Lips Of Faith - Cocoa Molé - New Belgium Brewing

chocosushi

Oklahoma

4.53/5  rDev +13.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Melbourne Bros. Stemmed Tulip
Tasted side by side with Chocolate Sombrero

A ~ Pours translucent cocoa brown with a red hue to it. Thin white head fizzles away quickly. We shined an LED through the beer & it a great Red color, with the light passing through, while chocolate sombrero was Opaque, & more of a mud color.

S ~ Cocoa Powder with an Oatmeal-like backbone...Cinnamon whispers through. Authentic Cocoa scents. Hints of Chile deep in the Nostrils.

T ~ Raw Cocoa, Cinnamon & Bold Chipotle smokiness with a lingering Guajillo & Ancho spiciness. Cinnamon reappears on the finish with slightly sweeter Chocolate notes.

M ~ No booze heat for the ABV. Tingly & Spicy with such a smooth & elegant expression of Chile peppers. Every Chile plays a note here, & you can really feel it on the palette.

D ~ Well Done! This really is one of the best Chile beers I have ever had. The expression of Chiles melds so well with the Cocoa & parallels the light cinnamon notes. Highly recommend. This outshined Chocolate Sombrero, & Clown Shoes is one of my favorite breweries.

Serving type: bottle

03-20-2012 20:29:51 | More by chocosushi

Gatch

Massachusetts

4.63/5  rDev +16%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

On-tap at Taste of Tops in Tempe, AZ.

A: Dark brown in the glass but a beautiful deep, brownish red when held up to light. A bit of lace and a bubbly ring of white foam around the edge. Foamy, quickly-fading off-white head when swirled around the glass.

S: Lightly roasted malt, cinnamon, fruity-holiday spice, chocolate. Awesome.

T: Fantastically unique. Fruity, malty, spicy. Complex yet simply delicious. Great stuff.

M: Smooth with tons of flavor. Easy to drink. Leaves a pleasant taste on the palate. No alcohol presence whatsoever.

O: An amazing beer. Great cold straight out of the tap or warm after some time sitting. The hype is real on this one. Easily the best Chile Beer I've had although it seems to fall into another style. New Belgium really knows how to brew these "Lips of Faith" beers. I would without hesitation order this again.

Serving type: on-tap

03-15-2012 00:50:31 | More by Gatch

Dope

Massachusetts

4.63/5  rDev +16%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

Bottled 02/26/12

A: A nice dark amber/brown pour. Good-sized soda-like tan head. Very fizzy, fades fairly quickly. No real sign of lacing, maybe a dot here and there at best.

S: A bunch of cinnamon with some cocoa mixed in. A touch of vegetal chile pepper but barely there. There is however, some discernible heat from the chiles.

T: Up front there is some chile pepper flavor with some caramel. Turns into cinnamon and then the chile heat joins it. Cocoa strong in the middle but strongest in the finish where it almost stands alone briefly. Nice strong bite from the chile peppers in the middle and through the finish, but nothing obnoxious or overpowering. Goes quite nicely with the bitter cocoa and sweet caramel in fact. A bit of smoky heat lingers between sips (chipotle?). This is unbelievably good.

M: Medium bodied, decent carbonation seems to heighten the chile heat a bit.

O: This is one hell of a chile beer. Great combination of chile heat, bitter cocoa and caramel to sweeten it all up. Very drinkable and well balanced. Easily the best crafted chile beer I've had. By a long shot.

Serving type: bottle

10-17-2012 03:28:56 | More by Dope

01001111

California

4.65/5  rDev +16.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A: Dark, coppery brown; black tea.

S: Heavy cinnamon, faint chocolate.

T: An initial cinnamon kick with a wash of chocolate. The heat from the chilies builds gradually and then suddenly dissipates, leaving behind a chocolate stout aftertaste.

M: Medium bodied, characteristic of a brown ale.

