Do You Like Spicy Nachos?
Westbrook Brewing Co.

 

Pours fairly dark and clear, kinda thin, minimal head. Amazing aroma - lots going on here. Chocolate covered cherries are all I can think of. Flavor is chocolate covered cherries / cherry cordials. I get the port flavor and the wine barrel as well. Very unique. Thin body for the style. Overall an interesting BA beer, glad I tried it.

1/19/22
500 ml bottle, no date
4 rating

22oz bottle poured into a tulip

A- pours deep brown in color with a one-finger foamy khaki head that has short retention

S- initial aroma smells just like a sweet dessert wine; dark fruit aromas of cherries, black currants, blackberries and fig preserves. The port, marsala and red wine barrels really come through on the nose. Undertones of chocolate, raisins, molasses and cherry pipe tobacco

T- huge barrel influence up front with notes of port, vinous red wine and marsala, which gives notes of black cherries, black currant, raspberries and blackberries. Mid-palate gives some malty sweetness and continues with the onslaught of dark berries. The finish gives a hint of chocolate with more sweet red wine sticking around long on the linger

M- medium body with low carbonation leads to a foamy mouthfeel that continues into a slightly warming finish

O- if I tasted this blind, I would have guessed that it was a dessert red wine, not a beer. It suits my tastes, as I enjoy jammy red wines, but this one won't be for everyone

 

After fighting thru the fancy gold wax to get to the mundane crown cap, the beer pours an opaque brown like Minwax walnut stain. No head, a few very temporary bubbles, but it sheets the glass like nobody's business.

Wine wins the aroma battle here. Marsala specifically, but port and cab are there as well. It comes across as dark, sweet fruit, and I think figs. Cherries come thru as it warms a bit and a very faint whiff of bourbon. Chocolate is in the background and a molasses/brown sugar note. There is a vague berry fruity note that I could see being the black currant.

This is an intense flavor bomb. It is also changing in how it presents itself sip by sip and as it warms up. I will stick with the wine as the initial dominant component. Marsala and port predominantly, but there is certainly a lesser presence of a cabernet. Figs galore, some plum notes, and I will settle on molasses flavor without the heavy sweetness. A little bit of vanilla, some oaky woodiness. Black cherry shows up. A little spiciness creeps in...a bit vague but I think cinnamon. There is a chocolate that leans towards the Nutella side...but not exactly. I know I have tasted it before...maybe carob? On the finish, there is an acidity that could be the currants or could be the cabernet. Lots of tannins, lots of phenolic tingle which makes sense given tje treatments. The ABV comes thru in the smell as it warms up, but does not intrude on the taste.

It is nearly still, and definitely not drying on the finish. Kinda triggers the salivary glands, actually. Sticky on the lips, but not a syrupy texture, either. A bit of phenolic slickness. The acidity on the finish cleans up the sweetness, and it actually invites another sip. The heavy nature of the flavors make this a sipper.

If the intent truly was to create an homage to Amarone, then they absolutely nailed it according to my Goggling results. Is this true to style - I am honestly not sure what this is. I guess there is a BDSA in there somewhere as the basis. To me it smells great, tastes great, and I am really enjoying it.

 

 

Had the variant with the fruit and really enjoyed it. This was the opposite reaction. Brown average appearance, minimal cap. Smell has the marsala powerfully with tons of booze and dark fruit, surprisingly monotone and adjunct laden. Taste is just putrid because the dark fruit start, especially fig, is obliterated by booze, wood and a acerbic marsala and strange sweetness. Feel is hot, spiced, sickly sweet, and just a mess. Everything the variant was this is not.

