Chocolate bomb of a brew now sold on its own

If you’ve hit any of the trails around San Antonio lately, you know this is just about the best time of year to strap on those boots and go for a hike. With temperatures right in that sweet spot between the shivers and the sweats, nearly every path through the woods is jammed with hikers, runners and the occasional adorable golden retriever right now.

And you better believe at least a few of those adventures will end around a campfire with a cold beer or three in hand.

The venerable Spoetzl Brewery — makers of the Texasfavorite Shiner Bock — is well aware of this. A couple years back, Shiner’s Bonfire Brewskis variety pack hit the market with a trio of outdoorinspired suds.

Of those three, the Shiner Trail Ale became a fast standout among beer enthusiasts. And now, the trail mix-inspired brew is available as a stand-alone sipper in six- and 12-packs of either cans or bottles across the state.

I recently grabbed a six-pack of Trail Ale in glass bottles at my neighborhood H-E-B to see what all the fuss is about. Given that Shiner says the suggested retail price is $8.99 and I paid $10.48, that’s where my grumbling began.

Once the top was popped, the first thing this beer did was make me think I was about to sip a cold hot cocoa. The aroma of chocolate coming off this thing was intense. That’s not necessarily a bad thing if you’re the kind of person who likes to munch all the M&M’s out of your trail mix first, but I found it overwhelming.

The beer had a ruddy brown color with a thick and creamy tan head when poured into a pint glass. The first sip rang true to that initial whiff, with a dark chocolate bite and bitterness that pushed down all the other flavors. In the background, hints of raisin and maybe cranberry did their best to cut through the cocoa but never found solid footing. The illustration on the label hints at almonds and cashews, but this thirsty squirrel wasn’t able to find any nuts behind all the chocolate and fruit.

This brew will also sneak up on you. At 6 percent alcohol by volume, it packs a noticeably

heftier punch than Shiner

Bock at 4.4 percent. Between the fruit lingering in the background and the extra booze, by the time I gave up at the halfpint mark I felt like I was

drinking some kind of mutant Belgian-style ale.

Seasonal beers provide both brewers and drinkers an opportunity to get playful and try something new. But for my

Paul Stephen/Staff The dark chocolate bite in Shiner Trail Ale crowds out any other flavor notes.