Spirits Untapped

This post is in response to the cool question that Liz proposed in Your 3 Most Memorable Beers. This is my second post in that series. (Here’s the first)

Similar to my first most memorable beer, this particular one isn’t a positive experience.

Oh, sure, the experience was fun and is an amusing story to share, but the actual experience of drinking and tasting the beer wasn’t all that great.

In fact, when people ask me what kind of beer I like, while I DO have preferences, I enjoy virtually any style of beer. Depending on the mood I’m in, the day, the time, the place, I’m pretty sure I could enjoy pretty much ANY beer.

That’s why I often say: “I’ve never met a beer I didn’t like.”

But then I usually pause and add. “Well, to be honest, there’s one I can think of that I wasn’t all that fond of.”

Ghost Face Killah is brewed by Twisted Pine Brewing Company.

Here’s the description from their website:

5.2% ABV // 15 IBU

Underneath an unassuming, straw gold veil lurks the searing spice of six varieties of chile – including the infamous Bhut Jolokia, or ghost pepper. Utter agony for most, but absolute euphoria for a fiery few.

Don’t get me wrong. I love beer; and I do enjoy beers with interesting tastes and special spicy kicks. And I am a HUGE fan of hot and spicy foods. I used to host, along with my neighbor and about a dozen friends, a regular “Hot Luck” party where people would each bring their own favorite hot and spicy dish for sharing and my buddy Chad and I would relish in trying to create something that people just COULDN’T eat. So I’m a fan of killer hot nasty painful experiences.

And yet, I’m not a fan of it in my beer.

For years, whenever I ordered suicide wings at a bar or restaurant I would challenge the cook to try to severely hurt me. Only once in years of doing this did I ever get knocked for a loop. (The cook had a bottle of Da Bomb Ground Zero and used half of it in the receipe) it took me 45 minutes to finish my meal, but at least I finished it.

Ghost Face Killah is the only beer I haven’t been able to finish on my own.

Heck, I couldn’t even drink half of it. My buddy Chad and I tried to share a bottle together, and couldn’t drink more than a couple of mouthfuls of it. I ended up bringing the bottle in to work and getting my hot sauce enthusiast colleagues to help me finish it. (Complete with the multiple laughs, brutal pained facial expressions and gasps of pain you might expect from drinking something with ghost pepper in it)

The thing that lingers in my mind about this one was that while the immediate very first sip did have a smooth taste, the scent was overpowering (and too strong for my liking), and the after-burn, which just kept burning, would not go away). I quite enjoy the wonderful slow sipping experience of drinking one of Liz’s faves, the Thai Chili Wahoo, but this was one beer that I couldn’t even slow sip.

So, kudos to Twisted Pine for making something just too hot.

And, of course, a most memorable beer drinking experience.