Black Mountain Ocotillo Amber
Chili Beer Co.

Bottle provided amid a bunch of stuff given to me for volunteering at 2005 GABF. Thanks, I appreciate the opportunity to try the craft beers provided in my package. Pours a half finger dull light tan head over a cloudy harmless orange liquid. Smells stale. Off biscuit malty with tettnanger gritty hops mixed with a flattened citrusy character. A caramel square you've found baking in the summer sun since Halloween. Tastes not good. Biscuit, caramel so old the flavor is muted and failing, a sour tang that just doesn't work and only gets stronger. It develops an iron character as it persists into the aftertaste. The md-thick mouthfeel is slick and keeps the off flavors hanging around when I'd rather they pass and be gone. Some of the flavor that I'm not keen on may be the hops. I wonder if they've used a large amount of 'auto-repair-shop-floor-flavored' tettnanger hops in here. Beer is precious to me and I'm hard to motivate to dump one, but this beer is garbage to me. To be honest, I can envision some people enjoying the flavor of this beer. There are qualities in this beer that I know some people enjoy. I simply don't care for those flavors.

Appearance: is an average gold color, some foam and a little lace. Aroma: barely perceptible, some malt, not much hops here. Initial taste is a honey sweet, but then it descends into a thin middle, with a dry biting finish. Clean and dry. A good session beer for a warm Arizona day.

The beer pours a nice golden amber color with a modest head and pertinent lace to cover the glass. The nose is all malt, crisp fresh and clean, quite pleasant to sniff. Sweet at the start, top skinny, and the finish stinging it its acidic bite, the hops adequate, dry and lingering aftertaste, a drinkable beer and one suited for these hot climes.