Brew Review - El Mole Ocho

Man law = no fruit in beer, but it doesn’t refer to vegetables in any way.  New Holland noticed this loophole in legislation, taking a stab at a brew with flavors of a traditional mole sauce (dried chilies and Mexican chocolate). At first sip, the chili pepper flavor with a malty backbone is interesting and a welcomed deviation from the norm. From smell to mouth feel to aftertaste, chili pepper is the captivating thought. I found myself frantically searching the kitchen for a bag of Lil' Guy's tortilla chips. All that and a bag of chips? Unfortunately not. Halfway through the bomber of brew, the chili flavor wavered from interesting to borderline annoying. Where’s the cocoa? I couldn't locate the mole flavor in the beer at all...only chili peppers and minimal coffee. Like a Michael Scott diversity day seminar, the brew grade quickly headed south in snowball fashion. While I welcome the creativity, I’m left with 22 oz of missed opportunity. That’s what she said! Muahahaha! I'm not going to put the kibosh on vegetables in beer just yet. We’ll just say the jury is still out on the subject, needing more evidence to make a final ruling. I’m hoping for a stronger execution down the road. Meanwhile, I picked up some Lil' Guy's, salsa, and a fine 6 pack of IPA from my favorite brewery in Fort Collins. I’ll take my vegetables beside my beer for now.

Serving Type: Bottle (22 oz)

Glassware: Tulip

Color (hue and head): Pours caramel brown, with minimal to no head. Looks like a beer that should change your life.

Aroma: Chili peppers, smoky, spicy.

Taste: Chili peppers, minimal coffee, chili peppers, maybe a molecule of cocoa, and chili peppers…missed the mark on mole. Spicy finish with chili breath for the rest of the evening.

Grade: 77/100 (C+)

Musical pairing: The Mars Volta – Viscera Eyes (English mixed with Spanish, but rocks your socks off…contrary to review)

Surroundings: Porching it with some ale drinking amigos. Enjoying spring in KC.

Twisted Pine Brewery - Homer Simpson eats a Guatemalan Insanity Pepper

Actually, we're really talking about the the invention of a "Ghost Chili" beer called "Ghost Face Killah" by Twisted Pine Brewing Company, based in Boulder, Colorado. We know absolutely zero about this brewery, but we have to applaud its "balls" in making a beer that seems considerably less friendly than Casper ever was, plus we love the shout out to our favorite of the Wu Tang Clan. "Surprisingly", they have timed the release of this beer to coincide with Cinco de Mayo, the annual rite of passage for American's to celebrate our friendly neighbor to the south. It seems to be available in only Colorado, Texas, and Louisiana, so please let us know if you can get your hands on it and give us a good review:

"Colorado Brewery Brews Hottest Beer on Earth

Twisted Pine releases a Ghost Chili Beer

Boulder, Colorado – April 26th 2010 – Why brew a beer so hot that it melts taste buds and brings tears to drinkers’ eyes? To do something different. In a world full of pilsners, pale ales and porters trying to think a little more outside of the box keeps things exciting. Twisted Pine takes pride in making unique craft beers many of which combine flavors that have never been conceived before. “Ghost Face Killah” ghost chili beer packs the heat of 6 chilies including anaheim, fresno, jalapeño, serrano, habenero and the infamous ghost chili. The beer will be released May 5th at the Twisted Pine Cinco de Mayo party and again at the Snowmass Chili and Beer Festival. While pouring Billy’s Chilies Chili Beer at the Chili and Beer Festival last year, the crowd’s reaction was, “don’t you have anything hotter?” Be careful what you ask for. A little less than a year later brewers stumbled across a chili called Bhut Jolokia, better known as the ghost chili (the hottest chili on earth). The ghost chili is one of those foods you must earn the right to eat. In fact, the bag it arrived in came with a very stern warning label touting one million scoville units, which is five times hotter than a habenero. Needless to say, a little bit of this chili goes a long way. However, “once you get over the initial heat of the chili, you are left with a very flavorful smokiness,” says brewer Jeff Brumley. Chili beer is not a new concept at Twisted Pine who is known for brewing the ever so popular Billy’s Chilies. Billy’s Chilies Beer is a light wheat beer infused with 5 fresh peppers and was initially brewed as somewhat of a novelty. Five years later, sales of the chili beer are soaring. With brewers allowed much freedom in the brewery it was only a matter of time until “Ghost Face Killah” ghost chili beer came to fruition. One of a kind beers are something Twisted Pine is known for with past releases including Poison Fish, a ginger wasabi beer, “The Truffle,” a chocolate raspberry beer infused with coffee, and “Holy Mole,” a chocolate chili beer. While the Guinness Book of World Records is still pending, one taste should be enough to assure you; this is something truly unique."

