Mexican chocolate inspired coffee stout Brewed with kyoto roasted Coyote coffee beans.
[Character]When trying to describe this beer, think of a medium roast coffee meeting chocolate, cinnamon and spice notes. Mexican coffee beans naturally have a herbal/spice element to them and this beer is essentially accentuating those elements and putting it in beer form.[Food Pairing]Herbed beef burger patty in a pancake bun, cream cheese infused with brandy, dry fruit and nuts, fois gras terrine with clove, anise and grape jam[Naming]"Itchuya" literally means all day into night. Inspired by the Mexican "Day of the Dead" festival, which shares conceptually a lot of overlap with the Japanese "Obon" festival (albeit a lot more colourful!), we imagine a family celebration that runs throughout the entire day into the evening, and imagine that these two beers in this mini-series might be just the right kinds of drinks to enjoy on such an occasion.[Brewer's Voice]The inspiration for this beer come from Mexican chocolate. This chocolate has an array of spices including chili peppers infused into the chocolate making a delicious balance of sweet, savory and spicy.
While down in Mexico I was able to drink some Mexican hot chocolate, and I thought that this was just incredible and immediately wanted to figure out how to capture this flavor in beer. So, I took this combination of flavors and paired it with some South American coffee roasted locally in Kyoto by Coyote. We were able to visit the roastery and select the beans and type of roast specifically for this beer.
→For details on Coyote
This beer came together as a medium bodied Coffee stout using a blend of different chocolate malts and conditioned on a blend of spices. I wanted to get the flavor of the peppers without making the beer spicy, to do this, we used dried Guajillo peppers, these peppers impart a nice roast flavor and almost smokey pepper character. The coffee was used cold side to impart a soft cold brew like character to not overpower the other spices. To finish it off, a touch of vanilla was added for a bit of creamy mouthfeel. The result is probably my favorite type of coffee stout I have ever had, and a perfect beer for sipping on a Fall evening.StyleCoffee StoutSeriesKBC2.0ABV6.5%IBU20Gas Volume2.65MaltPilsner, Munich malt , Chocolate malt, Chocolate wheatHopFlex, FuggleYeastCali Ale, LagerOthersFlaked Oats, Brown Sugar, Guajillo Peppers, Cinnamon, Vanilla, CoffeeCategoryHapposhuJAN4589718742014Best Before2025/07/08
