La Bestia Furiosa
Clown Shoes

Copied from my Untapped review. I enjoyed this on 9-3-2022. 4.25 rating. I believe it was a 2018 vintage.

Pitch black pour with a brown head.
There's notes of chocolate, coffee and brown sugar on the nose.
There's a bit of heat that hits first and lingers, The back has has chocolate and coffee notes. The heat isn't too strong, but it's been aged.
Thick body.
Yum!

 

 

The Friendly Greek Bottle Shop had this on deep closeout before they closed indefinitely. I was intrigued, to say the least, and since the two other regulars who generally snap up spiced/herbed/pepper beers had not glommed onto it, I took it. This will be my third of three spiced/pepper beers & while it has been interesting, my wrinkled grommet has been en fuego of late! 8=O

From the Bottle (!): "Mexican-style Imperial Stout aged in Bourbon and Rum barrels with Chiles and Spices added"; "You want a spicy Stout?!? I'm your huckleberry. This Stout is HOT. Maybe not as hot as a Lava Unidragon erupting from a volcano of doom … but close enough. We took Chocolate Sombrero and added Ancho, Chipotle, and Habañero Peppers. Then, as if that wasn't enough, we aged it in Bourbon and Rum Barrels. You might not be ready for this Stout, but try it anyway … for the bragging rights and because it's delicious."

I started by Pop!ping the cap & going with a slow, gentle C-Line pour into the awaiting glass. When I did not seem to be getting much foaming action, I stepped things up slightly. Soon, I had a nearly full glass with only wisps for head, probably indicative of the level of spicing in this furious beast! Color was Very Dark Brown to Black/Opaque (SRM = > 34, < 44) with garnet highlights visible at the edges. Nose was deceptively light in terms of its spiciness, but I definitely smelled bourbon & rum! I have never been a huge fan of bourbon, but during a seven-month deployment to Puerto Rico in 1993, I really came to like rum. Mmm. This beer had real potential, if the flavor played out according to the nose. Mouthfeel was medium, a bit thin for the AIS style. The initial hits were good with the rum & bourbon giving it a pleasant flavor with just a modicum of heat. It was in drinking through it that the heat began to build. It was subtle, at first, slowly building on itself incrementally, then mathematically & finally geometrically as the tears began to stream down my cheeks. Phew! Finish was super dry, gaspingly dry, undoubtedly thanks to the spices, forcing me to reach for my asthma inhaler. Wow! This was no playin' around & I can't say that I wasn't warned. YMMV.

**
01/16/20

Bottle to snifter.

LOOK: dark black with hints of brown along the edge after head fades showing a cola like liquid, small beige head, fades. poor retention.

AROMA: pepper and roasted malt
TASTE: some heat and roastiness play off each other nicely. pepper, charred wood, cocoa; general spice: i"m sure there is cinnamon added based off description, but I can't actually nail it down, but there is definitely other spices on top of the heat.
FEEL: Weak carbonation, but very smooth. Medium to full body.

Not bad. Luchador En Fuego was much better.

**

 

 

Pours black smaller tan head falls to ring not much lace.

Aroma is chocolate roasted malts, good peppers show up a lot, wood hints of rum more so then bourbon. Some light vanilla also but mostly spicy chocolate.

Taste is like the nose, roasted malts with big chocolate through out. Spice isn't really over done it could actually be a little warmer for my tastes. Good vanilla notes but rum is more noticeable then any bourbon. Not a bad stout just not great really maybe because it's a year old or more likely just not feeling it.

Mouhfeel is fullish with medium level of carbonation.

Overall not bad but quite as good as it could be.

10/8/18 bottling (wow, almost a year on the shelf)

A: Jet black pour with an enormous frothy dark brown head. Excellent head retention but sparse lacing.

S: Lots of chili pepper in the nose, surprising. Not a ton of barrel character but there is clearly an oakiness and a toffee aspect as well. Touches of char and chocolate.

T: Huh. Rum barrels abound for sure, with a light backing of caramel from the bourbon. Once the rum fades you definitely get more of that oaky vanilla and caramel and toffee from the bourbon. A little sweet vegetal chili pepper. Almost no heat, just a touch of on the back end. Maybe a hint of cinnamon in there? A touch charry on the back end.

M: Heavy and smooth. Very oily, mouth-coating finish.

O: Very nice stout, but definitely lacking from the description. Basically a bourbon/rum barrel stout, not much "mexican style" anything or spice of any kind for that matter. That being said, it's still quite good, just not quite as much as the label hyped it to be.

Thought this one would have more heat after reading the description. That being said the smell is amazing. Wow, what nasal stimulation. You get a bite of the bourbon which is nice and I taste a little rum. Would have liked a little more, to be honest, but anytime you age something in bourbon or rum barrels you can easily overpower the beer. Again, really solid stout but it's lacking the chilli's and heat. I get almost none. A little at the end on the back of the pallet but that's it.

 

 

Its no prairie bomb but I would buy it again..

Lacks a little in the body department imo but its a damn fine beer either way.

 

 

 

 

Split with my cousin who originally purchased this bottle a few months ago. Clown Shoes typically rules at big, boozy barrel-aged stouts, and this is yet another in their Beast series. A rum AND bourbon barrel aged imperial stout with multiple types of chili peppers added. Ancho, chipotle and habanero peppers should give this a nice amount of heat. Let's see how it fares!

Pours a terrific, deep brown-black color with a long-lasting, steady khaki head of foam. No lace to speak of really, but I've been sipping at it slowly and have poured only a few ounces into my glass at a time, so that could be affecting the appearance. If I swirl my glass a bit, I can get the head to build up again to a slightly darker color with renewed vigor. Nice stuff!

The nose is boozy and chocolate-forward with a huge earthy, almost soy sauce/savory/umami note and some of the barrel characteristic coming forward as well. Not as much chili-driven heat, but I guess I can detect a bit of it hanging out in there if I try to look for it. I think it's the element that comes off almost black cherry-like? I know peppers can sometimes have that kind of thing going on when added to beer. Slight tobacco and herbalness with a bit of light baking spice as well. Very rich and deeply detailed. Excited for this one.

Very lush and velvety feel with a lot of decadent milk chocolate, fruity rum character, estery weirdness and tobacco once again. Decent barrel presence, but it's not overbearing as some CS beers can be. I think the bourbon and rum elements kinda cancel each other out, or at least work to a logical midpoint that makes them seem very homogeneous. Low carbonation and a very slight heat toward the finish. Doesn't drink as strong as it is, but also doesn't have quite as much pepper heat or barrel presence to it as I'd prefer. Seems slightly more neutral than what I expected, but it's a nice sipper. Toasted coconut and light vanillins to match the slight tannic character. A bit more roast and heat from the peppers and we'd have ourselves an awesome beer here. This is slightly below the mark, though. Enjoyable but flawed.