Dave's BrewFarm Mocha Diablo

I was preparing for my latest visit to the BrewFarm the other day, looking through this blog to see which beers I've reviewed, and amazed to see that Mocha Diablo, one of the most beloved and requested brews at the LaBrewTory was missing. How is this possible? Finally, a look at my beeradvocate reviews and what do you know, there it was, but it was from November, 2010, just a bit before I turned this blog into a beer review site. So. looking back at my original notes from 11/29/10, with this freshly cracked growler of Mocha Diablo.


Dave's BrewFarm, Mocha Diablo, chocolate and peppers, (3 of them)9.3% abv. In the brand new 1 Liter, swing top growler, filled sometime Saturday morning, being consumed Sunday night.



Utter blackness, with a nice, tight cocoa-tinted head nestled on top.



Aroma spins out chocolate in the atmosphere, before we even go close up. Let's do that now...sweet, but mild, chocolate, with hot and spicy pepper flavors behind. Sweet and hot, with sweet on top.



Taste: sweet cocoa on top, again, with rich, roasty stout below. Good hopping, mild bitterness lays long on the palate and in the back of the throat. Very smooth, no rough spots here. Spices start to show and intrude upon the profile, slowly, though. Heat is kotura climbing, ever incrementally. Stay sweetish and roasty, moreover, with the pepper staying subtle on the side.



Medium body, nearly full, with a strength that remains unobtrusive, until...wait, now it's showing up...hoo daddy!



I have to imagine some geeks might demand more heat, more fire, more punishment than this provides, but I think that doing everything to extremes misses the point. Sometimes subtlety is just right. Just a hint. A taste. A tickle. And this is a great brew where you get that. Way to go, Dave!