It's Not Yours, It's Mayan!
Spellbound Brewing

**
11/22/2020

Can to snifter. "It's Not Yours, It's Mayan".

LOOK: dark black, medium tan head. ok retention, silty legs.
AROMA: pepper and cocoa. not incredibly strong, but very nice.
TASTE: very nice blend of cocoa, pepper, vanilla, roasted malt. There are sweet and smokey notes. The dry cocoa and mild pepper are such a nice combination.
FEEL: a little thin for the style, and flat.

Very nice tasting Mexican Chocolate Stout. This is not Abraxas, but still a respectable version.

**

Solid black appearance.
Very light carbonation with an above average body, slight slick thick feel.
Aroma is coffee liquor, mocha,black coffee, roasted malt, and dark bakers chocolate.
Taste is very similar aroma,very,very mild sweetness matched by an ultra dark chocolate dry bitterness. The peppers show up in the taste with the heat adding to the dry finish.
Really excellent imperial stout with pepper heat that was incorporated perfectly

12 ounce can poured into a snulip glass. No canning information that I found.

L---Dark brown color. Medium light brown head that faded quickly to a rim and left very nice lacing.

S---Bitter chocolate and roasted malts. Not really getting the peppers, which is good for me b/c I don't like spicy stuff.

T---Follows the nose. There's a ton of roasted/burnt malts. Bitter chocolate follows through as well. Very high ABV is not noticeable at all.

F---Medium/full bodied with mild carbonation. Creamy with no chile burn.

O---The missing chile peppers was a good thing for me. Very nice.

 

A - Very dark brown pour, looks almost black. Lacing is dense, thick, and toffee colored.

S - Deep roasted cocoa aroma with a spicy pepper zing on the nose.

T - Dark roasted cocoa, some chocolate char, vanilla is light, and at the very back end of the sip there's a slight peppery zing with the most pronounced presence being warming in the back of the throat.

M - Big medium body with a slight bit of thinness around the edges.

O - I bought this beer for the mere fact it has peppers, the heat doesn't disappoint and never gets so strong that it interferes with the overall experience.

 

Picked this up recently at Gary's in Wayne, having never had this beer from Spellbound before. I always liked the Mexican Brunch from Kane or the Xocoveza from Stone and this was along those lines as there was plenty of heat and powder to this as it didn't feel anywhere near as strong as it was in actuality!

Not to anyone's shock, this had a dark pour to it with a tan head that quickly settled and didn't leave a lot of lacing behind aside from what was just above the liquid. Lots of mild pepper, bitter chocolate, alkali, and powder in the muted nose as the taste was nicely balanced between all of them. Not to dry, strong, hot, or bitter, this was slick because of the vanilla and had a bit of the barrel-aging in there to give this some depth and funkiness that kept it from truly feeling like a potent, imperial beer. Slightly roasted with light pepper spice, this was plenty sticky on the lips as there was some faintly hidden caramel that emerged more in the back end and aftertaste.

Make no mistake, this *was* a strong beer and a small can of this was more than enough for one sitting. There wasn't a date on the bottom as this felt as new as could be, although I was surprised to see that this was a retired beer. If it was possible to be introduced this to this style, this would be as unoffensive an offering as one would find. Fun stuff to kick back with during these colder months!

Look: Dark brown to black with just the slightest brown head → Smooth
Smell: Cocoa, with a slight hint of the peppers and vanilla
Taste: Chocolate with the pepper in the finish in this roasty stout
Feel: Smooth with a hint of crisp carbonation
Overall: A nice pepper twist in a well balanced Stout.

 

 

This was released in October 2017 amd I'm drinking it in April 2019. 750 ml bottle poured into a snifer glass. Pours a dark black with a big tan head that fades slowly leaving some mild lacing. There are red and orange flakes at the top from the peppers I hope.
The nose is peppers and roasty chocolate, with some hints of vanilla. Chocolate and cinnamon at first, followed by some spice from the peppers. Medium carbonation and body. Really smooth reconsidering this is 11.5%. It goes down easy. Overall a great beer with the spicies and bitterness becoming more prominent as it warms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

750ml bottle poured into a stemless wine glass. Enjoyed on 1.20.18, reviewed from Tasting Journal.

The beer pours a nice jet black color, cola brown hues with a fizzy tan head, about a finger high that has little retention and yields no lace. The aroma is fine, nice spice, plenty of chocolate, a bit woody with some nice char and a hint of vanilla. The flavors are good, nice spice and chocolate interplay, cinnamon comes out a bit with charred oak and roasted dark grains and a hint of underlying sweetness. The mouthfeel is good, thinner medium body but still with some heft, crisp carbonation that coats well finishes warmly and dryly.

Verdict: A nice barrel aged stout from Spellbound. Hard to tell what type of barrel as there wasn't an obvious liquor presence beyond the oak, but the adjuncts are nicely presented, the peppers really pop but don't come off as crazy spicy or too hot, the vanilla certainly helps to tame things and offer some needed sweetness. Perhaps not the best balance of flavors, but a very good beer.

Bottle, extra in a trade.

Poured into a snifter, deep black color with a foamy tan head, which contained little bright red flecks...presumably pepper. Roasty aroma, with a bittersweet edge, mild peppery notes. In the taste, good blend of sweet and roasty, the vanilla balancing out the dark chocolate. Not much of a burn from the peppers, but you can definitely feel them in there, so I'd say they were put to good use, not overdone. Barrel presence was very light. Body was a bit thin for a double stout, but for a nearly 12%ABV beer, it was pretty smooth and easily drinkable. This was actually my first Spellbound beer, and I guess now I have to check out more from them.