Clown Shoes La Bestia Furiosa

Cooler temperatures have arrived and my craving for rich imperial stouts is at an all time high. Over the past week I have enjoyed a few, including this year's Sierra Nevada Narwhal. That beer is always particularly amazing and at its price point I can't recommend it enough. This blog however, is not about Narwhal. It is about Clown Shoes' La Bestia Furiosa, so let's get to it.

Aged in both rum and bourbon barrels with chiles and spices, this Mexican-Style Imperial Stout was impossible not to purchase. I have enjoyed many of Clown Shoes' barrel aged offerings in the past and expected this particular one to be no different. I typically love Mexican-Style stouts as well, and that alone made this an automatic purchase. Basically, this beer checked a lot of boxes. I just hoped it was as good as I wanted it to be.

La Bestia Furiosa's aroma is full of rich, decadent chocolate. This translates to what dominates the flavor as well but we will circle back to that. The nose also had a nice touch of cinnamon, nutmeg, peppers, bourbon, vanilla and a touch of rum. There was a lot in the aroma of La Bestia Furiosa to like.  Everything I mentioned in the aroma is in the taste but the chocolate I mentioned earlier makes this one of the sweetest beers I have had in awhile. I admit, it has been a long time since I had Clown Shoes' Chocolate Sombrero which is the base beer for La Bestia Furiosa, but I do not remember it being this painfully sweet.

I arrogantly thought I could tackle the 22 oz. Bomber by myself, but I was completely overwhelmed by the La Bestia Furiosa's sweetness. The more this beer warmed, the sweeter it got. The rum and vanilla in particular come through more as it warms, further enhancing the cloying sweetness. While I could continue to complain about this beer being too sweet, I think you get the point.

One thing this beer barely delivers on is the heat. When there are 3 different peppers in a beer with a dragon and a volcano on the label there is a realistic expectation that the beer is going to be spicy. In La Bestia Furiosa's case, the spice is there but it is subdued. I have complained about this before but if the heat was dialed up just a little more, I think it would have made the sweetness bearable for me. Unfortunately, it just did not happen.

While I was not a huge fan of this beer, I could definitely see a fan of dessert beer enjoying it. If rich, absurdly sweet beers are right up your alley then you will love this beer. It is not my thing but it does deliver what it promises--a Mexican Hot Chocolate-style stout with dual barrel treatment. It just wasn't for me.

Overall rating: 2.25/5


Rating Scale:
1. Repugnant and undrinkable
2. Acceptable but forgettable
3. Good, worth a purchase
4. Excellent, a step above the norm
5. Truly Exceptional. Drop everything, BUY IT NOW!

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!