This beer pours a beautiful, brilliant, deep gold, and a large head of tiny ivory-colored bubbles hangs around for a long time. The aroma brings out bread crusts, some toasty notes, as well as grapefruit juice and an eye-watering chili pepper heat (in a good way!). The flavor echoes the crusty bread and toasty malt aromas with grapefruit hops, but the star of the show is the apricot-like habanero flavor, which offers substantial heat but pulls away before becoming a burn-your-mouth-off pepper bomb. This is a very nicely-balanced IPA by itself, but it's the habanero flavor and heat that really gets your attention. With a medium body and moderate carbonation, there's a sneaky alcohol warmth in the back of the throat that is mostly masked by the pepper character. This crisp, refined and perfectly-balanced beer is one of the best pepper beers I've had the privilege to try – the pepper is hot but not overpowering, and it showcases the underlying stone fruit flavors of a habanero pepper. I'd gladly drink this world-class IPA with Huevos Rancheros.
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Habanero Sculpin
Description
Our Sculpin IPA with Habanero Pepper began as a crazy experiment that’s taken on a life of its own. While its bright fruit notes and hoppy bite has made the original one of our favorites, this version takes that balance of flavors to the next level with the citrusy, floral heat of habaneros. Sculpin are known to sting, but this one’s got a kick.
Judges Review
Aroma:
22 / 24
Appearance:
6 / 6
Flavor:
39 / 40
Mouthfeel:
10 / 10
Overall Impression:
19 / 20