pFriem Mexican Chocolate Stout by pFriem Family Brewers is truly a joy to behold. The beer is being evaluated as a Category 30A Spice, Herb or Vegetable Beer as per the 2021 BJCP Guidelines with Category 16A Sweet Stout as the base beer. This brew has an absolutely amazing complexity exhibited in both the aroma as well as the flavor and is simply delicious. This is a real winner!

The aroma of this brew is extremely complex, with spicy cinnamon, chocolate, nutmeg, roasted grain and a hint of pepper coming through, which was balanced nicely and extremely inviting! This deep brown-to-black brew has great clarity when you look through a thin section of the glass with a substantial off-white head exhibiting fantastic retention. 

Flavor-wise, this brew was also a delight from start to finish. The spicy chocolate cinnamon richness added to the base sweet stout with the nutmeg and slight heat in the background mimicking the character of a Mexican hot chocolate extremely well. It was overall silky smooth and complex. The moderate roast character from the base sweet stout was very well balanced with the other added characters, and the moderately dry finish never allowed the chocolate and spice notes to become cloying in the finish. For how full-flavored this brew is, the palate was dry enough to be very well prepared for the next sip.  The body was rather full, and the carbonation was moderate, and both worked extremely well with the flavor characteristics. 

pFriem Mexican Chocolate Stout is an extremely well-crafted example of a pastry stout – it pushes the envelope but never exceeds the limits, which is where some examples of the style fail. This one will delight any lover of Mexican hot chocolate or a luscious chocolate milkshake.