Serrano Eye Patch Ale
Monday Night Brewing

 

 

After Ballast Point Habanero Sculpin this is my go to beer with heat. You get a solid chili pepper heat on the back end after a hoppy front end. I would recommend the brewer use a slightly less forward hop choice and less carbonation. EDIT: It seems like since I voiced my initial review, they have changed up their brewing process of this. That is probably just coincidence. This is now my go to Chili Pepper Beer!

 

 

 

Loved the kick of the peppers.

 

Poured into an IPA glass,

As you pour a huge scent of hot peppers. Almost like you sliced a serrano or jalapeno in half. Citrus fruit notes from the hops intermingle.

Well carbonated, crisp drinking. Not heavy at all. Taste upfront is the heat from the pepper but doesn't linger like most IPAs with pepper. This settles down between the citrus notes, dulled by a nice bitterness on the back-end.

Really solid IPA from Monday Night, this would pair great with some spicy foods.

12oz brown bottle, sample from the brewery.

Mildly hazed orange amber, love the show of lacing on the glass. Smells of fresh cut peppers and citrusy hops. Smooth with a medium body. More than enough hop bitterness to notice this is an IPA, lots of rind flavor as well. Serrano Pepper flavor comes in slow yet does not fade much. Well balanced with very little heat at all from the peppers, wasn't expecting much though the flavor is spot on. A damn good flavored IPA, they should do other versions of this ... run it through the list of peppers.

 

 

My brother brought me a 6 pack of different beers from this brewery when he came home to Cleveland to visit from Atlanta . Thanks Mark! Poured out of a 12 oz. bottle into one of my pint glasses, this beer pours a clear cloudy, hazy medium amber/copper color with a very excitable, fluffy, slightly off-white head that is about 2 inches thick when poured that over flowed just a little it over the top of my glass. Settles after abut 5 minutes to a solid 1/2 of an inch thick with good lacing. Aromas of biscuity, slightly toasted, slightly caramel malts along with some citrus, peppery, floral hops. The taste is pretty much the same with biscuity, somewhat grainy, lightly toasted malts with hints of caramel sweetness followed by citrus, floral, earthy hops and is finally rounded out with a nice and somewhat subtle peppery heat bite from the serranos. The burn really lingers on the palate after the other flavors start to fade. And to an experienced chili head like myself this comes as no surprise at all. Good balance of flavors overall, and again the peppers are incorporated quite nicely here. The serrano flavor and the burn really set in more once I got about halfway or so into this beer. Has a fairly crisp, frothy, somewhat smooth, slightly prickly, medium bodied mouthfeel with moderate carbonation. Has a clean finish. Very easy to drink in the way well crafted beers should be! Worth a try for sure!

Eric

Very similar to the regular Eye Patch IPA, but this is their "Clip On" series - everything is about putting on a tie to them - which is not year round. You can smell the serrano, but it is the finish that makes it good. I also tried the Ballast Point Habanero Sculpin along with it. The Serrano Eye Patch Ale has a more subtle chili burn at the end - you don't need to reach for a coke or milk to cut the burn.
I'm trying to find more locally in Atlanta before it's gone.

I was actually surprised as to how much I actually enjoyed drinking this beer. I was thinking that because of the Serrano Pepper, this would have been just a weird tasting pepper beer and I would have wanted to dump it vs. try to choke it down.

The mouthfeel was fairly light but in a good way. The ale taste is the most prevalent and that's a good thing. You do get a hint and very slight burn from the pepper. It's very subtle but in a good and balanced way.