4 PM Sunset - Chile Chocolate
London Brewing

500 mL bottle from the brewery; no packaging date. Served barely chilled. My label only mentions ancho and pasilla chiles, leaving out habanero (which *is* mentioned on their website).

Pours dark brown with ruby red highlights; one finger of tight, foamy tan-coloured head is seated atop, fading within two or three minutes' time. A frothy, creamy collar and thin cap remain, with a respectable smattering of stringy lace sticking to the glass - looks good so far. Oat and bran cereal on the nose, with notes of baker's chocolate, molasses and subtle ancho chile spiciness that becomes more prominent as the glass warms.

The spiciness is subdued, yet it does tingle the tongue a little if you allow the sip to roll around the palate for a few seconds. Cocoa powder and rich, chocolatey cacao nib are discernible, with hints of roasted malts and molasses sweetness underneath; smokey dried chile pepper flavours on the back end, with a hint of vegetal bell pepper. Lightly roasty, smokey, chocolatey aftertaste with slow-burning chile heat that lingers on the taste buds between sips. Full-bodied, with light carbonation that rolls softly along the tongue, resulting in a smooth, plush mouthfeel that perfectly suits this chocolate chile stout.

Final Grade: 4.04, a solid A-. Chile Chocolate 4 PM Sunset is basically just their flagship oatmeal stout with chiles and cacao nibs added to the mix, but that turns out to be enough to take the experience up a notch. There's plenty of chile pepper flavour, but without any searing heat - I actually think ancho & pasilla were a great choice here, adding a smokey, vegetal pepper quality that deepens the profile, as well as some restrained residual spiciness after each sip. Overall, it's a step up from the base beer: the only downside is that I don't have any Mexican food on hand to pair this with. Maybe some beef tacos, or a fajita...