#42 Poblano Stout, Big Choice Brewing, Broomfield

Style: Oatmeal Stout

Serving Type: Four-packs of 16-ounce cans

ABV: 5.7 percent

Malty? Hoppy? A solid malt backbone with the subtle hop notes you’d expect from an oatmeal stout.

Reviewed: December 2014

“The craft beer industry is all about a choice—lots of choices,” says Andrea Miller of Big Choice Brewing in Broomfield. She and Big Choice Brewing co-owners Nathaniel Miller and Tyler Ruse started the company with the notion that drinking craft beer means making the choice to support local businesses, and to experience unexpected flavors. (They also love punk and ska music—Big Choice is a reference to the Face to Face band’s second album.)

One of Colorado’s most unexpected canned craft beer offerings is the Big Choice oatmeal stout, which is dry hopped with roasted and de-seeded poblano peppers. Although it’s made using chile peppers, the Big Choice Brewing #42 Poblano Stout is not a chile beer.

“You won’t get any discernible heat from the pepper,” explains Andrea. Instead, the #42 takes on the fresh aroma and mild, semi-sweet flavor of the peppers that gives additional nuance to its dark chocolate notes and roasted malt aroma. It’s brewed with oatmeal, which imparts its creamy, silky mouthfeel. At a very sessionable 5.7 percent ABV, this stout makes for easy drinking.

Would we buy it again? Year-round, but especially this winter when we pack the #42 as a camping or a snowshoeing companion.

(Read more 5280 beer reviews)