Palomar Ale
Mill Street Brew Pub

 

 

 

Bottle from a spring seasonal mixed pack poured into a shaker pint glass. Orange-red amber color with a finger of light beige foam. Decent lacing effect. I do get a whiff of smoky chillies on the nose, along with some toffee, lemon-lime citrus, and dry grass overtones. Palate is an interesting blend of bright citrus (yep, I'm getting the lime and some orange besides), tannic black tea, a little of the aforementioned toffee, some earthy root cellar, and a subtle lingering chilli heat. Subtle chocolate malt. Body is thin and a little watery. Carbonation is mid-range. Finishes almost sour, lemon rind rubbed with a little chilli powder. I am enjoying this effect. The chilli heat remains mild but does develop over time. Here is another beer with an inexplicably low rating ... What are people expecting here? Its not earth-shattering but delivers as advertized and the flavors deliver the goods. Maybe the chilli-lime is overly dominant, if anything and perhaps the entire bottle overstays its welcome. Still, no regrets.

 

 

 

 

 

Appearance: It has a nice hazy orange/amber color to it. It has a nice off-white head that dies down moderately and leaves very little lacing.

Smell: The aromas definitely give out hints of sweet caramelly malts, faint grass and some lime. Not getting the Chipotle Chili's at all.

Taste: Like the aromas, it has some sweet caramelly malts, some earthy/grassy notes, Chili's are there but not overpowering and some lime.

Mouthfeel: It has a medium carbonation with a light and watery overall balance and feel.

Drinkability: It's a very smooth drinkable beer accompanied by somewhat bland flavors and aromas.

 

 

355 ml bottle served cold into a pint glass. Purchased as part of the Mill Street seasonal sampler pack.

Appearance - a slightly sickly pale copper color is poured that is fairly clear and rests below a two finger off white head. The head sticks to the glass like white on rice. Decent retention time and very few visible bubbles.

Smell - some caramel malts and an earthy and metallic combination that doesn't really work. There's also a healthy dose of grains in the aromatics.

Taste - the dry earthiness comes through here again, although the chipotle kicks in after a second or two. Some spicy heat and a peppery finish wrap this up. The lime flavor becomes more noticeable after a few sips. Nice build up of the chile heat after about half a bottle.

Mouthfeel - the carbonation is a bit flat but this is compensated by the warming effect of the chipotles which bring an added dimension.

Overall - well, my first foray into the chile beer scene is a positive experience. There's nothing that really blows me away but it does show how hot peppers can be manipulated in such a way that it can enhance beer. To me this is also a beer that is greater than the sum of its parts, as despite its flaws it comes together to make a pretty good brew.

Pours a coppery colour with 1 finger white head that leaves little lacing, and with moderate carbonation. Aromas are of toffee, earthiness, smoke, caramel and honey. Tastes are of toffee, hints of citrus, and the chipotle spice is very noticeable on the swallow as you get some definite heat build up in the throat as you continue to sip. Overall this beer is named for the fictitious town in the Love and Rockets, and Luba comics and I must admit it does bring up fond memories of those characters as I feel that heat build up.

I should note that this is my first Chile Beer, and I'd like to give Mill St. kudos for having the courage to put such an uncommon style in their summer mix pack.

Appearance: Poured with half a pinkie of head that immediately evaporated. The body is a reddish amber that boasts a cloudly appearance. The bottle does list wheat as an ingredient so that makes sense. The carbonation initially had a pop like fizz that clung to the sides of the glass but very quickly thinned out.

Smell: Smokey chipolte hot sauce with a background of subdued caramel malt with a lime twist. Pretty much as advertised, but a bit more lime I think would have been welcome. Warming doesn't really help it out either way.

Taste: Hmm...it's a rainbow of flavor, as it seems to try to cover the entire spectrum. It starts off with calm sweet caramel malt that has a bit more of a grainy character to it, which is then complemented by a slight touch of lime sour before it melds into a moist peppery note that seems to really drown out the small earth and herb hop bitterness.

Mouthfeel: The aftertaste is where this beer comes out as the smoky chipotle spiciness makes it's presence known and serves to reign in that moistness I spoke earlier of. However, the carbonation fell flat really quick on this one and seems to only add to the peculiar end of the beer. One other downside I noticed is that the spiciness seems to take up residence at the back of my throat on occasion for some inexplicable reason.

Drinkability: It's refreshing, it's light bodied and it has a palate cleansing dryness that's not excessive and makes it easier to drink. That being said, the spiciness does build up over time, as expected I suppose, but it seems to be the dichotomy of the Chile Beer.

Final Thoughts: This was a good experience, and if the intention here was to present a beer that uses every tastebud on the tounge, I'd say it succeeded more admirably there then it did as a spiced up, refreshing beer. I'd like a bit more lime and a bit less Chile, but all in all apart from the lacking carbonation, I'd say thumbs up on this one.

 

 

 

 

Poured from the bottle into a nonic pint glass.

A slightly hazy copper and light orange body, quite a bit muddy looking and slightly lifeless with not much noticeable carbonation. Head is soapy with not much retention, and hardly any lacing. Makes about three fingers and falls slowly.

Mild nose, a faint hint of heat and some soft caramel qualities. Not much fruit hints coming off of this though.

Palate comes with a straight forward chipotle hit. Good classic chipotle smoke and roast like pepper, with a sensible heated finish. Body of the beer is incredibly wet and watery, and takes away much of the good pepper quality almost leaving it like black pepper from a take out packet. No fruit or lime qualities that I can discern.

For a chile beer it has a VERY good quality on the pepper angle but the mouthfeel is very weak, with a very watered down home brew character to it. However, there's a good amount of solid flavor in here, but this needs to be better, and the impression I get is that this easily could be.