Well, I finally decided I was strong enough to take on the Hot Chili Beer. So here is the long awaited review.
Appearance: Nice straw color, with a snowy white pillow of foam. It is brilliantly clear until you get to the bottom of the bottle. This beer seems to produce much more sediment. If you look close, you can see the fine white layer in the bottom of the bottle.
Aroma: The first thing you smell is the peppers. This beer just smells hot and angry. It smells like fresh cut jalapenos and a bit of bell pepper.
Taste: From the first sip, you can taste the peppers and feel the heat. Again there are some very slight hints of green bell pepper. It is very smooth, and the oak gives the beer a fuller, softer mouthfeel. There is more heat through the middle and end of the palate.
*** I had a few people that said they could see this beer going with lime and/or Mexican food. Well, I was fresh out of Mexican, but I did have a lime rolling around. So I sliced it up and here are those additional tasting notes.
On a side note, the lime appeared to anger the beer. I squeezed the lime and then dropped in the wedge, so the beer foamed excessively as soon as the wedge went it, and the foam proceeded to try and drowned out the lime and sink it, but the lime's feisty nature kept it afloat.
Lime Tasting Notes: The lime definitely makes this beer much more mellow. It softens the pepper, it is still there fighting its way through, but a lot of the fight was taken out of him. It becomes much more drinkable, but the beer loses too much of its character.
Overall: This beer is much better than the first hot pepper beer that was just liquid fire. It is much easier to drink and has better structure. The lime is a good call to make this more palatable for me, but is not worth sacrificing the original character of the beer. However, even with that being said, this beer is not for me. I just don't care for it. Oh well, it just means more beer to hand out to the people who enjoy it and deserve it.
On to the next batch...
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