Salud!

Blanc Burger + Bottles - King of kings

Hey fella, how do you feel about gourmet burgers? Young, respectful lady, do you enjoy many micro brews featured prominently? If you answered coherently, your answers were most likely “I feel good, I tend to like them better than room temperature UV + Pink Lemonade drank at my local house party”. In that case, we are recommending a gathering spot for you – Blanc Burgers + Bottles.

This is the very first of our reviews featuring local watering holes and rightfully so since Blanc has been anointed King over the Burger and Bottle fiefdom (if you don’t believe us, fine…just check the articles below). Sometimes we tend to be a bit biased, but even our non-beer friends love the food, atmosphere, and beers we’ve introduced them to at this glorious place. Here are some highlights:

• 110 beers in bottle (if you can find Hitachino beers you know you’ve hit the sweet spot) featuring such personal favorite breweries as Avery, Lagunitas, Bells, Boulevard, Left Hand, Dogfish Head
• Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout – nothing more needs to be said
• Burgers that include Au Poivre, $100 (think deliciousness + awesomeness), mahi mahi, kobe, bison, kangaroo (had it once, sans boxing gloves and bad attitude)
• A giant black board that details the daily specials
• A fry selection that includes truffle fries, sweet potato fries, and onions rings the size of your best friend’s bulbous head, all in mini shopping carts
• Local ingredients and businesses used for mustard, cheese, etc (extra points for repping their “hood”)
• Manager named Brian, an overall high quality dude who isn’t afraid to kiss babies and dole out free apps to get you to come back, and who mysteriously ends up with cases of awesome beers incorrectly
• Bar Manager named Ryan who is lead singer in a pretty sweet band named “Heroes + Villians”, who indirectly got us not sober with Dallas at the Riot Room

In all seriousness, we’ve drank at some pretty sweet establishments in both KC and Chicago and most lack the rare quadfecta of overall quality, selection, atmosphere, and humility (don’t fret Map Room, Villians Bar and Grill, or Riot Room – we’ve got reviews coming soon and you all graduated at the top of your class). If you enjoy a great bottle beer selection, some very knowledgeable folks in terms of beer and food pairings, manners, and hot skanks (I made up the last part), then please check out Blanc – I’ll bet the deed to Imbibilicious's place that you aren’t disappointed.

Don’t believe me? Why don’t you take a look at some of the hot publicity heaped on this place as of late:

http://tags.draftmag.com/?s=blanc+burger (Draft magazine – also named one of “the best beer and burger spots” in the May/June issue of the mag)

http://www.kctv5.com/video/23068181/index.html

http://www.burgerbusiness.com/?p=4147 (the Duke University of the 2010 Burger Bracket)

Our advice – grab your sack o nickels and order a $100 burger + a Rogue Hazelnut Brown. Wolf it down and then tell Brian and Ryan that we should get free beers for being “right”.

Blanc Burger can be found at two locations, but our favorite is the Country Club Plaza location at:

4710 Jefferson St.
Kansas City, MO 64112
816.931.6200

Overall grade: A