Hot As Helles
Kros Strain Brewing

I think this is a really a good chile beer if you like your chile beers to bring the heat. Is starts a bit sweet, even given the base Helles, but the earthy/vegetal jalapeño interrupts that for a brief period before the habanero brings the real sting. It runs to the borderline of being too hot, but ends up working well enough.

The peppers come through on the nose - mostly the jalapeño with the green vegetal note. In the first sip brings sweetness and fruitiness (could be the habanero or yeast at this point, though it quickly becomes obvious). There is bit of the jalapeño in between the opening sweetness and habanero heat, but before mid-palate you are just dealing with heat.

Adjusting, there is a nice balance of mild, thick heat and high, biting, tingling heat. The latter lingers at just below the threshold of being too overpowering for me - one who likes a moderate-plus heat.

 

Canned 2/21/23

Here’s another weird Tavour pick where curiosity got the best of me. I feel like peppers could easily overpower a Helles, so this needs to show incredible balance in order to work. Will they pull it off? Let’s crack it open and find out

Pours a cloudy pale yellow with 2 fingers of soapy white head that fades to a thin ring and leaves minimal lacing

The nose is definitely fiery, but it seems to handle the balance quite well. I’m picking up on aromas of raw jalapeño, bready malt, peppery hops, caramel, lime zest, raw grain, and a touch of honey

It’s got a bit more of a burn in taste, one that really targets the back of the throat, but it’s not bad. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting grilled jalapeño, earthy hops, crackery malt, lemon zest, raw grain, honey, and light corn. The swallow brings notes of raw jalapeño, bready malt, lime zest, raw grain, jalapeño, peppery hops, and a touch of honey

A light body pairs with moderate carbonation, resulting in a crisp and hot beer. Finishes bone dry with a pretty significant burn, but I can’t say it’s not refreshing. Most beers have a mouthfeel, this one has a lipfeel, leaving quite the tingle

This is a weird experience overall. A tad less heat would’ve done wonders, but it’s not bad

12oz can. Poured out a clear, golden yellow color with a small, off-white head of foam. It left thin rings of lace on the glass. It smelled of hot, spicy chiles with caramel and toffee notes. Very hot and spicy but not overdone. Enough caramel and toffee sweetness to balance things out.

 

Clear, golden body; very sparse carbonation; initially decent head that soon fades to patchy globs and rings of foam. Chili pepper aroma. Light bread-like base with a strong chili pepper heat; cracker; no real perceptible bitterness. Medium-light mouthfeel; smooth; silky and fiery on the palate; lightly oily.

This is a chili beer pure and simple. The pepper smell and flavor dominates things. It has a nice lager smoothness with the mouthfeel. If you like chili beers, this is one to try.

Pouring temperature: 42 °F; canning info: 2.21.23
Source: Tavour

12oz can canned 11/?/22 into a 12oz Willie Becher.
L: Pours a 97% clear radiant light corn yellow w a thin fizzy white head that recedes to nothing quickly, some large carbo bubbles, no lacing. A standard looking Lager.
S: Light malts, vinous peppers, a hint of honey. Very clean.
T: Sweet malts, a gentle hop bite, fast pepper heat in throat and face, grains, a hint of corn, slightly earthy, a wisp of rose flower, a very lightly bitter and gently pale finish. Pepper veggie tastes do not linger.
F: Lightly crisp, glossy, smooth Lager feel that is clean and med-light bodied with intense pepper heat 3/4 of the way through each drink, a med-length finish w a quick drop off. Non-drying.
O: A pleasant tasting Lager with fast and bold pepper heat with med-light pepper flavors. I expected heat and this beer delivers just that. A legit hot pepper beer that is outstanding in its style.

Kros Strain Brewing "Hot As Helles"
12 fl. oz. can without production codes or freshness dating but the label does read "NEBRASKA FRESH"
$1.99 @ Wall to Wall Wine, Omaha, NE

Notes via stream of consciousness: This is a lager with Jalapeño and Habanero chili peppers. It's poured a slightly hazy golden body beneath a short head of white. Unfortunately the head dropped rather quickly but I guess that's to be expected of a chili beer as the oils from the pepper will kill the head. The peppers are quite clear in the aroma. It's pungent, earthy, vegetal, and lightly fruity. I like to use the word raspy although I understand that refers to sound. There's some malt behind it as well. On to the taste... it's actually got less pepper flavor than the aroma suggests, and the base beer is clear as well. It remains pungent, vegetal, lightly fruity, and softly earthy. There's some grassiness to it but that may be coming from the beer itself. As for the acidic "heat" of the peppers it's clearly there but it's just a tickle for now. I have no doubt that a bit of a burn on the lips will appear later down the road but at the outset I'm going to say that it's quite pleasant. There's not a lot of bitterness to the helles base and the spiciness doesn't do anything to throw off the balance. I've NEVER said this about a pepper beer before but I think this would actually go quite well with Mexican food, and probably some south American dishes as well. Hell, I think you could probably mix it up with some Indian food as well and it would work just fine but it's the Jalapeño flavor that I'm focused on. Now, I've never said that a pepper beer would go well with Mexican food for two reasons: one, you're putting heat on top of heat unless you're eating something mild, and two, you're duplicating the flavor of the peppers unless you're eating something without peppers in it. In this case, however, I think it would work really well. It's making me hungry!!! OK, let me wrap this up; it's medium bodied and gently crisp with a moderate, fine-bubbled carbonation. This is one of the best chili pepper beers that I've ever had the pleasure to enjoy.
Review #8,547

 

Pours light gold and crystal clear. Limited head. No lacing.

Pale malts but mostly green chilis on the nose.

In the top three of the hottest green chili beers I've had. But not unpleasant. Pale malts at the front, warm but not hot green chilis in midstream, with some modest fruity chili flavor at the end. The flavors of skin versus flesh of the chilis are differentiated.

Medium light bodied and fairly crisp.

Dangerously close to gimmicky in its heat, but the modest complexity of the chili flavors saves the day. The grassy green skin and the fruity flesh mix well.