Señor Rhino

In Oregon’s chilly winter weather, this is the ultimate soul warmer. Señor Rhino is a version of our decadent imperial milk stout inspired by the flavors of a Mexican hot chocolate.

When we first made this beer a couple years ago, we crafted a small blend to work with some of the flavors we love. Mexican cuisine is inspirational to us because of the incredible combination of flavors like cinnamon and cocoa in both sweet and savory dishes like mole. Balance and boldness together are tough to find in a dish or a drink, but those who can achieve it are certainly meticulous with their craft.

Making this batch of Señor Rhino, we first brewed our imperial stout base with its deep chocolate malt character and lactose sugar, which creates a rich and creamy mouthfeel. We let this beer age in freshly emptied Heaven Hill bourbon and Cazadores tequila barrels, allowing the beer to mature and getting rid of some of the harsher flavors from roasted malts: in essence getting smoother, rounder and creamier. The bourbon barrels also offered wonderful notes of bourbon, vanilla, and coconut while the tequila barrels brought a hint of smoky complexity.

After months of patience, we added heaps of cocoa nibs and hand-processed vanilla beans, creating an incredibly decadent, dessert-in-a-bottle richness. There are certainly easier ways to add vanilla flavor to a beer than spending hours upon hours hand slicing whole beans, but the resulting flavors are absolutely worth the work. Cinnamon and ancho chiles bring some heat, earthiness and spice into the blend to balance the dessert-like vanilla and chocolatey flavors. The goal for us is not overly sweet, not too rich and not too spicy, despite the fact that we did our best to showcase each of those flavor sensations.

The last time we made Señor Rhino, it went on to win bronze at the Great American Beer Festival and silver at the Oregon Beer Awards! We were thrilled to see that people enjoyed it so much. This time around, we’ve made a larger batch so everyone who loves this beer can grab some bottles and hopefully some new folks can give it a try as well.

We hope you enjoy one of our favorite barrel-aged stouts. Cheers!