Chipotle Ale

Baskin –Robbins changed that way people thought about ice cream. Most people think of Ben and Jerry’s when they think of exotic flavors and they deserve credit for having the courage to experiment with some pretty outrageous concepts most of which never make it to a cone. However, Baskin-Robbins set the bar pretty high back in 1945 when they aspired to offer 31 favors. It’s not as if the world was only eating vanilla when they came along but they offered a wider variety of flavors to a bigger customer base than anybody before them. Now there’s no fear in the ice cream industry and consumers welcome the creativity. If you happen to be in Columbus, track down Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams to sample what will surely become the next big flavor: Thai Chili Ice Cream.

The craft brewing market place is a hot bed of creativity. Most craft brewers are pretty adventurous and many blur the line between brewing and alchemy. Magic Hat is widely known because of a popular ale known as Number 9. A lot of people drink it and love it without realizing that it is brewed with apricots. It’s not exactly what people think of as a fruit beer because the tart apricot actually blends with the hops and the fruitiness is very subtle. It’s amazing how people don’t read labels.

There are also a number of really delicious pumpkin ales readily available shortly after Labor Day. A friend of mine, who we’ll call Bob for the sake of anonymity, was reticent to try a “pumpkin-flavored beer” but after a grueling rafting trip down the Upper Gauley Bob decided to give it a try. It was cold, free and the only beer available at the time. Bob was pleasantly surprised. We’ll discuss these in more detail later.

Other favors that make their way into beer with pleasing results include chocolate, coffee, bananas, and chili peppers. One of the first beers I tried in the chili pepper category is a simple lager by Black Mountain Brewing Company in Cave Creek, Arizona called Cave Creek Chili Beer. Chili Beer is really pretty simple: it’s a standard American lager with a Serrano pepper shoved into the bottle. The pepper gives the beer a pretty serious kick.

Alone the beer is average by craft brewing standards though it has become popular enough that the actual brewing process is farmed out to a larger brewer in Mexico but it’s hard to resist the marketing ploy of a green Serrano pepper suspended in a bottle of beer. And if you’re industrious enough to coax that pepper from the bottle it’s actually quite tasty. It would be interesting to collect a few dozen of these beer-laden peppers and make a salsa out of them. Interesting, but tedious…I can drink a lot of beer and I love to cook but I don’t have the patience to harvest those peppers.

While Cave Creek Chili Beer is not exactly what most craft beer aficionados look for in a beer it’s a good product and worth a try. Rogue, however, is an iconic craft brewing company with plenty of brew-cred and they offer a much different take on the concept of chili beer: Rogue Chipotle Ale.

Rogue readily admits that they simply added smoke jalapeño peppers to their American Amber Ale but the result is a very nuanced offering. Chipotle Ale doesn’t overwhelm you with raw heat, but rather generates a pleasant warmth and the smokiness of the chipotles blends nicely with the sweetness of the malt. It’s a beer that would actually compliment spicy food but it still has enough depth where it could provide an interesting contrast to a chocolate desert. Rogue even suggests blending this Chipotle Ale with its Chocolate Stout to create a black and tan mole. Sounds pretty good to me.

I recently enjoyed a cool Chipotle Ale after knocking out 10 miles on a bike trail. I found it to be refreshing and invigorating. In this case it was paired with original flavor Sun Chips which proved to be a more intriguing combination than you might think. The nutty sweetness of the chips really brought the malty body of the beer forward. The moderate heat of the peppers was at the finish but I wasn’t left reaching for my water bottle. Rogue’s Chipotle Ale is a very well-balanced beer and while the flavor of the peppers is undeniable, they are a welcome addition. This is a complex beer with a lot of character and sure to become a favorite if you give it a try.