Allegedly Beerbliotek’s first creation but still in existence, a ’black ale’ (which has no specific meaning in beer style territory) spiced up with dried red chilli peppers. Crown cap under strong pressure, but by opening it extremely slowly, I managed to avoid heavy gushing. Thickly cobweb-lacing, pale greyish beige, very moussy, initially very thick head, slowly thinning but nevertheless remaining completely closed for a very long time, over a clear, deep bronze-ish purple beer, dark but fully translucent (with some dead yeast dots floating by) and certainly not ’black’ in the literal sense of the word, as is the case with many (especially stronger) stouts and porters. Interesting, pungent and spicy bouquet mixing dried chillies with a malt sweet basis, impressions of dried Habanero peppers including their typical smokiness, piri-piri, moist peat (even though this has not been aged on peated whisky barrels as far as I know), dried prunes, candied fig, soap, dried lavender flowers, drops of hazelnut oil, hard old butterscotch candy, violets, black peppercorns, some wet leather, dry pipe tobacco, liquorish, cured meat, capers, fried black olives, artichoke, pine resin, caramel. Restrained dried fruit sweetness in the onset, dried fig and a touch of banana, immediately overcome by a basic, dried blackberry-ish, ’dim’ but effective sourishness and a dried meat- or even somewhat black olive-like umami factor. Expectedly very fizzy carbonation, but luckily in the form of very refined bubbling, so not coarsening the mouthfeel too much, yet still fizzing away too enthusiastically for this type of beers. Slick, resinous nutty and toasted middle with still those dried fruit and ’dry umami’ aspects lingering (with some caramelly sweet ’core’ lurking underneath the bitterness), shifting to an increasing, powerful, spicy hop bitterness accentuating the toasted aspect, with retronasal piney and peppery effects. This peppery aspect is unsurprisingly strongly highlighted by the chillies, which turn the finish into a vibrantly spicy, drying but at the same time very appetizing, heating experience, stretching a long way down into the throat and leaving behind a trail of strong peppery spiciness with a lightly smoked touch; the chilli heat, however, does not become spicy to the extent that it becomes numbing, irritating or otherwise overpowering, but it sure gives a considerable kick in the end. Dry, very spicy and umami-forwarded beer, interesting but a bit ’obstinate’, with overcarbonation probably due to the addition of the chilli peppers; this is basically a black IPA, showing the same amount of ’stubbornness’ in the mouth, the same looks and general flavor profile, the same uncompromizing hop bitterness and the same piney aspects in the nose, but ’pimped’ with the dried chillies which in this case lift up the peppery aspects of the hop to a higher, much more vivid and radiant level. Not the easiest beer around and surely you’ll have to like both BIPA and chilli heat to appreciate this - fortunately I do, so in the end I enjoyed this daring beer quite a lot. One to savour slowly.

On tap at Vrteška 2017. Pours black with beige head. Smoke, wood, iodine, peat, malty. Spicy with medium chilli burn in finish. Medium bodied.

On tap at Vrteška. Very dark brown I think. Strong peaty aroma, light chili, a bit soapy? The taste goes on with a peaty malty background, sweetish, with chilies kicking around, even balancing it slightly, good mouthfeel. A bit on the sweeter side though. Okay, well executed, but not much more than that, at least at first. As you sip it, it kinda grows on you.

Mørk brun tåkete med høyt beige skum. Animalsk lukt, lær, kjøtt, noe røkt, trevirke, dadler og noe mørk sjokolade. Tidlig røkt kjøtt i smak, salt lakris og bitterhet mot granskudd. Salt avslutning.

(Keg at Ølhus København, 201601022) The beer poured very dark brown and clear. Its head was medium sized and nearly white. Aroma had smoke, tar and burnt malts. Palate was medium bodied with mild burning from chilli and rather high carbonation. Flavours were smoke, tar, sweetness, chilli, burnt malts and bitterness. Aftertaste was sweet, burning and bitter. A bit messy brew but luckily the chilli wasn’t overdone.

Fra flaske (Beerbliotek Black Ale Chilli #01) på sesongåpning Mi2, Cardinal aug-16: nesten helt svart, med ok skum. Aroma av røstet malt, kaffe, sjokolade og et snev av chili. Bittersjokolade og kaffe i smaken før chilifaktoren slår inn for fullt. Ingen tvil om tilsetningen, her får du a lingering afterburn. Et typiske deleøl.

330 ml bottle, as Beerbliotek Black Ale Chilli #01, at Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 7.6%. Black colour, moderate beige head. Aroma of roast malts, mild coffee and chocolate, hints of chili. The flavour is first smooth, mildly roasty and chocolatey, then a substantial chili burn sets in, and lasts through the long aftertaste (where also some hops are present). Lovely stuff! But one bottle is enough in one sitting, due to the chili heat - the second bottle you can add to your chili con carne.

Shared bottle at Mi2 at Cardinal 15.08.16. Very dark brown. Uneven beige head and lacing. Aroma of roasted malt, coffee and apples. Roated malt, vanilla and very evident chili in taste, and even more chili in aftertaste.

Shared bottle at Cardinal, Stavanger. Pours black with little beige head. Aroma of chili, dark chocolate, pine needles. Distinct taste of chili, in fact it tastes quite hot. Tastes sweet. Medium bodied.