New Belgium - Cocoa Molé

HAPPY 20TH ANNIVERSARY NEW BELGIUM!!  From a struggling Colorado basement brewer, to a "What's a Fat Tire?", to a craft brewing giant (3rd largest in the US) in 26 states; not bad for 20 years work! Of course, today's review will help commemorate their milestone as I crack open a bottle out of their Lips of Faith series - Cocoa Molé.  Having expressed some disappointment with some chile beers in the past, a lot of craft beer friends recommended Cocoa Molé as a solid go-to beer.  I'm always up for a recommendation so I picked it up on a recent trip to the Chicago burbs.  I've been looking forward to it ever since.  Let's pour!

Aroma 11/12

Most of the aroma here is definitely from the roasting of the ancho, guajillo, and chipotle peppers used in its brewing.  It's a smokey, peat-like aroma and dominates the scene early on.  In fact, I initially gave its aroma a rather average score.  Good things come to those who wait.  After warming ever so slightly, the chocolate comes out full force and is almost a new aroma altogether after blending with the roasted peppers and a new cinnamon note.  I never thought chocolate could smell so alien to me!  Very neat.  The blend itself is seemingly fleeting as that on subsequent sniffs, each ingredient is determined to stand out on its own.  I don't say this in a bad way.  It's like a revolving door of different aromas.

Appearance 3/3

Wow, did this pour darker than expected!  It pours a dirty brown into the glass, a calling card from the chocolate malts and, if you've ever cooked with them, probably the ancho chiles.  First glances, make this beer appear very opaque and dark.  Closer inspections reveal a dark burnt mahogany and when held to light, shades of plum!  Yes plum! The purple shades are unmistakable and a complete surprise.  What other secrets does this beer hold?  The head is beige, dense, and offers better than average retention and size.

Flavor 20/20

This is insane!  And by insane, I mean insanely awesome.  There is SO much going on here, but as in the aroma, each item insists on having its moment in the sun.  Normally, I look for a great blend, but with so many unique ingredients, I don't mind the opportunity to soak them all up.  We're first given a heaping ladle-full of nearly bitter cocoa malts along with the slight saltiness from the roasted peppers.  Heading into the backbone of the flavor, the cocoa malts become sweeter with the addition of caramel malts and a dash of cinnamon.  Next the peppers come forward in a cloud of sweet smoke, roasted flavors, and some chile heat (yes!).  If you hold the beer in the mouth, the roast begins to blend very interestingly with the sweetness and later on the spices start to blend with the chiles' heat.  Lots of cool stuff going on here!  The finish, as expected, adds a flash of heat to the back of the throat and leaves it to tingle on the tongue.  It also shows a strong cinnamon that (and this is important) does not dominate the entire damn beer.  The aftertaste is a lingering warmth in the mouth and a dull sweetness.  I am so impressed with this beer!

Mouthfeel 5/5

This beer feels solid in the mouth without being downright heavy.  Its sturdy mouthfeel undoubtedly given by the loads of sweet malts involved in its manufacture.  The carbonation is dead on: not absent, not too much for a bigger beer, just enough to keep it from being thick though it has virtually no foaming when in the mouth.  It keeps this big, sweet, and spicy beer drinkable, despite that "big, sweet, and spicy" often fight against that characteristic.  The bottle reads 9% ABV, but I never saw a trace of it through the other flavors.

Brownie points for cool "Dia de los Muertos" style bottle art.

Overall Impression 10/10

Loved it.  This beer did so much right!  The aroma foreshadows the beer to come, the appearance has a few surprises, and the mouthfeel is just right.  The flavor... oh man, the flavor.  While it may not be unique ingredients among beers that try to harness that Aztec-based "xocoatl," it certainly seems to be the first that has done it right.

Total 49/50

Cocoa Molé has eradicated so many of my pet peeves involving beers of this style!  First off, most beers that use cinnamon (winter warmers, pumpkin beers, this "cocoa/Hispanic" style) completely overuse the cinnamon.  If I wanted that much cinnamon, I'd buy a box of Red Hots candy.  I don't know why this is so prevalent in craft beer.  If your Grandma made an apple pie and all you could taste was cinnamon, I don't care how good a cook your Grandma is, you wouldn't eat it.  This beer hides the cinnamon brilliantly behind the roasted flavors and the heat.  Well done!  Second... A CHILE BEER IN WHICH I CAN ACTUALLY TASTE THE CHILES!!!!!  It seems that all chile beers shy away from the fact that there are chile peppers in their beer.  They advertise it well enough for those adventurous to try it, but those brave souls are often left wanting when the beer contains virtually no detectable heat!  Does this seem counter-intuitive to anyone else?

