Lakewood Mole Temptress Review

Name: Lakewood Mole Temptress
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.1%
IBUs: 56

A couple months ago, I reviewed a bunch of Texas craft beer that I got in a beer mail. Well, guess what? My connection in Dallas has come through again with some even more craft beer, making this the first time I've done a beer trade with the same person twice. Plus there's a couple beers here that I'm really looking forward to reviewing but we'll get to that later.

The first beer I'm going to review is Lakewood Brewing's Mole Temptress. Some of my regular readers may recall my review of their Temptress Milk Stout I did back in May earlier this year. This is essentially the same beer but made with vanilla, cinnamon, chocolate and 4 types of peppers (ancho, chipotle, pasilla and guajillo.) Plus the bottle itself kind of reminds me of the Lips of Faith design that I see from New Belgium.

Appearance - Pitch black with a very thin brown colored head with a most flimsy retention. There's a mild amount of visible carbonation here and the lacing is non-existent here. There is a couple of specs floating around in here and I was able to find out it's leftovers from the peppers used in the brewing process

Aroma - Chocolate malts, lactose and cinnamon notes start things off with a hint of spiciness. These are followed by a bit of roastiness and a slight hint of ancho chilies. As it warms up, everything becomes more vibrant and the smell reminds me mildly of a chocolate cake.

Taste - Moderate lactose notes, ancho chiles, and strong chocolate malts start things off. Right after that is some fairly strong cinnamon characteristics which show up seemingly out of nowhere in the middle and lingers through to the back, which has some mild heat, roasted barley and some bitter hoppiness.

Between this and the original, they both taste amazing....but I think I like this one just a little more. It's wonderfully layered and it goes out of it's way to show off the diverse array of flavors it has to offer. In fact I'd even go as far to say that this is one of the best Imperial Stouts I've had in recent memory! I should throw out too that due to the heat you encounter, this beer is definitely more of a sipper but with all the flavors going on here, you'll get no complaints from me. If you're looking for a complex tasting beer, this is it right here!

Lakewood Mole Temptress - 10/10