Cave Creek Chili Beer

After one of my training classes down in Phoenix, AZ I took a long drive northeast of the city to visit a little town that goes by the name of Carefree in order to find one of the largest sundials in the world (accounts seem to very as to where it ranks). I got there just as the sun was setting so I couldn’t really tell what time it was, however I had this funny feeling inside that it was really close to “beer-thirty”. Fortunately Cave Creek is right next to Carefree and it just happens to be the home of The Original Crazy Ed’s Satisfied Frog Saloon and Restaurant. The restaurant is affiliated with the Black Mountain Brewing Company, and I could not resist trying their Chili Beer and attempting an “on the spot” review.

The beer was served in a clear 12 oz bottle. The label has a big chili pepper forming a “C” at the top with the name underneath, followed by “Cerveza con Chili”. Below that is the statement “This HOT seasoned Chili beer BEST served ICE COLD!” Finally, below that, we are told that this beer weighs in at 4.2% ABV.

The beer it self is a very clear yellow color, and doesn’t seem to have much, if any, carbonation. And the best part of its appearance is the fact that there is an actual chili in the beer bottle. The legend goes like this:

After moving to Cave Creek and having a hard time finding good craft brews, Crazy Ed decided to take maters into his own hands and create his own brewery. He had his brewing equipment delivered in crates by a Germen brewer. They started kicking out some German inspired brews and did well for them selves. One day someone asked for a lime in their beer, and just to spite the customer Crazy Ed put a chili in the beer. And just like that, Chili Beer was born.

Because I was drinking from a bottle, it was difficult to get much of an aroma, but what I could get was all chili. This seems like the place to tell you how the beer tasted, but the truth is after just a few sips my taste buds were shot. If I could describe it in one word it would be HOT! I could, however, still pick out some maltiness. Thank goodness for that, the sweetness from the malt helped to control the chili oils. Any sort of hop flavoring, aroma or bitterness was easily crushed under the chilies mighty heal.

Over all, I would have to say that it was a beer worth trying and even enjoyable to drink, but there is no way I could sit down and have a six pack of the stuff. If I ever find myself back in Cave Creak, I'm definitely going to stop in for another one (along with 3 glasses of water).