Smooth Lager With A Hint Of Chilli
Lovely Valley Beverage Factory

 

Pours an orangey-gold colour with modest white bubbly head that disappears quickly, leaving a whisper of foam around. Nice bronzey haze and decent but slow bead. Not bad, not great. More head would be appreciated, but not sure if I can expect that from the style.

Nose is sweet with an orange tinge to it. Maybe a hint of that chilli on there but very, very subdued. I wouldn't pick it if I didn't know it was there. It's mostly tangy with a mild citrus note, no spice really. Unfortunate, as without spice it's the bland smooth lager aroma, and it was a bad beer.

Taste is better. Tangy overall with yeah, more citrus character but a lot more capsicaian spice and savoury character with a big sizzly mouthfeel on the mid. Quite nicely complex on the palate actually, tangy but yeah, the spice works in quite nicely and leaves a nice breath of chilli heat on the back that lingers with the fizzy bite. I would hate to access a brewery like Myponga of craftsmanship but it's a nice touch of chilli that is complemented well by the fizzy, bland smooth lager. It's a decent chilli beer palate but ultimately it is just a bland lager with chilli added.

The chilli is, however, strong enough to lower the drinkability factor, and the feel is nothing exciting - thin body with a strong sizzle. Not a huge fan overall.

Pours a lovely golden copper colour, with a filmy ring of foam around the edge. Lacing is poor, and the body does seem surprisingly thin. Can't say I'm a huge fan of the head, but I do like the colour.

Nose is incredibly sweet - with a big dollop of strawberry jam, and a lingering whiff of spice; perhaps a hint of cinnamon or the chilli - almost a spiritous heat. The sweet and deep fruity characters are dominant though - but rather the leavened light tropical fruits, it's big, sweet and heavy characters. I'm not a huge fan.

Very thin body, with a vague hint of that sweetness before an onrush of chilli heat on the back of the palate, matched with the spicy capsicain flavour of peppers. It's not immediately spicy, but it builds the more you drink. No, it's harsh and very aggressive after a while, and I find it terribly difficult.

Very hard to drink after a while - this is not a well-balanced chilli beer, or one that uses the chilli to accentuate the other characteristics. It just grows as an unpleasant heat on the back of the throat - and it doesn't have the depth otherwise to back it up.