Otter Creek Cerveza Cacao

Date: 04/20/2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

hazy amber, thin fine white head that quickly disapates, sweet spiced brown sugar aroma, sugary flavor without being very sweet, nice spices to balance, lots of complex unidentifable flavors,
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Date: 12/12/2006
Mode: bottle

the flavor has dried out quite a bit from both the aroma and flavor leaving a lightly spiced ale, was better and more complex when it was younger

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.4/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: ***/4

This is a bit of a disappointment for a beer. Pours a hazy brown with a small head. The aroma is a bit of caramel and nutmeg. The cocoa doesn’t really come through as much as I expected. The flavor doesn’t really suggest German-style wheat in any way. Drinkable, but not what I was hoping for. Maybe a touch of heat from chile, but maybe I’m just expecting it because it’s based on a drink that combines cocoa and chiles.

(22 oz bottle: Obtained 06-Apr-06 in trade with 46er3498, thanks Tom!) Stop #2 on the World Tour takes me to Mexico for some cocoa beer. Sounds good to me! Pouring the beer, it’s golden-amber in color and only slightly hazy, so the mass of carbonation bubbles rising quickly through the center of the beer is plainly visible against the bright backdrop of this sunshine-filled San Diego afternoon. The small, whitish head meekly builds to a quarter inch on the pour and settles to a thin, almost filmy layer. The aroma of cocoa is unmistakable, but that’s not to say it’s a strongly fragrant, it’s just that other aromas are vague and only slightly perceptible. I’m having a similar experience with the flavor too. Can’t say there’s much there other than the mild, lightly sweet cocoa flavor up front and some vague spices hiding in the background, and without the cocoa this would seem to be a pretty dull beer. Even with the cocoa, this is coming up a bit short for me too. Bitterness is very light and I can’t taste any hops at all. Body is light to medium, fairly dry in the finish, and moderately carbonated. The creamy heading is much more impressive on the second pour, as is the retention and the densely curtained patches of lace on the glass. But in the end, it’s not a bad-tasting beer, just a boring one (despite the cocoa!), and a beer I have no desire to drink again.

22 oz bottle. Pours a clear copper colored body under a fizzy off-white head that had decent retention due to the generous carbonation. Aroma is rather unique. A soft malt presence with some subtle spices, light nuttiness, and cocoa. Flavor is rather bland and thin. Some light spices and a hint of cocoa late in the finish. The malt is rather grainy. Mouthfeel is very thin with way too much fizzy carbonation. The carbonation really loosens up the flavor to the point where it falls apart really. Overall, this was just lacking in any character and depth.

Aroma:chocolate cocoa,light grassy hops... Appearance:Clear copper,small lacing white head.... Flavor:light malt and cocoa flavor,small citrus bitterness...