3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20 FlacoAlto (4013) - Tucson, Arizona, USA - JUL 3, 2015
Sampled July 2014
A steady pour from the growler into my teku glass produces a fat-two-finger thick, pale, off-white head. The beer is a rich golden color that shows a brilliantly clear, deep straw / golden hue when held up to the light. The aroma smells of floral, ripe tropical fruit up front (guava, mango, a bit of lychee, and some peaches), but finishes with a fruity, herbal (in a chile sort of way), but definitely spicy, habanero character to it. The combination melds very well.
Pale malt character adds just a hint of honeyed malt sweetness up front, as well as a chewy, pale grain cracker like character. This serves as a foil for the more dominant hop notes that contribute flavors of peaches, fresh guava, light lychee, and some smooth mango like notes, as well as some ripe, tropical leaning, citrus notes. There is just a hint of chile heat, sometimes on the lips, and a suggestion on the palate and throat in the finish; this adds just a touch of liveliness to the beer, and there is also perhaps a suggestion of herbal chile character. Most of the herbal character comes from the hops though, with notes of sage, some soft, rosemary leaning notes, and some woody pine like notes. The body of this beer has quite a bit of chewiness to it; this is definitely on the big side for a Pils, but the extra chewiness and malt character helps to marry the hops and habaneros to the beer.
Ill admit I was expecting something a touch lighter and refreshing (this would have been nice given the heat and humidity happening here in Tucson at the moment), but the extra malt / body of this beer does help to showcase the juicy / fruity side of the hops and and habaneros, and for that, I cant really complain. In the end this is a really nice beer, that I am quite enjoying. The habanero character here is quite well restrained, it could actually use a bit more heat I suppose, but I like that it is an integrated ingredient in this beer rather than taking center stage. For this reason I would not call this a chile beer (which would be a bit of a gimmick), instead it is just a good beer that happens to use chiles in the recipe.
2.5 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 4/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 9/20 BOLTZ7555 (2985) - Phoenix, Arizona, USA - SEP 14, 2014
Not a big fan of this one at all...had some chemical components, soap, along with the Habanero capsaicin. Nothing really melds well. Disjointed and a tad offensive to the palate. Wouldnt want a lot of this. A little sad :(
3.2 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 13/20 maley1 (899) - calgary, Alberta, CANADA - JUL 28, 2014
Light yellow pour with small white head. Aroma of grassy hops, faint citrus and peppery spice. Taste of grassy hops, yeast, corn and a hot pepper finish. Light bodied, nicely carbonated, sessionable.
4.5 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 19/20 daknole (10346) - Scottsdale, Arizona, USA - JUL 3, 2014
Sparkling gold with a white head. Quite a bright nose. Citrus, peaches, mango, grassy hops, light peppers. The peppers are there but no real heat to speak of. Very balanced beer. Loads of stone fruit, tropical fruit, honeyed notes, some malt to balance. Great beer.
3.9 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20 JPDurden24 (1664) - Chandler, Arizona, USA - JUN 28, 2014
Pale golden pour with a white head. Grainy and yeast aroma. Taste is refreshing and clean with some nice hop notes and a little habanero bite at the finish. Very tasty.
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