Caliente GBS
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

Look: It pours very dark brown with a tan head. Head retention is very low. It has chocolate aromas peppers.

Smell: There are cinnamon notes with vanilla and nutmeg. There are very low bourbon notes in the background.

Taste: It has chocolate flavors with strong pepper notes. It has cinnamon and nutmeg elements. The initial taste doesn’t have the heat. That comes towards the aftertaste. There are also light pipe tobacco notes and dark fruits.

Feel: It has a medium full body with heat and bitterness in the finish.

Overall, the pepper are not overwhelming as with some beers creating a balance of flavors with heat.

The beer pours quite oily black, and a dark collar of bubbles forms and fades to a razor thin ring. The nose is regular GBS - a sweetish roasted coffee aroma with chocolate,marshmallow, and ginger coming through. No pepper, though I'm not sure what I would expect except a hint of vegetation that is likely lost in the more powerful aromas mentioned, if it is there at all.

The first sip is GBS, sweet, gingery and perhaps a tad more tangy than I recall. Unlike many chili beers, this one brings a sharp bite early. A mélange of gingerbread dipped in dark roast coffee, coffee liqueur, ginger, the aforementioned tang, and then... some capsaicin.

First sip it nips and runs. Second sip, it tags me and pauses a second to see if I'm paying attention. Third sip and it decides to hang around.

As I sip, I do think there is a bit more medium roast coffee coming out, and that may be the non-hot part of the pepper paired with the roasted malt. I like that as much as the level of heat - enough to tingle the taste buds, but not enough to detract from the other flavors.

The beer pours a dark brown foamy head that dissipates quickly. The beer itself is a very dark chocolate brown aka black. It has a nice oily sheen at the surface, which makes it look good.

The smell is fine. It has strong sweet, spicey, and sugary notes upfront with a hint of pepper in the finish. The spices mainly consist of a light cinnamon and bourbon notes. There is also a very sweet chocolate note that strongly resembles chocolate syrup.

The taste is fine. It starts off sweet with bourbon and chocolate syrup notes followed by cinnamon ginger but are quickly covered up by the pepper and the heat.

The feel is fine. The beer has a slick and smooth medium heavy body with very little carbonation. The finish is sticky and a momentary burn that lingers quite a bit.

Overall, it's an okay beer that's made more for people who like spicey heat in the beer and doesn't really work well in my opinion. The overall sweetness and sugariness of the base beer don't mix very well with the hot pepper taste and feel.

 

 

On draft at Hardywood West Creek. Definitely still made.

Motor oil brown-black with wisps of bubbles.

Deep and dark and nothing crazy. Sweet, syrup, Hershey’s syrup, cinnamon schnapps, diluted whiskey.

It’s basically chocolate syrup diluted with fireball. There’s a slight chili spice, but is it intense cinnamon or chili? Not getting much Bourbon.

The mouthfeel is where this beer wins; lightly viscous, medium carbonation. It feels thick, slick, and like it should.

The base beer is too sweet, it’s hard to tell if this is actually Bourbon aged, and the mouthfeel saves it.

I don't see a date listed anywhere, but this was purchased in the 2020 GBS Complete Pack.

Appearance: The body is black and it sports a low-profiled head that is dark brown. The head is a mixture of fizzy and creamy textures. The label states that this contains "ALCOHOL 13% BY VOL" and for an ABV that high, it has very nice head formation and retention. There is some spotty lacing on the glass.

Aroma: It has a strong bourbon aroma. There is a wet wood scent that sticks in the nose. An overall strong general alcohol presence is overlayed across the whole aroma.

Taste: Up front there is a brown sugar and cinnamon flavor mixed with a light bit of cocoa. Towards the middle there is a bit stronger cinnamon flavor with a bit of caramel. It comes across a bit like cinnamon french toast. The finish is a bit like a red hot cinnamon candy. There is a light woody aftertaste. The flavors really meld well with each other in this beer and they are quite mellow.

Mouthfeel: It is very smooth and full bodied. There is a heat to the beer that lingers on the edges of the tongue after each sip. Some mild bitterness seems to come from the grains and some seems to come from spice. Carbonation is good.

Overall: It's interesting because the aroma has so much raw alcohol scent that it could make one a bit trepidatious to sip the beer, but once it hits the palate all concern is abated. The flavors are fairly mellow and well blended. The label states that this is a "COLOSSAL GBS AGED IN BOURBON BARRELS AGED ON ANCHO CHILES AND EXTRA CINNAMON." The ancho chilies didn't seem to come through in the flavor or aroma, but it's possible they came through in the heat; the heat felt more like red hot cinnamon than chilies though. As a while I really enjoyed the beer. The light bit of heat at the end is very pleasant and the star of the show is how mellow and convergent the flavors are. I would buy this if it were a regular offering in the GBS lineup. I would recommend it, even if you are a bit sensitive to spicy foods.

Summits Tavern 2/8/2019 - Subtle pepper to nose; medium MF - great balance of heat and gingerbread. Not overpowering on palate

 

550ml bottle poured into a snifter

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

S- typical ginger and cinnamon aroma up front, followed by a nice green pepper skin aroma, undertones of Red Hot candy, vanilla and a hint of cream

T- ginger and cinnamon lead the way up front, but are quickly followed by a fresh green pepper flavor that immediately adds some heat to the mouth. Mid-palate gives some notes of chocolate and vanilla cream. The finish continues with the pepper heat, which lingers in the throat

M- medium body with moderate carbonation leads to a slightly foamy mouthfeel and a warming finish

O- the pepper addition works well with the base beer and the heat is just the right amount