For the second year running, Maryland mainstay DuClaw Brewing Co. held a homebrew contest with no small prize — the winning beer of the H.E.R.O competition gets a slot in the production brewery is distributed in kegs and bottles everywhere DuClaw is sold (which now includes D.C.).

After sorting through over 50 entries, DuClaw’s seven-person panel selected their favorite, and will begin serving Chocolate Chipotle Stout at its brewpubs as soon as this autumn. The brewery is now searching for the charity that will receive all the proceeds from the sale of this beer, and you can nominate an organization by emailing hero@duclaw.com any time before June 30.

We chatted with DuClaw CEO David Benfield and also with winner Vincent Powers, who, along with his wife Suzanne, developed and brewed the top vote-getter. Read on to find out how this beer came to be, what’s in it, and how it was selected to become a part of the DuClaw lineup.

Interview with H.E.R.O. Homebrew Contest Winner Vincent Powers

Drink Baltimore: How long have you been doing homebrewing?

Vincent Powers: I’ve been brewing for around five years now. I started pretty casually, after I tried a Baltic Porter a friend had made, and thought, “Hey, I could do this!” Over the years, I’ve gotten more advanced and adventurous in my brewing. I usually go for a 10-gallon batch, and split it with a friend.

DB: How did you come up with the idea to make Chocolate Chipotle Stout?

Vincent: The idea came from my wife Suzanne, really. She made a great turkey chili using chipotles and stout beer. I noted I was thinking of brewing something with chipotle, and she suggested I add chocolate to the mix — she worked in the baking industry and mixing cocoa with chile was trendy there for a while.

I first made it a couple of years ago. I actually intended to enter it into the 2011 H.E.R.O. competition, but it was so good that it all got consumed before I could. And this time around, after I started the batch in December, it was ready by the end of February, and we drank it so quickly I almost didn’t have enough left. But I was careful, and saved the required three 12-oz. bottles for the competition.

DB: Can you tell us about the ingredients used?

Vincent: All of the hops, malts and yeast came from The Thirsty Brewer, in Baldwin, MD. Then I decided on a liquid chocolate extract — you could use cocoa powder, though it would give a very different result. I used real chipotle peppers (which are actually smoke-dried jalepenos). Two peppers added whole, because I wanted the smokiness from the skin, and two were crushed, to get the spiciness from the seeds.

DB: Do you see this as a seasonal beer? What would it pair with?

Vincent: This is definitely a great beer for autumn, yes. And though a regular stout might pair best with a fine steak, the Chocolate Chipotle Stout needs something that is less nuanced in flavor, thanks to the bite of the peppers. A burger would be a perfect match.

DB: Congratulations, we can’t wait for our first sip!

Interview with DuClaw Brewing CEO & Founder David Bernstein

Drink Baltimore: What is the process you use to choose a winner? Do you have several rounds?

David Benfield: We try to complete the process over the course of three sessions. During the first, each panelist tastes every beer and gives it a quick thumbs up or down. Just over 20 of the more than 50 entries made it to round two. The second session is another informal yes or no for each brew, but with a lot more discussion about why we’re voting the way we are.

Then, in the third and final round, we take the five most popular choices and use a formal ranking system. Each judge gives the beer a score between 1–5, and then we tally the votes and talk about the outcome. We also sometimes ask for the recipes at this point, to make sure we can legally produce them (for example, one entry used peppermint schnapps, which we are not allowed to use, as a commercial brewhouse).

This year, the top two vote-getters were extremely close, so we had a pretty intense debate that lasted nearly four days before finally selecting the winner.

DB: What was it about the Chocolate Chipotle Stout that clinched the win?

Dave: As we note in the call for entries for the contest, we are searching for more than just a good beer — we are looking for something different, something interesting that will make people say “Wow, I’ve really gotta try that!” Vincent’s beer had that interest-factor, and the flavor and body were both great. There was a very nice balance of chocolate and chipotle; you could feel the heat a bit, but then it dissapated, so you could continue to drink without getting overwhelmed by spice.

DB: What’s the procedure for brewing the H.E.R.O. beer?

Dave: We’ll probably end up two or three test batches first. We have the recipe that Vincent provided us in ProMash, and for most of the ingredients we can just scale them up to production volumes. The challenge will be with the peppers, finding the right ratio and procedure to get the nicely balanced final product.

When we have it ready, we’ll brew a batch in our  brewhouse and then around a quarter will be kegged and three quarters will go into the 22-oz. bottles. Each beer has a slightly different yield, but I expect we’ll end up distributing between 150–200 cases of Chocolate Chipotle Stout.

Bottom photo: Vincent and Suzanne Powers