Wow, Craig
Refined Fool Brewing Co.
- From:
- Refined Fool Brewing Co.
- Ontario, Canada
- Style:
- Herb and Spice Beer
- ABV:
- 6.2%
- Score:
- +9 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 4.01 | pDev: 0%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 1
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Jan 13, 2023
- Added:
- Dec 22, 2022
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
NO SCORE
-
-
Our new black pepper ale was designed with the sole intention of making a few Craigs smile. This mildly spicy amber ale features 3lbs of crushed black peppercorns, enough to be present but not so much that it overpowers the beer. It's rounded out with a pleasantly malty base that uses 11 different malts alongside a touch of Mosaic hops. We've had a few Quebec beers recently that featured this ingredient and they were très bien, so we thought we'd give it a go. 30 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by thehyperduck from Canada (ON)
4.01/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
4.01/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
Tallboy can from the brewery; no packaging date and served barely chilled.
Pours a relatively clear copper-amber colour, crowned with an inch of puffy, foamy, off white-tinted head that lasts for the better part of five minutes. By then, it has been reduced to a sudsy collar and frothy cap; not a lot of lace at first, but there's good deposition over the course of the glass. The aroma is malty, but pepper is the real star here - I get just a hint of vegetal/bell pepper, but huge black pepper notes - it's spicy enough to stimulate the nostrils, maybe even trigger a sneeze. The malts come off sweet, like toffee or caramel, with toasted bread and nutty grains.
Sweet flavours of brown sugar and toffee at the forefront, with black pepper pungency gaining momentum. Bready malts and toasted nuts can be discerned underneath the roiling, rising tide of spiciness; three pounds of peppercorn flesh also adds a dirty, vegetal, green coffee-like background flavour to the finish & aftertaste - fortunately, I am far too infatuated with the lingering peppercorn pungency to notice it all that much. Medium in body, with relatively low carbonation - however, the avalanche of pepper adds its own unique 'prickliness' to the mouthfeel. One can per night is plenty, but I could see myself craving this.
Final Grade: 4.01, an A-. When I'm tasting a beer for a review, I like to keep it in my mouth and let it roll around on the tongue to see how the flavour develops - but with Wow Craig, the peppercorn just builds until it's all I can taste and my tongue (and lips!) go slightly numb. Is it overkill? If you believe black pepper is best used sparingly, then yeah, probably. I still honestly think it's one of the Fools' finest creations in recent years, but keep in mind I'm one of those guys who puts way too much black pepper on basically everything.
Jan 13, 2023Pours a relatively clear copper-amber colour, crowned with an inch of puffy, foamy, off white-tinted head that lasts for the better part of five minutes. By then, it has been reduced to a sudsy collar and frothy cap; not a lot of lace at first, but there's good deposition over the course of the glass. The aroma is malty, but pepper is the real star here - I get just a hint of vegetal/bell pepper, but huge black pepper notes - it's spicy enough to stimulate the nostrils, maybe even trigger a sneeze. The malts come off sweet, like toffee or caramel, with toasted bread and nutty grains.
Sweet flavours of brown sugar and toffee at the forefront, with black pepper pungency gaining momentum. Bready malts and toasted nuts can be discerned underneath the roiling, rising tide of spiciness; three pounds of peppercorn flesh also adds a dirty, vegetal, green coffee-like background flavour to the finish & aftertaste - fortunately, I am far too infatuated with the lingering peppercorn pungency to notice it all that much. Medium in body, with relatively low carbonation - however, the avalanche of pepper adds its own unique 'prickliness' to the mouthfeel. One can per night is plenty, but I could see myself craving this.
Final Grade: 4.01, an A-. When I'm tasting a beer for a review, I like to keep it in my mouth and let it roll around on the tongue to see how the flavour develops - but with Wow Craig, the peppercorn just builds until it's all I can taste and my tongue (and lips!) go slightly numb. Is it overkill? If you believe black pepper is best used sparingly, then yeah, probably. I still honestly think it's one of the Fools' finest creations in recent years, but keep in mind I'm one of those guys who puts way too much black pepper on basically everything.
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