Mystic Skull #5
Parallel 49 Brewing Company

An odd beer from Parallel 49, people known for their odd beer, thought it was a Mole porter which made sense to me but instead is a Mole flavored Mexican Lager which has a bit of a theme to it but is a bit odder then I was expecting. Slightly hazy and bubbly with a brown color and honeyed highlights, poured with a good three fingers worth of course, foamy tan colored head that had a moderate retention and left almost no lacing and what was, was watery. Mexican Cerveza aroma a la Corona with hints of smoky chipotle, tortilla chips and a mild vague funk. Moderate sweetness forward with a light lager body with hints of some brown sugar and cocoa, with a back end of nice smoky chipotle, or maybe ancho pepper but with no real heat to it, as well as a ghostly trace of cumin giving it a slightly odd tortilla chip flavor to it. Finishes with a classic Lager style noble hop bite to it that leave just a ghostly trace of smoky chili and savory cumin to linger slightly on the tongue. Light bodied with a highish carbonation to it. Over all its not bad but does remind me of a Cerveza after a mouthful of Doritos, I do think the flavors would have worked a bit better in a porter style beer but at least they are trying new things and I have to give them credit for that even if the beer doesn't always end up being perfect.

 

 

A: Crystal clear, a little lighter than a rum and coke.
S: Mild aroma of cocoa and something spicy.
T: Fizzy cold Mexican hot chocolate? Something like that. I was a bit reluctant to try this beer because I really wasn't sure how the described flavour combination would work, but it seems to. Mostly. I'm not quite 100% convinced, but it could grow on me.
F: Strongly carbonated.

 

650ml bottle - a Mexican hot chocolate schwarzbier, or something to that effect. Heh - humerus! And no way in hell am I going to be skulling this one.

This beer pours a clear, bright medium copper amber colour, with three fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and fizzy tan head, which leaves some roiling cauldron lace around the glass as it quickly sinks out of sight.

It smells of zingy taco seasoning, grainy and crackery pale malt, faint bittersweet cocoa powder, and little else. The taste is bready and doughy caramel malt, cumin and cinnamon spice, a bit of indistinct peppery heat, thin dark chocolate notes, and then it just abruptly stops.

The carbonation is fairly tame in its insouciant-seeming frothiness, the body a so-so middleweight, and sort of smooth, I suppose, as the spices retreat to allow the wan chocolate slickness a free hand here. It finishes off-dry, the base malt kind of starting to dial it in, while the various spices really need a re-up and re-load.

Overall, one can't say that the goods weren't delivered in this offering, as they certainly were; however, they just seem so underwhelming, and disjointed at times. I don't think I've ever had so little to say about a brew with so many guest ingredients, but I would wager that that says a lot more than anything.

Pours an amber colour & smells of corn. It actually has a corn tortilla flavor with a hint of chocolate & a little heat fro the ancho chilies.