Stone Brewing Xocoveza Tres Leches - Imperial Stout

This beer makes your mouth water just by reading through the list of ingredients: In addition to the usual suspects, there's cocoa, coffee, chili, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg on the label. This promising blend makes for an extremely successful winter beer, for which spicy Mexican drinking chocolate served as inspiration. Hot chocolate from Mexico has little in common with the sweet, bland drink from Germany. A whole palette of exciting spices goes into the drink, which is prepared with real chocolate and gives the soul comforter a warming fire.

Xocoveza flows thickly and richly into the glass, shining with the color of strong coffee. A hazelnut-brown foam crowns the dark beer while smelling delightfully intense of mocha, freshly grated nutmeg, cinnamon and melt-in-your-mouth chocolate. The spicy, creamy aroma invites the first sip. A full-bodied note of dark chocolate reaches the palate first, followed closely by an intense charge of spice. Nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla are accompanied by the delicately toasty flavor of coffee. A delightful bitterness complements the soft sweetness, while the chili adds a spicy kick to the composition.

Incidentally, this beer was created in cooperation with homebrewer Chris Banker, who won Stone's annual competition for best homebrewer. In order to bring a breath of fresh air into its product range and give young talent a chance, Stone Brewery holds an annual competition to find exceptional young talent. With the help of the homebrewers, Stone's brewers preserve their own roots and bring completely new ideas to their brewery.