Tasting Notes: Cave Creek Chili Beer

First impressions: Yes, that is a chili pepper bottled in my beer.

With any novelty beer, I tend to immediately determine whether the gimmick is a marketing tool with little discernible impact on the beer or a legitimately recognizable part of the experience. After all, we don't typically pick up a lavender- or hibiscus-boasting beer for the hops.

My first smell confirmed the presence of a vegetable; it smells like a bottle of cantina salsa poured into a pint of Tecate. However, upon tasting, the flavors were clearly separated. The first second or two brought a light Mexican-style flavor, but once the beer hit my throat, the chili's wrath awoke. I consider myself moderately tolerant of heat, and the while the beer certainly did not immediately overwhelm my taste buds, the accumulation of capsaicin after about five sips was noticeable though not unpleasant.

The experience was comparable to drinking a Bloody Mary on the spicy end of the spectrum, though with less flavor. I would have been more disappointed if the beer tasted as it did and did not deliver on the chili novelty, but after I confirmed strange combination of beer and heat, there wasn't much left to discover.

Order a Pint: Yes, if you have an open-minded tongue
Buy a 6-pack: No
Stock by the case: No

Rating: 2 kegs out of 5