Thankfully, New Belgium has shown the way with how chile beers should be brewed.  It uses the cinnamon wisely and sparingly, while allowing the chiles to do what they do best - be flavorful and amazing.  When I was prepping to do a beer review today, I was in a bad mood.  I didn't know if I'd be able to give a beer a fair shake.  This beer absolutely turned that around!  Beer Advocate indicates that this is a "limited (brewed once)" beer.  I certainly hope not.  It is one of the best chile beers I have had to date and I would buy it on a regular basis.  Kudos to New Belgium and their MANY more anniversaries!

Stone - Vertical Epic Ale 11.11.11

For those that do not know the history of Stone's Vertical Epic project, here's the scoop:  Stone has been releasing a new beer on each day where the month, day, and year are all the same number.  It began on February 2nd, 2002 (02.02.02) and will end this year on 12.12.12 (though the release dates are slightly different than the actual date of the bottle).  They are designed to be enjoyed in a vertical tasting (a progressive, side-by-side type format) when 12.12.12 is released or slightly thereafter.  Needless to say, it requires a lot of patience to hold out that long and it requires a long time dedication to craft beer.  It's a very cool idea and it has waited a long time to come to fruition.  Since I have another bottle of the 11.11.11, I'll still have one for a little vertical tasting session of my own.  But that's later, let's taste now!  Let's pour!

Aroma 10/12 

Fairly simple, but enjoyable nonetheless.  The chiles are first and foremost, but far from overbearing.  In a pleasant twist, they not only give the beer a spiciness and heat, but also the aroma of the actual vegetable.  I like that a lot!  There is a dull sweetness behind the chiles, like a rich, sweet bread made with brown sugar.  Also, there is a brighter sweetness even behind that.  It is somewhat fruitlike, but extremely difficult to discern.  Perhaps it is the Belgian yeast used in the brewing process?

Appearance 3/3

The head was right around one finger and a lighter color of the beer beneath.  The brew itself is mahogany and dirty copper with some very attractive red and magenta shades when held to light.

Flavor 18/20

This is a most unusual brew!  Things start off very salty in the mouth.  It's nowhere close to seawater, but the shock was just about the same.  A cinnamon splash follows immediately after along with a bit of the vegetable chile flavor, and then things simmer down a bit into a more mellow, sweet backbone.  The blend of caramel, cinnamon, and spice is almost like a Hispanic dessert of sorts.  There is also an unusual, brighter sweetness on the tip of the tongue, like grapes or honey.  The chiles are adding a lot of flavor at this point, but not much heat or spice as of yet.  The finish is a resurgance of the chiles in all of its characteristics: vegetable flavor, spice, and a smidge of heat.  It also refuses to let go of that cinnamon laden sweetness and so the combination of malts and chiles continues through to the end, but not without a dash of boozy goodness.  Holding this beer in the mouth really lets the cinnamon and darker malt flavors come out, but a quicker swallow yields a tangier, sweetness.  Very interesting.  The aftertaste is fairly clean despite all the spices and heat, but the beer does leave the mouth sticky.

Mouthfeel 4/5
Even the very end of this bottle has adequate carbonation to prevent the bigger flavors from becoming a chore to imbibe.  The carbonation is plentiful and tiny, but never intrudes on the palate and lets those bigger flavors do their thing.  It is simply there as a balancing act; never intruding as a main character nor attempting to steal the show.  The touch of warmth in the finish was the only time the 9.4% ABV showed itself and it was a welcome addition.

Overall Impression 9/10
This is definitely one of the better chile beers that I have had.  And yes, I call it a chile beer even though it is technically categorized as a Belgian Strong Dark Ale (even if it does lack the aggressive carbonation to be considered such).  It does not back down from the chile flavors, like so many others.  Other beers seem to just barely add the roasted pepper notes and an amount of heat that only a gringo could detect.  Stone adds more than an average amount of heat (though still far from aggressive) and does not back down from the authentic, vegetable flavors of the chile pepper.  Also, while it incorporates the "boilerplate" ingredient of Hispanic themed beers, cinnamon, it also chooses to shake things up by putting the cinnamon and chiles in with a Belgian Flanders Golden Ale yeast.  It's very creative, very unique, and very tasty.

