USUALLY I don’t mind 'chilling out’ with a beer but it’s a completely different matter when the beer is chilli.
And by that I don’t mean cold, I mean tasting like a chilli – the plant mind you, not the spicy hot dish.
In a craft beer world where brewers are pushing the envelope, or in this case the beer, to the limits, it would seem that using chillies is a bold new direction.
More by chance than desire, I came across an imported chilli beer and curiosity got the better of me.
Cave Creek Chili Beer (sic) is imported from Mexico and has the distinctive quality of having an actual green chilli in the stubbie.
Yes folks, forget the old slice of lemon or lime, you haven’t lived until you try a beer with chilli in it!
This cerveza had the typical clear golden colour which you would expect from a Mexican beer but had a very thin white head.
The chilli looks imposing, floating in the neck of the bottle but this does pour well and the little bugger is quite happy to stay in the bottle initially.
The bouquet, as you would expect, is of chilli but not as pungent as I would have first thought.
You can detect the beer notes as well but they are not so pronounced to indicate whether there is a dose of malts or hops – not that you could really tell anyway.
The initial mouthful is confronting to say the least – it’s best not to try to sip.
There’s a flavour explosion filling every space of your mouth.
It’s hot but not overpowering.
There is very little bitterness in the aftertaste – no surprises there but I have to confess that you do get used to it.
By the time you get down the bottom of the stubbie, the last mouthful has some bite.
Of course, what self-respecting chilli beer drinker would not want to eat the chilli and I found that by the time I had almost finished the stubbie, the green chilli was actually mild and not hot compared to what I had been drinking.
At 4.2 per cent, it is a full strength beer and it doesn’t sit heavily in the gut.
It’s sessionability is questionable – two would definitely do me.
Of course it’s a no brainier what you should eat with – Mexican food.
This might be a suitable beer on a cold day and a few of these would certainly provide a few laughs at a party.
MY TIP
Like all good beers, serve this nice and cold.
You can enjoy straight out of the stubbie, leave the chilli in, for maximum flavour, it tends to be a touch milder from a glass.
At around $6 a 330ml stubbie or $75 per case, it might not be the easiest beer to find but The Garden Cellars in the Hunter Valley, home to 870 different beers can mail out orders. Contact them at www.gardencellars.com.au