6.4

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Draught pint at CBC on 2/4/07
Not sure yet how this is made (if the beer has pepper extract added, if the peppers are thrown in to the serving tank, if the peppers are thrown in to secondary, etc…) but I’ll ask Will and get a better commercial description on here.
Same color as the Winter Ale, since the peppers dont change the color. A light cherry-red with stronger grayish-brown overtones. Off-white/beige head is small and retention is somewhat impaired by the peppers.
Nothing in the nose that is significantly different from the winter ale, though the hops seem more muted, that’s for sure. They probably did a lower IBU batch of winter ale so that they could highlight the pepper flavor better. Same sweet, dry caramel malts, though some spiciness does emerge on the finish. But it’s extremely subtle and could be mistaken for white pepper or even a hop note. Aroma is rather reserved overall, as well.
Hops and dry maltiness, bit of crusty bread, light fruitiness and some soft caramel maltiness for the flavor. A tingle begins about halfway through, on the palate, and slowly grows stronger until you have a capsaicin burn on the finish, generating some controlled heat and actually a nice combo of flavors with the light caramel malt sweetness. I have a very high tolerance to spiciness, but this still didnt seem overdone at all and I was actually left a little disappointed that it wasnt more burning. I liked it alot, but then, I also really like chili beers.