Church-Key Gates of Hell

Formerly brewed at Church-Key Brewing
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Pethericks Corners, Canada

What balls! A beer flavoured with white pepper? A real eye-opener, full of contrasting flavours and aromas. Not subtle. Only drawback is that I probably could only drink one pint of this per evening, it’s that intense.

On tap at the winking judge in Hamilton, Ontario. WOW! This stuff incredible. Darl orange body with tons of visible pepper floaties throughout. Aroma is of fruit (oranges) with black pepper up front. Taste is very sharp, peppery, and at the same time, sweet and fruity. Creamy, smooth, and easy to drink, despite the pepper. Well done Church Key, this beer is amazing.

As others have noted, an experience for sure. Pepper right from the start and all the way to end. In between you're left with what used to be Northumberland ale. I was impressed with the effort, and it was the most talked about beer there, but not for me.

A tough one to call, since I am very impressed with this effort from Church Key, if only because it is a beer that definitely has some balls, and while I thought it was very cool I didn't particularly like it. (It is worth noting that many of the non-Ratebeerians present for the tasting at the Judge loved it and went back for more.)Obviously unfiltered murky brown body with a respectable white head. Intense white pepper in the aroma clears the sinuses nicely. Flavour is dominated by pepper has welll as it burns a firey path across the tongue and leaves a trail of warming down the throat reminiscent of hard liquor belying the relatively low alcohol content in the beer. Didn't make me want another. An experience.

Muddy amber-brown. Frothy off-white head. Peppery aroma w/ sweet malt & smokey notes. Medium, almost gritty feel. Very sweet and somewhat caramel at first, giving way strong white pepper. Finish is very peppery hot. Might work as a marinade, but it doesn't work as a beer.

Murky dark tan. Peppery aroma, slightly smokey with lots of malty sweetness. Very peppery palate. Some balancing maltiness of the chewy, earthy, caramelly variety. Hottish finish. Not balanced enough though - it's like drinking Montreal steak spice.