Safeword Imperial India Pale Ale
Free Will Brewing Co.

 

 

 

 

 

I feel very lucky & privileged to have scored a bottle of this for myself! One member of the FGBS Drinking Team is so enamored of this beer that he has been known to buy everything available, including growlers, crowlers & bottles. I am not really into heat, peppers & spice, so one will be fine for me, but I still feel lucky to have even one bottle.

From the bottle: "with mangoes and habanero peppers added"; "A full bodied blend of mango citrus & spicy habanero with a malty backbone. Feel the sweet, then take the heat."

For this one, I cooled it as long as I could before donning my heat reflective aluminum firefighting suit. I pulled on the asbestos gloves & put the helmet over my head & grabbed the tongs that I had at the ready. I set it down gently on the counter & used my titanium bottle opener to Pop! the cap. A glance at the thermometer showed that the room's ambient temperature had increased by twenty-plus degrees! Eeek. I began a very slow, gentle pour into the awaiting fire-resistant vessel, but to no avail. Paint began to melt off of the walls, my pile of newspaper spontaneously combusted, the curtains burst into flames and my shoes slowly adhered themselves to the deck. I took the piece of rebar that I wanted to use as a stirring stick to perform an in-glass swirl, but a) flames erupted from the cup & b) the rebar melted up to the lip of the vessel. Gah! Two fingers of dense, foamy, tawny head appeared briefly before more flames erupted. Color was Amber to Deep Amber/Light Copper (SRM = > 9, < 13) with NE-quality clarity, although the bottle identified it as 6.6. I used the Gas-Free Engineering sniffer to get a sense of what was in store for me. It, too, melted! Against my better judgement, I took off the helmet & leaned in for a sniff. Tendrils of burning heat wafted into my sinus cavity, sending me reeling. I could now hear the sirens of the fire engines, but in for a penny, in for a pound ... It smelled like the pepper jelly that we had for our Easter lamb one year - sweet & hot ... as Hell. Phew. Mouthfeel was medium-to-full, but it was more akin to napalm - jellied gasoline that ignited in my mouth! The bald spot on the crown of my head that doubles as the solar panel for my sex machine offgassed & began a steady stream of cooling sweat. My eyes began to water & then sweat as my eyelashes & eyebrows burned away. My throat closed off & I fell to the floor in pain, crying for my mommy & trying to find my asthma inhaler. I was dying & that was just the first sip! Boo hoo hoo. I had just begun my second draught when the local firefighters burst through the door. I tried to wave them off as I knew that simple H2O was not going to do the trick, but I was writhing in incoherent agony and could not communicate in human terms. My kitchen, as well as my body, was now in mass conflagration mode! Every pore was trying to rid my body of this evil beast of a beer. My eyeballs were on fire & I could no longer feel my extremities. I was being dragged to safety, but I would not relinquish my grip on either the bottle or the vessel. I was determined to drink every drop. I managed my last hot, dry swig just as they shoved me under the oxygen tent to begin attending to my burns. Phew. I will leave this to the experts from now on.

I was not expecting the level of heat. I have tried several other habanero based IPAs withh mixed results. Gotta say I am impressed with this one! The fruity tones hit you first, followed by the heat, and it is an intense heat, but not off putting! Very good, surprised by how much I liked it! Highly recommended!

 

 

 

 

Opaque orange-amber body with a tan foam head. Aromas of dark tropical and citrusy fruits like mango. Immediate blast of hot peppers will delight fans and terrify the faint-hearted. I'm a fan. It's hotter than Habanero Sculpin by my estimation, and the heat stays with it all the way. Supporting flavors include the fruit impressions from the nose. The body is medium - neither heavy nor thick - a well-balanced feel for the heat and high abv. Lingering sniffles and watery eyes, as well as a craving for more. Well-constructed habanero DIPA with a great use of fruits and malts to round it out into something special. Recommended for fans of high heat DIPAs.

 

 

 

 

L. Hazy orange-copper with a big fluffy head that lingers longer than expected.
S. Citrus fruit, tropical, mango, honey. Hops stand out, but the added mangoes compliment nicely.
T. Very good double IPA up front with mango, citrus, and tropical flavors with the sweetness of the mango a nice addition. Not much bitterness just yet. I'm not a fan of fruit in my IPA, but this is great. And then, if you hold the beer in your mouth for 5 seconds or so, the heat builds to unexpected levels. WOW. I'm impressed.... and sweating. Aftertaste tastes like burning with a burp of mango flavor.
F. Feel is between medium and full bodied. Moderate carbonation.
O. I like it a lot, but my throat is on fire, sooooo...... Cheers!!!