Alaskan Jalapeno Imperial IPA

Brewed by Alaskan Brewing Co
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Juneau, Alaska USA

On tap @ Humpy’s. Amber/orange with an off white fluffy head that leaves a lot of lacing. Jalapeno aroma mixed with a floral hop scent. Sweet malty flavor with a mild bitterness, not really on the scale of a true IPA. Syrupy mouth feel that coats the mouth and leaves a long finish. An interesting beer, you can taste the jalapeno but there is no real heat. The hops are buried and could be stronger to balance the beer (IMO).

Clear orange amber color with a tight tan head. Big smoky jalapeno dominates the aroma. Medium body. Good floral and piney hop flavors with a fairly strong smoked jalapeno pepper taste rides a nicely sweet, rich caramel malty base brew. A unique and nicely done brew here. Draft@ Humpys ANC.

[1646-20080902] Tap. Mild jalapeno powder aroma is like dusty grains with no heat. Slightly hazy, medium orange brown body with a long-lasting creamy off-white head. Peppery powdery jalapeno heavy malt flavour has a mildly hot/peppery finish. Full body is a little boozy. Interesting!
<i>(@ brewery; Juneau, AK)</i>

2008-09-02. Crisp orange amber body, smallish beige head and lace. (3+) Strong notes of jalapeno in the aroma, malt undertones. The flavour has a malty core, and nice bitterness with jalapeno highlights that are surprisingly restrained. Its a waste of a good base beer in my opinion, but it is interesting and a good example of how to use the peppers as an accent rather than blow the beer out of the water. Average plus palate. (3+) On tap at the brewery, Juneau 7/4/7/3/14-15

Sample in the Alaskan tap room. The beer pours a clear orange-amber color with a thin off-white head that dissipates quickly. Stringy lacing. Aroma of hops and fresh peppers. Medium-bodied with a solid hops foundation and the jalapeno pepper flavor more subtle than expected. Touches of sweet malt here and there as well. The finish is bitter with a slight pepper aftertaste. I am honestly a little gunshy with chili beers (as anyone who has ever tried Cave Creek will attest). Still, while I appreciate the experimentation that goes into a beer like this, it is not something I would go out of my way to try again.

On tap at the UAF pub. This is first and foremost a PNW IPA, fairly well hopped. The peppers are hinted in a very subtle way, and I think that if I didn’t know that they were in there I wouldn’t have noticed. Good, much better than Alaska’s IPA. Good, but fairly light, which is a positive, me thinks.

Draft @ Humpy’s - I found this to be quite interesting, even though I was skeptical at first because I have had other pepper beers that were absolutely horrid. Cave creek anyone? This was actually quite tasty for one pint. The nose has a slightly herbal green pepper element, with some floral notes as well. Upon tasting the pepper bitterness is only slightly a smack that melds very nicely into the hoppy bitterness, with a somewhat sweet malt background, that finishes quite dry but suprisingly well balanced.

Draft glass at Cafe Amsterdam. Warm and rosy red with a full sticky top. The chili pepper’s are quite evident in the aroma to me, but not to my wife. This drinks with quite the earthy dirtiness you’d expect from a pepper-laden brew. The jalapeno is well disguised in the beer, just a hint of tany pepper skin in the initial intake, but the overall impression was outstanding! (#3304, 1/20/2008)