Mexican Hot Chocolate Stout (Pilot Series)
Alaskan Brewing Co.

 

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque black in the glass with a fine, one finger khaki head with great retention and solid lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, light chocolate, vanilla and cinnamon; a little mineral. Flavor is dark toasted malt, milk chocolate, vanilla and cinnamon; cinnamon intensifies and hot pepper pops up in the finish with a long lingering hop pepper. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. Initially, this has excellent Mexican chocolate character of chocolate, vanilla and cinnamon, but the hot pepper arrives in the finish and obscures the other flavors. A bit of hot pepper is appropriate for this style and although the level (moderate to fairly hot) is pleasant enough, I'd like to favor the base chocolate and malt a bit in the finish. I found this next to one of my all time favorite dark beers, Alaskan Smoked Porter, and looked forward to another Pilot Series stout. The base is very nice, but I think the finish is unbalanced. This would be fine as a hot pepper stout and I see that "hot chocolate" can have more than one meaning, but I'd hope for more chocolate in the finish. The looks, smell and initial taste are great, but needs to be dialed in a little. Fans of hot pepper stouts will enjoy.