Cave Creek Chili Beer

Brewed by Cervecería Mexicana
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Tecate, Mexico

It sat there on the shelf, beckoning me. "Come, you haven’t rated this one." I hesitated. You see, I had encountered this beer before, about a decade ago. I drank it back then, a young, naive man, and threw back the chili pepper in a fit of machismo. And I declared it horrendous, swore it was barely good enough to throw into a pot of chili, and thought I would never consume this monstrosity again. But then I found RateBeer, and found myself dropping the foul beast into the basket. It sat in my beer fridge for a while, taunting me, daring me. But I am older now, perhaps even wiser, and did not succomb to such jibes. Today, however, I decided to face down the beast. Pours a pale golden yellow, very fizzy, no head, and with some really gross looking floaties. Hideous. Aroma of corn and a faint burn in the back of the nasal passages hint at the chili within. A nasty pale lager flavor greeted me, overlayed with a pungent burning sensation that mostly played in the throat. The chili adds nothing to the flavor. In a sense, it might have actually been a mixed blessing, as the burn helped mask the flavor of the beer. Yup, this stuff is just as foul as I remember it being. But this time I skipped the pepper.

Bottle. Pours yellow with absolutely no head. Aroma is mostly chili with a hint of beer behind it. Flavour is like the aroma... I think. At least that’s what I get out of it for that short time I’m capable of actually tasting anything before the chili kicks in and I have flames coming out of my mouth (never been too good at dealing chili). Interesting, but in a bad way.

Bottled. This is a unique beer. Extremely spicey and absolutely undrinkable. It is a funny idea and extreme. But it still tastes bad.

Yellow colour with a small white head. Light malty aroma with a strong chili note. Strong chili flavor, way too one dimensional.

Light malty nose, along with some storng notes of chili peppers. Clear golden body, with a very small white head. Flavor starts out slight malty and then the chili kicks in... It burns quite well... Couldnt finish the bottle, but the chili pepper didnt taste like chili, it just had a weird sharp and bitter flavor.

So I took my bro with me to buy beer the other day. This was his contribution to my lot. Needless to say I made him drink some of it, because he needed to share in my pain. It is literally spicy beer. Not spicy in that way that some good herb/veg beers are. No....more like.... ALCOHOLIC TABASCO SAUCE. It tastes like spicy cat piss. I hate this beer. Damn you cave creek.

Bottle. Pours a very still gold with no head. Grain malt aroma is faint behind the overwhelming chili peppers. Spicy corn malt and pepper flavor. Light bodied and very spicy, not in a good way. Most spiced foods and beverages are that way for your enjoyment. This one turned my stomach and I poured it out. I would have gotten more pleasure out of drinking straight from the jalapeno pepper jar. DRAIN POUR!

I’ve been cellar aging this bottle for a few months now... ok, truth is, I could never bring myself to try it, until now. Poured a clear effervescent golden with a small white head that dissipated completely. Aroma of sweet corn and vinegary hot sauce. Taste is almost decent sweet corn with minimal hop presence. And, of course, there’s the chili burn, which although is definitely pronounced, it’s not too overwhelming. Tastes like a could make this myself by pouring a cheap macro and adding a drop of habanero sauce. Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be, but as it lacks the refreshing character of pale beer, I would never try it again.