During the summer Reggie and Swank spent a weekend discussing the future of Big Beef and Beer. During this discussion we barbecued and drank Cave Creek Chili Beer. This is a beer that has a whole chili pepper floating around inside the bottle. It sure is one huge chunk of sediment. The beer is a Crazy Ed's Original and brewed by the Black Mountain Brewing Company, Inc. in St. Paul, MN. Cave Creek beer is not that fabulous of a beer by itself. It probably would compare to Miller Lite or Bud Light in flavor and overall quality. It gains its peculiar flavor and uniqueness through the addition of the pepper. This enhances the flavor. The taste is much like eating salsa and chips. According to the Chili Beer website Crazy Ed began putting peppers in his beer when yuppies '…whined for a "wedge of lime". Ed started putting a hot serrano chili pepper into the beer instead. Amazingly, about 2 out of ten actually liked the stuff. '

The liquid is clear and the aroma much like any other beer. The taste of the beer is the flavor of chili peppers. The beer is good with tortilla chips but does nothing to enhance the flavor of meat in a marinade, a result very surprising and disappointing.

If you like chili pepper's and you like beer, then you will like this beer. It is an OK summer drink and probably could accompany any Mexican style meal. Unlike tequila I don't think that it will instill any desire in the consumer to 'eat the pepper' I rank this beer 3 BB&B's.

You can get this beer seasonally at most beer specialty stores for about $6.00 a six pack. Visit the website listed above for Distributor and other information.

Ranking:  out of 5 BB&B's.