Total 44/50
I wish that this were not a one time release by Stone.  Or at the very least that it gives them the confidence to brew a seasonal (or dare I say, year round) chile beer.  This is very well done and better than almost any other chile beer I've had to date (that crown still belongs to a local brewery, Bent River).  The heavier body is nice, the carbonation is present but unobtrusive, the sweetness is present to balance the chiles, and the chiles are *gasp* actually present in more than just a wisp of a roasted note buried deep in the beer.  I love the authentic chile flavor in this!  It gives this beer a definite leg up.  If you have a extra bottle, go ahead and give it a try.  If not, I hope that 12.12.12 comes quickly for ya!  Good on you Stone!  I'm already looking forward to December to crack open the rest of these.  Cheers.

Rogue - Chipotle Ale

I have NO idea how I have done this many reviews and this is only my second post about a Rogue product.  I have lots of respect for Rogue and have even used their beers to mark certain benchmarks (50, 100, 200 different beers) with a certain bar's membership club.  Today's review is for Rogue's Chipotle Ale.  I love a good jalepeño-based beer!  Sure, there is some spiciness in there and not everybody cares for that.  Naysayers should know though, that the rest of the beer is often made as refreshing as possible to try and counter that spiciness.  Needless to say, in the midst of this midwestern heatwave (which shows no signs of letting up) a whole bunch of refreshing beer is just what I was looking for.  Let's pour!

Picture is my own.  Bottle art image used without permission for educational uses only.

Aroma 8/12
The first smell was almost a farm-like mustyness, as if something a bit gamey had gotten into the mix.  It dissipates soon enough and then the pepper-based heat appears in the nose.  However, even this fades away and gives rise to the premier aroma: the chipotle peppers' flavor.  They are smoky, salty and just a hint of sweetness.  The smoky and salty tones combined are enough to remind one of Bean & Bacon soup.  No other ingredients really shine through the strong chipotle aromas.


Appearance 3/3
This is a gorgeous beer!  When not in direct light, it is a red that nearly matches that on the label.  When lit at all, it is a beautiful, glowing orange with a pumpkin pastel colored head.  There is not a great volume of head, but it retains well and leaves sticky lace on my glass.

Picture is my own.

Flavor 14/20
Very light a crisp off the bat with a dull molasses sweetness.  You really have to hold this in the mouth to get the intended flavors as they are not readily apparent with simple sips.  The backbone is a continuation of the molasses, but introduces the smoky flavor and a mere suggestion of the pepper's heat.  Unfortunately, that is all you get, only a flash and then it is all but gone.  Only when I was more than halfway through the 650 mL bottle did I get any sort of lingering heat.  The heat is briefly restoked as the beer hits the back of the throat and that is really all that differs in the finish.  The aftertaste however adds a moderate but pronounced hop bitter to the lingering heat, leaving the mouth a bit dry and ready for another mouthful.  Very nice touch to end this beer.

Mouthfeel 4/5
It is very light in body, which is great for the style, but still maintains some level of creaminess.  Even in the beginning of the bottle when carbonation was abundant and bubbly, it still had a noticeable creaminess to it.  Halfway through the bottle the carbonation is tiny and sparse, which only makes this lightly creamy texture all the more noticeable.

Overall Impression 6/10
This beer is the consequence of indecision.  Chili beer is a bold choice and so one would expect a bold beer. There is plenty of daring-do in the aroma, but the flavor finds the chilis timid and muted.  The bitter at the end is bold and complimented what existing chili flavor there was (it could have complimented much more as well).  The result is a beer whose chilis are not bold enough to satisfy those looking for a more extreme experience and whose hop bitter is enough to keep away the entry-level beer drinker.

Total 36/50
This ranking still puts this beer in the "Very Good" category and rightly so.  It is not a bad beer by any means, I just don't see it satisfying the needs of those "bold" drinkers looking for a robust exbeerience.  Unfortunately for Rogue, those are the people most likely to buy this beer (especially in this quantity).  This beer is very much like a British Pale Ale, but with the chipotle peppers added to it.  The light creaminess and the aftertaste were the true high points of this beer, but can only do so much in the face of an ingredient that didn't come with guns a-blazin'.