Roots Organic Chocolate Habenero Stout

Draft. A pitch black beer with a red shine under a thin brown head. The aroma is buttery and spicy. The flavor is sweet with strong notes of chili which grows in intensity and ends up burning the tongue, besides that there are notes of butter and diacethyl. Interesting, but remove the butter and diacethyl to make a drinable beer.

Pours dark brown with a thin soft tan head. Thin body and slightly watery on the palate. I was disapointed in the base beer although the peppers were well done. Cocoa sweetness up front with a quick bitter chocolate finish before the pepper heat kicks in. The concept is great, but the stout base just wasn’t what I was looking for, could stand to be more bold and roasty to bring it to life. It felt a bit one sided, not much time spent on the stout and instead focused on how much pepper to add.

Pour took almost a week. At first sniff this is a typical nitro stout. It has a smooth, chocolatey character...with heat. A tangy, late pickled habanero heat. That’s it, though...bland chocolatey stout with late heat.

On tap at the Roots brewpub during ABA Beer Tour 07. Pours almost opaque dark brown brew with a decent off-white head. Aroma of dark chocolate and coffee with other scents of flowery hops, and roasted multi grain bread. Taste is full bodied, lightly carbonated with flavors of chocolate and coffee. The finish is when the habenero pepper kicks in. Finish is semi-dry spicey with a slight tobacco aftertaste. The habenero makes the finish so dry that I needed another beer to smooth out my palate.

Dark with a hearty off white head. Spice in the nose and front, but no where near as spicy as I would have imagined. The chocolate definitely cooled off this enjoyable beer.