Heat Series: Scorpion Pepper Fruited IPA
Flying Dog Brewery

Welcome back to Happy New This Year & Beer Are Flying Outta Here On Sunday, Dog (Week 723)! I am so glad that you could join me for this madness.

From the Bottle: "Dethroned but not disgraced. It will still rock you like a hurricane."

I was SOOO elated to find this on the Singles shelf during a recent visit to The Beer & Beverage Shoppe! I love Flying Dog & I try to drink as many of their beers as possible.

I was a little trepedatious in opening this one, since this pepper is one of the hottest in existence. I Pop!ped the cap & gave it a C-Line pour into the awaiting glass. Flames licked up from inside the glass as the glass itself began to melt! Eeek. What have I gotten myself into? Actually, it foamed up to create a finger of fizzy, foamy, rocky, tawny head with limited retention that left nice lacing in its wake. Color was a solid Amber (SRM = > 7, < 9) with NE-quality clarity. Nose was peppery, spicy, but not evocative of an AIPA. Note: I have submitted a Change Request ticket to mark this as a Chile Beer like the others in the series. Mouthfeel was medium. The taste began with a light, fruity sweetness, but it quickly intensified into a slow, burning heat. It was not as intense as @Nineshort reported, but more akin to @JZeillinger's experience. It left my lips tingling, my eyes gently watering & a sheen of sweat broke out on my bald spot. Phew. I was both a Navy sailor & a cop in the Navy so I have been through both the gas chamber & been sprayed with pepper spray (it cannot be issued to you until you have personally experienced it) so it was kind of evocative of those experiences. My fear was that it was going to cause my GIRD to act up, but it seemed okay in that regard. I never tried either Stone Crime and/or Punishment because I had heard rumors of it being too hot on top of being too spendy. This was at about my upper threshold for heat, but the price was nice. Still, if you were looking for/expecting an AIPA, this would be sadly disappointing. OTOH, this might be a unique Chile Beer experience since I cannot believe that scorpion peppers as an adjunct are going to catch on. Excuse me while I wipe some tears away. Finish was dry, spicy, hot, but not so hot as to be totally unpleasant or undrinkable. Hey, if nothing else, I can say that I drank one in its entirety.

 

 

12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, best before 8/9/2018. Pours slightly hazy golden amber color with a 1 finger dense and rocky off white head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Dense soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of blood orange, grapefruit, peach, pear, melon, scorpion pepper, citrus peel/zest, light pine, honey, white bread, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of citrus hops, fruit, peppers, and moderate pale malt notes; with solid strength. Taste of big blood orange, grapefruit, peach, pear, melon, scorpion pepper, citrus peel/zest, light pine, honey, white bread, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Light-moderate pine/grassy bitterness and pepper spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of blood orange, grapefruit, peach, pear, melon, scorpion pepper, citrus peel/zest, light pine, honey, white bread, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus hops, fruit, peppers, and moderate pale malt flavors; with a great malt/bitter/spiciness balance; and zero astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from bitter/spiciness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth and moderately creamy/grainy/sticky balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Light-moderate increasing lingering pepper heat, but not too overwhelming. Overall this is a delicious fruited/spiced IPA. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus hops, fruit, peppers, and moderate pale malt flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the modestly bitter/spicy/drying finish. Nicely balanced fruit, peppers, and citrusy hops; with a nice pale malt backbone. I've had hotter/spicier pepper beers. This is still on the pretty strong side, but I have a very high tolerance for spice/heat anyways. A very enjoyable offering, and well made pepper beer for an IPA style.

The batch I got, the pepper flavor was totally overwhelming and awful. Could not sense anything but the taste of capsicum. Could have been Schlitz beer with pepper spray in it.

 

Thanks to Knapp85 for sharing this bottle.

A - Dark gold pour with soapy lacing.

S - Some sugary malt presence with a little bit of spicy heat in the nose, not overwhelming but also underwhelming.

T - Light toffee malt with a significant burn on the back end.

M - Medium body, alot of burn, and coagulates the saliva in your mouth.

O - 'Like 'em hot, this one i shot, but not much character beyond the heat (unless the heat is hiding the character of the beer).