Spicy Nachos is a crazy beer, but that is what Evil Twin does. It has a strong marsala profile complimented by the bourbon sweetness/smokiness. A tangy adventure with extreme complex flavors. A really unique find

IG: @firesidewithphil

Somewhat aggressive pour from the waxed bomber yields less than a half-finger of head that quickly dissipates, indicative of the fairly low carbonation. Strong port, marsala, prune, raisin, caramel, with hints of clove and red wine vinegar. Styled as an homage to amarone, but I'm not very familiar with such, so it hits my palate as a fairly dry fortified wine with some light acetic twang on the mid-palate and finish, similar to what bitters add to an old fashioned. I quite enjoy this but can understand it being divisive.

collaboration with evil twin. super weird beer, but how can you not from these two after all the goodness they have collaborated on, especially on tap, and in idaho no less, where we have such a shortage of cool relevant beers. this was near still from the tap, deepest of amber color, maybe chestnut, mahogany, that family, with a ton of viscosity, a low red tone, and some haze. it smells and tastes about the same, which is to say boozy, wooden, and medicinal, super old and malt driven, but more barrel than anything else to me by a long shot, marsala way too evident to my senses, this seems more like a marinade or a fancy stew than a beer because of it, umami, too savory, asian almost, stir fry ready. the port aspect is also on display with some concentrated cooked fruit character that the booziness highlights, and some sweetness too, sugars coat the whole palate from the first sip. i get less bourbon and red wine, but all elements can be appreciated here. red cherry candy, blackberry jam, kids cough syrup, something slightly astringent and the oak tannins, its a lot on the tongue at once, and the alcohol is over the top. the name makes absolutely no sense to me either, and i walked away somewhat unimpressed, like the process and the unique blending elements should have yielded a better beer overall. that said, this was fun to try and definitely stands out as the only thing of its kind, but its just a marsala laced bruiser as far as i am concerned. strange as they come, definitely not for everyone...

Weirdly named weird-ass collab in a 22 oz. bottle with gold wax.

The pour is quiet to the point of lifeless & just a shade or two shy of black. The nose is wild. Wine, red currants & so many figs. Other stuff too, but man.

Do You Like Spicy Nachos? has more figs than figgy pudding (yeah, yeah, I know, I can use Google too). It’s bloody overwhelming. Tastes like a fig soaked in wine then rolled around in sugar & popped into the mouth. The port might be in the wine/fruit taste, the bourbon is lost, I can’t taste anything Belgish & what emerges is a combo of tastes that go together like Trump & honesty. A two ounce taster would have been sufficient to form a strong opinion.

To answer the question posed by this beer: absolutely. The beer? Not so much. My wife dislikes it as well, so about 18 ounces is headed for the bathroom sink. Big letdown.

Appearance: Pours a murky brown that is very reminiscent of mud. I don't say this favorably. It's really an unattractive brown. No lacing and no head.

Aroma is very sweet with something akin to figs & raisins, but I can't quite tell if that's what I'm picking up. It's very sweet whatever it is.

Taste is.....unique. I think I'm picking up figs, but I don't really know what currants taste like, so maybe? I also thought I tasted raspberry, but the more I sipped, the less sure I was of that.

Feel: Almost no carb. Light to medium bodied. Smooth going down with a long finish.

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t even understand the name, so I’ll chalk that up to Evil Twin’s influence.

Belgian-style strong ale is what led me to buy it, but all the wine barrel is a bit much for me. Pours a dark amber color. Fair amount of fruit on the nose, with raisins and cherries...currants I can’t detect. No head, well some if you pour it hard, but loads of carbonation phalanxes in the glass...interesting to watch actually: you get vertical columns of bubbles, each which spits up a sort of oil-slick to the top.

It’s very bold and flavorful, but I’m not a super-fan of wine. This has a very dry red wine vinous trait, with a distinct Belgian ale funk that creeps out at various points in the sip and swallow. As it warms, I get more distinct fruit as noted in the mix. Some time in, there is a Mad Elf type cherry flavor linger.

Alcohol has a lot of bite and heat. Mouthfeel is light heavy, appropriate for the style and flavors. I wouldn’t get it again, but there’s surely a cadre of BAs who will go gaga for it.

Truth be told, the first glass is almost gone, so I obviously don’t dislike it!