A Night To End All Dawns (2025) - Mexican Hot Chocolate​
Kane Brewing Company

Look: Pours opaque and very dark brown; nearly black. A thin layer of dark brown head that quickly disappears to a thin ring of foam around the edge of the glass. No visible carbonation due to the color.

Smell: The aroma is complex with most prominent notes of smooth bourbon, earthy ancho and guajillo peppers, cinnamon and chocolate. The vanilla is subtle but natural. Vanilla can overpower and come through in an artificial extract manner, but not here. As the beer warms up, faint notes of dark dried fruit start to come through.

Taste: Kane does BBA stout very well. Usually, their BBA stouts are not overly sweet, but rather more nuanced beers that truly let the oak and other ingredients shine. This beer is no exception. A big, full, first mouthfull comes across as a sweeter beer. As the initial wave of more dessert like vanilla/cinnamon recedes, the beer dries out and lets the oak, peppers and cacoa shine. Earthy notes from the peppers. Lots of chocolate. On the back end a rather dry beer with notes of char and ash.

Feel: Love the feel. Not too thick and certainly not too thin. Some sticky sweetness on the lips. Long finsh that dried out quite a bit.

Overall: If you are looking for a childish amount of sugary sweetness, this is not the beer for you. It starts out sweet but finishes more dry. Another well crafted BBA stout in the ANTEAD series from Kane.

 

Reviewed the day after the bottle release. Poured at 65° from 500 ML bottle into a pub glass. It pours nearly ink black. The dark mocha-colored head fizzled away very quickly leaving a ring and clouds of foam at the top of the glass. The nose is big and fragrant with roasted malt, chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, and distinct chillies. There is also a faint aroma of bourbon and cigar ash. The taste is complex and delicious! There is rich cocoa throughout but the Ancho and Guajillo chillies play the starring role. They are spicy but do not overpower the other flavors. There are also notes of vanilla bean, cinnamon, tobacco, and nutty char. The barrel effect is delicate; Kane really knows how to barrel-age a Stout. The flavor benefits from letting it breathe in the glass. Love the mouth feel: it is creamy - almost chewy - with low carbonation, and the 12.2% ABV doesn't distract. Overall, Mexican Hot Chocolate is one of the better ANTEAD variants I've had the pleasure to drink.