Church Brew Mexican Mole Stout

Formerly brewed at Church Brew Works
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA

Serve in Lager glass, Tumbler

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Draft. At brewery. Poured dark black. Med head. Aroma of cocoa and pepper. Taste of beginning slight sweetness with some malt and cocoa followed by a huge spicy pepper taste. Almost burning like sensation. Wow. Different. I tried it but wouldn’t try again.

Wow, this was by far the most different and creative beer ive had. It pored a dark black with hints of red. The aroma was of apice and pepper. The taste was very spicy, like a bloody mary but had a malt component that cooled it off. Finish was very hot, like tobasco and lingered. Chewed through a pint of this and that was enough. Enjoyable but not sessionable by any means.

On tap into a sampler glass. Black with a tan head. Aroma is peppery. Taste follows suit with some stout characteristics. Pepper is overpowering. I’m glad I have only a sample glass.

On tap at brewpub
I decided that since some of the other interesting taps were available for take out that I’d give this twist on a stout a try. The result reminds me of another spicy stout from Bent River except better. Instead of smacking one in the face with heat it waits a little bit. This delay gives you time to actually appreciate the beer instead of grabbing for the water glass.

Aroma / Appearance - Fluid and black the body looks like a normal stout. Just from the appearance you’d never know what waits inside the pint glass. Peppery spices in the nose give a hint of the heat to come along with malty coffee. It almost has the sense that one poured a few drops of tabasco into an iced black coffee. It could be a little more assertive than it is without being too strong.

Flavor / Palate - Starting off mild with a malt and coffee combination the heat comes in a delayed reaction. About ten seconds after each sip a wave of heat builds forward from the back of the throat. Lasting for a few minutes it is not so strong as it put one off taking another sip. It does mean however you have to pace yourself. Too many sips in quick succession could mean an unpleasant after effect. I’m not sure I would order something like this every day but compared to the bland fizzy pales, bourbon bombs, and hop monsters that dominate most tastings it is a definite change of pace.

A- Served in a pint glass at Church brew works. Body is is a dense, thick, opaque dark brown/black color that does not allow light to shine through (keep in mind that CBW is dimly lit). When served this brew had a thin tan collar which quickly faded. No lacing is left behind in the glass. S- The smell is an interesting combination of rich toasted chocolate malt and red hot chili peppers. T- Upfront is a rich, toasted, somewhat mild chocolate malt with hints of caramel. Seems like your run-of-the-mill stout. The flavor fades on the swallow and virtually no hops kick in. Immediately after the swallow a swarm of red-hot chili peppers burst forth from nowhere that linger on and on and add an exciting and unexpected kick to this brew. P- Mouthfeel is minimally thick and syrupy. Its not a big stout and the mouthfeel is mild. Low to medium carbonation. O- This is one exciting novelty beer from CBW. Its definitely outside of the traditional styles they generally brew and adds an adventurous side to the beer offered in this brewpub (the menu is pretty traditional but does offer some off-the-wall selections). But this is just a novelty. Its nothing I would bring a growler home of. I would have this again but its hard to take seriously. Serving type: on-tap Reviewed on: 12-31-2007 05:18:04

This one poured a dark brown almost black color with an off white head. Aroma was dark roasted malts then very spicey nose, lots of chili peppers. Flavor was smooth stout with a backing heat on the end that stays in your throat for a very long time after swallow. Blah.

Pint glass from tap, with plain pizza pairing. Deep red color with a light brown head that disappeared quite quickly. Misleading aroma of stout malts with hints of chocolate. Only hint of spice was a slight warming in the nose on repeated smelling. Taste explodes onto your tongue like curry spice, some chocolate undertones, but the flavor is all chili peppers. Palate is stunningly spicy and resilient. Decent with pizza for the first few sips, the pint is very very difficult to finish.

I’ll start by saying that I have never had a chile beer before this point, and while I probably wouldn’t drink one again, I still did find it a really neat experience. Pours a dark brown/black color with froathy light brown head. Looks like your typical stout. Aroma a bit weak, but some baking chocolate present. Flavor starts sweet and chocolaty then all the sudden you get a burning tickling sensation in the back of your throat. Its weird because you don’t ever really taste the pepper spice in your mouth. Told a friend it tasted like guiness so he gulped down a bunch at which time he started gaging. Overall, another interesting brew by a great brewery.

On tap @CBW 10/24/08. Dark brown with 1 inch thick foamy head. Not really much of an aroma. Flavor started sweet then the chili peppers hit. It was smooth at first then came the burn. One-dimensional flavor. But I kinda liked it, for one or two sips. It was different for sure. Medium body. Kinda syrupy. Lots of Carbonation.

Sampled at the RBPG; growler courtesy of zebracakes. Fairly nice coffee-malty aroma, lightly sweet, and what you’d expect to smell from a decent sweet stout. Dark brown-black clear, with no head (I think it’d been in a growler for a while). Medium watery body with medium carbonation - which held up well, I guess. Getting ready for a run-of-the-mill sweet stout when BAM ... buzz-killing spiciness. It started sweet with some dark bitter malty character but then you get nailed by chili peppers. As many of the Simpsons fans quoted: "It tastes like burning!" And indeed it does; pepper and capsaicin. Really cleans out the sinuses and wakes you up. Definitely could not have more than one of these beer without some serious food to go with it.