A number of years ago I visited a small brewery in Cave Creek, Arizona, named appropriately, the Cave Creek Brewery. While they offered a number of different types of beer one really stuck out. It was called Chili Beer . I hadn't thought about it for a long time until I came across it again in the beverage store on Chestnut St. in Painesville . (Side Note: Unfortunately, I do not know the name of said beverage store, but it is truly a hidden gem. I have never seen so many types of beer and wine available in one store.)

Chili Beer is exactly what it sounds like, spicy beer. Really spicy beer. It even has a chili pepper bobbing up and down in the bottle. Unless you really have strong interest in hot beer, I would leave this one alone. For those of you like myself that cherish any chance to burn the crap out of your mouth, this is a fun beer to try.  There is actually a neat story of how this beer came into being.  A man from Arizona started his own brewery to make the kind of beer that he liked.  Well it just so happened that others liked it as well.  People started coming from all around to taste this new beer, but when the yuppies from the city ordered it, they requested it with a lime.  This man didn't take to kindly to people putting fruit in his beer so instead of a lime, he would stick in a serrano pepper sending a very clear message to the person that wanted the lime.  So the story goes, a bunch of those people actually liked the pepper and the resulting spicy beer and chili beer was born.  

The beer itself is light, but almost untastable through the heat. Here is what it is like to taste Chili Beer for the first time:

• Take normal beer sip.
• Feel intense burning on the top and sides of your mouth.
• Swallow.
• Feel strong burning all the way down your throat.
• Wait 5 minutes.
• Take baby sip.

It really is that hot. I personally like the heat, but most people won't. It would be a fun beer to play a trick on someone with, but be careful doing this as you could really have someone make a mess as they spit it back out. If you have someone try it without telling them that it is spicy, I can guarantee they are going to spit it out.

I really like chili beer, but you definitely can't drink too much of it at one time. However, it would be a great beer to bring to a beer tasting event.

• Easy Guacamole Dip Recipe
• Stacy’s Turkey and Three Bean Chili
• Chef Juke’s Raspberry-Chipotle Barbecue Sauce
• Basic Western North Carolina Barbecue Sauce
• Stacy’s Red Pasta Sauce