Inspired by Mexican hot chocolate, Bevel Craft Brewing's Cold Snap is 7% alcohol with hints of dark chocolate, cinnamon and chili pepper.

This time of the year, with holiday celebrations and the weather taking on an early winter chill, nothing hits quite like hot cocoa for warmth and comfort. It’s a classic drink with a simple recipe, and recently Bevel Craft Brewing released a specialty beer with its own twist on the standard — Cold Snap, a pastry stout inspired by Mexican hot chocolate.

The basic ingredients for hot cocoa consist of cocoa powder, sugar and milk, and it is typically quite sweet. Mexican hot chocolate, on the other hand, is a spiced concoction, made with cacao or dark chocolate, sugar and cinnamon. Variations often incorporate vanilla as well as chili spices of some sort.

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As a recipe for a beer, stout is a style that works well with these types of flavors, and breweries often craft a sweet, stronger brew to evoke a dessert-like experience. One of the best-known examples is Xocoveza from Stone Brewing Co. of California. Released every fall, it’s brewed with cocoa, coffee, chili peppers, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.

How it’s made

For Bevel’s version, I picked up a crowler of Cold Snap and reached out to the brewery to find out more about it, starting with the inspiration behind it.

“All the inspiration (for) this beer is credited to Curtis Nelson, my fellow brewer at Bevel,” said owner and head brewer Nate Doss via email. “He worked incredibly hard to make sure these flavors worked together and we had a ton of fun making the beer. Ultimately, we just wanted to make interesting beer that would fit the fall/winter season.”

The beer began as a milk stout, brewed with lactose “to make sure we had that extra sweetness at the end,” Doss said. No actual chocolate was used, but the beer aged on cocoa nibs for several days in the bright tank. “This really upped the chocolate aroma and flavor significantly,” he said.

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The addition of the spices is what sets Mexican hot chocolate apart from standard hot cocoa. Cinnamon is the main spice used, and many recipes include chili powder or similar ingredients. According to Doss, Bevel’s version contains only cinnamon. “No other spices were used,” he said. “We aged the beer on several pounds of Saigon cinnamon in the bright tank similarly to the nibs.”

Saigon cinnamon has a more pronounced and complex character than the common cassia cinnamon found on most spice racks. Consequently, it imparts a more intense aromatic quality to the beer.

How does it taste?

Cold Snap is 7% alcohol by volume, and pours a deep, dark brown color, nearly black. The aroma presents roasty stout notes with dark chocolate and subtle spices. Cinnamon is the primary spice character but there’s also a hint of heat reminiscent of chili pepper. As it warms, rich notes of pipe tobacco, graham cracker and a bit of espresso become apparent.

It has a toasty graininess in the flavor, with a bit of burnt toast, coffee syrup and bitter cocoa. The chocolate element is subtle, and the cinnamon has a soft spiciness that has less of a “baking” character and more of a smoky quality, particularly at the back. It’s lighter in the body than you’d expect for a pastry stout, with a non-cloying sweetness, and it finishes smooth and rich.

Cold Snap is a welcome and warming addition to your seasonal drink options, a festive adult substitute for traditional hot cocoa (marshmallows optional). Enjoy it on draft at Bevel’s taproom or fill a growler or a crowler to go.