This "Brewing with Hot Peppers"

I'm a fan if the other flavors work well. Hunahpu, mango magnifico, etc. I care more about the integration of the pepper than it being the dominant characteristic.

Didn't care for my blueberry nightmare though.

 

Ruination Tropical Heat is great, but I think the mangos really balance it out, and the Habanero Sculpin is mostly heat.

 

Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti is brewed with cayenne pepper. And guess what—it's great!
Oh yeah. Black Butte XXIII. Brewed with chilies. Again, excellent.

 

I had a bells one off batch habenero'd up.It would of been bliss with an order or wings.

 

Had Ghost Face Killah recently; what a disaster. Great for making brutal chilli, not sure on the beer aspect at all. A lot of great chille beers out there, the one that work for me ( yeah Yeti to be sure ) let all the ingredients work together, not steamroll your ass. I think malt based ones work best (browns, stouts & porters) work best. I believe once you get above a certain Scovill rating ( Ghost chilles to be sure ), the beer is part is counter productive

 

I am a big fan of Ballast Point Habanero Sculpin. One of my favorite beers in fact.

Ruination Tropical Heat is also very good, IMO.

 

I didn't understand the potential either

but then I had Prairie Bomb

as advertised it has peppers
I don't really understand how this is going to be good
I don't know what peppers stewed in brew should smell like
I don't smell any

sip

I don't really taste any either
but this is a big beer
massive evolution of flavors
the chilies don't appear as a flavor but rather purely as sensation
I gradually realized the back of the roof of my mouth was indeed pepper hot for much longer than the flavor lasted in the aftertaste, which was considerable
it worked and was thoughtfully balanced, kudos
cheers
jd

 

100% agree. i am not a big fan of pepper beers, but this one has been a perfect match every time that I had it. In fact, I think that the OP actually has this beer confused with something else, when they state; "it felt like drinking a cigarette." And then comparing it to a smoked beer. There is no smoke at all in this beer, just hops, pepper sweetness and heat from the pepper. Nothing at all that should remind anybody of smoke or tobacco.

 

I'm a capsaicin junkie, so I'll try just about anything brewed with hot peppers. Mango Magnifico from Founders was balanced perfectly with the sweetness of mango and the heat from the habenero. However, I agree with the poster that mentioned Scoville ratings. Once you get to a certain point, it's overkill. I love using ghost chilies in cooking, as well as some of the Blair's extreme sauces. However, I use them sparingly, as too much in any food or drink will destroy your palate for the night, if not days to come.

 

I personally hated sculpin with habanero. The habanero over powered it!

 

I guess, this is the monthly "chile beer" thread. I believe, from the beers that fit the profile, only Mango Mafnifico has been released since the last one. So there's really nothing new to add. There are two basic categories--heat as a subtle boost and heat as a gimmick. Sounds like Habanero Sculpin is on the gimmick side. But there are plenty of subtle ones. Recommendations from the last thread on the subject:
Clown Shoes Chocolate Sombrero & Luchador En Fuego
Stone Chipotle Smoked Porter & Vertical Epic 11/11/11 & Ruination Tropical Heat Edition
Chocolate Oak-Aged Yeti
Westbrook Mexican Cake
Ballast Point Jalapeno Smoke Screen
Mikkeler Texas Ranger (several versions, all either one-off or retired)
Nightshift Viva Habanera & BB Viva Habanera
Throwback Spicy Bohemian
Odd Side Ales Mayan Mocha Stout & BB Mayan Mocha
Tyranena' Benji's Chipotle Smoked Imperial Porter
Copper Kettle Mexican Chocolate Stout
NB Lips of Faith--Cocoa Mole
Prairie Bomb

There were also a couple of votes for Hunahpu and Sculpin with Habanero, of course, just like here.

Of all of these, the first two Stones have the lowest BA rating (85). Now, can we end this and move on?

 

Just gonna second this thought by saying that Prism Brewing's Love is Evol is a fantastic example of a brown ale incorporating jalapeno into the overall flavor profile. Of course it also has strawberry; but the result is pretty nice; slightly sweet, but smooth, and a very nice pepper heat on the finish. Well worth trying sometime.

 

Weston Brewing have a Hot Pepper Ale, and it is ad advertised. My issue with it is that there's no other taste in it, it's like drinking a liquid jalapeño. I don't see the point either.

 

Eh... I only like them if the base beer is sweet to compliment the heat. Pineapple & Habenero work well. A sweet stout also works well with chiles as they compliment the chocolate flavors (I absolutely love chocolate covered jalapeños).

A straight up beer with just chiles doesn't work well. Just my opinion.

 

A small brewery called Evil Czech in Elkhart, Indiana has a smoked porter brewed with habaneros called Dracula's Blood. I thought it was amazing!

 

I personally really like Ghostface Killah, not joking. But I'm a chili head so I guess that's who those beers appeal to.

 

Mexican Cake... 'nuf said.

 

I'm even more excited to open my bottle of Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti. I think those are two good examples of chiles with something else (chocolate) that have turned out well. For a straight up pepper beer I'd recommend Bent River Jalapeno Ale to anyone who can get it. Jalapenos aren't just spice, but have a good amount of flavor. I'm not usually a fan of beers that use habaneros either, but maybe I just haven't had a well made one. I'll have to try out the Mango Magnifico.

 

Mango and Habaneros are a perfect match IMO, too much of either ruins it, balance between the sweet and hot is tricky.