Scottish beer

I had heard about a newish beer store down by Mercado de Embajadores, a good thing since La Buena Pinta has decided to be purely a bar, much like The Beer Garden, so I took some time to check it out. I actually missed them in their first place, which was supposed to be extremely small, even more than little Oldenburg of years ago. Hidden Beers now has some room to sit and stretch out with a beer or two. I had a nice conversation with the proprietor about dark beers, especially porters. Turns out he’s a big fan of traditional English porters; dark beer lovers unite! While I didn’t indulge in the porter side, I was guided to some powerful stouts and went away with Mexicake. It’s another example of those Mexican chocolate stouts, that often have a little kick to them, a nod to the gastronomy. Weirdly, most of those stouts come from the UK, at least the ones that make it to Spain. This is in fact one of those, from Tempest Brewing of Scotland.

Oh, what a glorious pouring, black and thick-looking, sliding silently into the glass. Not a lot of head, just some beige lace on top of the glass. The aroma is interesting. It’s sweet, but also has a natural feel to it, not like extra help has been added to boost the scents. My first impression is malt, but there is a kind of apple deep down and naturally a little chocolate on top. The taste is sweeter, but not overwhelmingly so. It has a good balance of the ingredients, with some breadiness for good measure, and really only the suggestion of chilli (or chile as they insist). For some that would be a disappointment, but I don’t really need my beer to be all that spicy. I can also pick out the hot chocolate drink flavors, with cinnamon and vanilla lurking somewhere in the taste. For the most part, it’s a very smooth beer, in spite of the chilli prickle, and one that I would have summer or winter.