O: The creativity works for this one. This is what I had expected from Dogfish Head's Theobroma. Where Dogfish Head approximated a recipe analyzed from clay pots, New Belgium instead delivered what may have been the common ideal of a beer brewed with cocoa, chillies, and other assorted spices. Nicely done; certainly worth revisiting.

Serving type: bottle

02-26-2012 03:48:48 | More by 01001111

zander4dawin

Texas

4.65/5  rDev +16.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

This beer is completely wicked. There's a light pepper spice with a minimal warming sensation along with light chocolate and more prenounced cinnamon notes. An excellent sipper beer to be enjoyed slowly. The smell is wonderful too. I really hope this beer comes back one day.

Serving type: on-tap

05-06-2012 23:41:26 | More by zander4dawin

Chaney

District of Columbia

4.7/5  rDev +17.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Presently, this is the #1 Chile Beer here on BA by a country mile. As a matter of fact, I don't see any catching up to it for a long time.

Served in a Delirium Tremens snifter.

A: This poured much darker than I was expecting: Imagine the darkest, burnt brown you can imagine without the beer being black. The head started out at about a finger, but then settled into a bunch of mocha colored clumps.

S: Wow.... This is VERY different!: Sort of a cross between spiced pulled pork and cinnamon apples. Have you ever been to IKEA? You know that distinct smell of furniture and Swedish snack bar, right? That is this brew in a nutshell.

T: I still got cinnamon apples, wood, cocoa, and more Mexican weirdness. The aftertaste I got more pine wood than anything. Still, the IKEA comparison is absolutely the perfect one to my mind. Maybe instead of pork (like I got on the nose), the brewer(s) at New Belgium were actually thinking Swedish meatballs. lol

M: I just burped a moment ago and it actually burned my throat. This brew is also spicy in the "hot" sense, which makes it multidimensional to my mind. The lacing was substantial and the cinnamon apple component lingered in a rather divine way.

O: This was one of the most memorable beers I've tasted in the last year or so. No flaws and not a trace of booze detected. I WILL try this beer again in the future... many more times.

Serving type: bottle

02-19-2012 03:47:41 | More by Chaney

312HopBomb

Illinois

4.7/5  rDev +17.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

22 oz. bottle. Poured into a New Belgium globe.

Smallish biege head when poured vigorously into the glass. No lacing. Clear brown with ruby highlights when backlit.

Aroma of cinnamon and spicy chilies with cocoa and chocolate malt.

Taste is rum raisin with caramel and sweet chocolate. Cinnamon is assertive but not overdone. Sweet but countered by the chili heat and dark fruit. Complex brew that paired well with spicy fish tacos and beans.

Mouthfeel is smooth with medium body.

I was surprised to find that chili beers are a great change of pace. My favorite Mexican dish is chicken mole enchiladas so I really enjoyed this one. Hotter than Samual Adams chili bock but not nearly as hot as Sigda's from Coopersmiths. New Belgium concocted a recipe that incorporates a traditional Mexican flavor into an awesome ale. Well done!

Serving type: bottle

03-31-2012 04:49:42 | More by 312HopBomb

BeerFMAndy

Wisconsin

4.75/5  rDev +19%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

22 oz bottle poured into a New Belgium globe.
9% ABV, Bottled on 12/21/2011

A - Nearing the bordering of blackness, Cocoa Molé is a deep Spanish oak in color that's topped, briefly, by a light khaki head. Thin, wispy lace decorates the glass.

S - Immediately unique, Cocoa Molé offers a menagerie of spices blended together very nicely. I can only pick out cinnamon from the mass. Dry cocoa compliments as dense caramel malt backs it all up. A swirl brings out hints of warming alcohol and spicy chilies. Hints of molasses peek out following a swirl.

T - Deep and complex, Cocoa Molé starts with inviting milk chocolate and caramel malt flavors that slowly shift to a dry cocoa and one-of-a-kind spice blend driven by cinnamon. The icing on the cake is the lingering chipotle pepper heat on the finish that balances the unique flavor of this beer without flaw.

