Burned: Weston Brewing Hot Pepper Ale

Back in April I reported Weston Brewing was creating a Hot Pepper Ale.  At the time I wsn't sure that it would be bottled, but sure enough there it was on the shelf.  It is labeled as Brew Labs #2. 

The label lists the Original Gravity at 1.047, IBUs at 28, and SRM at 5.6.  So the base beer is pretty light.  The label also states that it is made with "Hand cut Serrano and Jalapeno peppers."  The Scoville scale, which measures the heat of peppers, puts Jalapenos between 2500-8000 Scovilles, and Serranos at 10,000-23,000.  To put that into perspective, law enforcement pepper spray has a Scoville score of 5,000,000–5,300,000 and bell peppers are at a 0.

22 oz bottle poured into a 16 oz mug. A quick flash of white head that quickly recedes to nothing. Color is a dark straw yellow. Clear with no activity. This is not completely flat, but nearly.

Smell is an overwhelming jalapeno juice. I very well could have put my nose into a jar of peppers instead of a beer glass. It has a green burning aroma. Taste is a full pepper kick to the senses. My lips burn and I'm breaking a sweat. I like spicy foods, but I want peppers to compliment the other ingredients of a dish. Eating hot peppers straight gets boring after a while. That's what I feel here. I don't get any other beer qualities. I don't sense any malt or hops.

The mouthfeel is thin and a little oily. It was a chore to drink this beer, and I just couldn't finish the last 4 ounces. It had to go down the drain. This is one lab experiment that was a failure.