the heat, seems even more well integrated, and the spices bring out the best of the pepper, really compelling mix of flavor, love the roasted bitterness, so smooth and delicious, among my favorite ever kettlehouse beers!

edit: 2023 vintage is equally good, they have a good thing going with this one, and i love it being in cans not bottles, drink now and dont make an occasion out of it, unpretentious and inviting that way, into it!

Poured from a 1 Pint can. Canned on 09/27/2022. 20 IBU's
Coco Nibs & habanero Pepper. A partnership with Blademakers Zombie Tools.
A: Pours a dark brown with a thick tan head.
S: A nice nose of Chocolate, toffee and spice.
T: Chocolate with coffee and toffee notes and a hot Habanero finish.
F: Very smooth with nice carbonation.
O: A wonderful Spicy stout.