M - Cocoa Molé has a tempting velvet smooth and soft opening that effortlessly and seamlessly transforms to a dry, spicy heat. At first I wanted a little more spice heat to it, then quickly changed my tune, reassuring myself the balance of this beer is perfect.

O - New Belgium has created one of the most unique and memorable beers I've had in quite a while. Cocoa Molé captures the essence of "chili beer" almost perfectly. There isn't much, if anything at all, I'd change about this beer. From it's adorable sugar skulls through the completely hidden alcohol punch and sneaky spice heat to the smooth, supple chocolaty body, Cocoa Molé is a dangerously drinkable beer capable of incapacitating the burliest of men.

Serving type: bottle

02-17-2012 03:22:24 | More by BeerFMAndy

mattdruid

Illinois

4.8/5  rDev +20.3%
look: 3 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

Cocoa Molé from New Belgium Brewing is my favorite beer. It was my first encounter with a Cocoa flavored beer, but it remains the best I've yet tried.

The beer doesn't look that great, and when I tell my friends how much I love it they doubt me when they first take a look at it.

But if you like the taste of Molé, this beer rocks it. I think that my loving Molé in Mexican food heavily influences why I love this beer.

If you really like Molé, you should really enjoy this beer.

Serving type: bottle

12-11-2012 00:03:13 | More by mattdruid

XicanoBeerRun

Texas

4.83/5  rDev +21.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

This is an opaque dark red when you hold it up to the light rather than dark brown as I was expecting. It produced very little white foam, which lingered around the edges of the pint glass leaving the middle hollow, vacant.

Smelled like cinnamon sticks. I tasted no alcohol even though the brew is 9%. This definitely tastes like Mexican hot chocolate due to the presence of cinnamon on the palate. I do not think it tasted like mole, per se, but I can see how there is a connection (many Mexican chocolate stores in Oaxaca also produce mole). I did not notice the chile until I had been drinking for a few minutes when I felt the faint, yet pleasant, chile burn in my throat. It was a little numbing, like a pain killer.

I enjoyed this. It was unusual and complex. It had a chocolate flavor different than what may be found in a stout, and in that sense the brewers took creativity to a new level.

This was not just a beer, it was an experience.

I’ll have another.

Serving type: bottle

03-14-2012 17:52:49 | More by XicanoBeerRun

jayfro70

Virginia

4.83/5  rDev +21.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

I've been wanting to try this one for a while, but haven't been able to pull the trigger and grab a bottle off the shelf. But, when I saw it on tap tonight at Mekong in Richmond, VA, I knew I had to give it a shot. And I was not disappointed.

A- Very dark pour with no head.

S- Nice sweet smell with hints of cinnamon and chocolate. I can tell this one is going to be sweet.

T- So much complexity in this beer. I let my girlfriend taste it and watched her face go through at least 5 different expressions after she tasted it, so I knew it would be good. Hit me with a cocoa flavor at first with a hint of cinnamon. Sweet, but in a good way, and then a lingering spicy finish. Reminds me of a mexican chocolate.

M- Very smooth with a little bit of a tingling at the end as a result of the spiciness.

O- I was very satisfied with this beer and could easily see it becoming one of my favorites. Sweet, but not too sweet, and a nice spicy tingly finish. Oh, it's 9% ABV? who knew!

Serving type: on-tap

05-05-2012 03:15:42 | More by jayfro70

craig220

4.93/5  rDev +23.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Serving Type: 22oz bottle

A: Beautiful rich mahogany brown

S: Probably the best thing about this beer. Smells absolutely delicious like cinnamon and vanilla.

T: Tastes like cinnamon up front and afterwords has a hint of the peppers. Hides the high ABV quite well.

M: Smooth, yet slightly acidic with a little burn to it.

O: One of my new favorite beers I enjoyed it with some smoked salmon and was perfect together.

Serving type: bottle

04-16-2012 00:14:39 | More by craig220