Applewood Farm Smoken Apple

Bronze colour with a chile and a peppercorn in the glass. Huge black pepper nose with a hint of chile. Apple sweetness and massive hot pepper, with a hint of peppercorn. Kind of burly. Not for everyone, but I like it.

Bottle... GIABMISGFAB ... This beer rocks!... Clear, dark golden cider. Decent legs. I had the dregs, so there were lots of black peppercorns and other herbals floating and dipping about. The aroma? Wow! Black pepper, chilies, sweet red apples and a plethera of other spicy earthiness. Full-bodied with a syrupy mouthfeel. Sweet and HOT as hell! That’s what I get for waiting for the dregs... apparently, all the hot stuff sinks to the bottom of the bottle. Painful bliss! The finish? Don’t know... my tongue was still on fire! I was able to sweat my way through this one and loved every second of it. Reminds me of my childhood, visiting the M&M Cafe in Albuquerque, NM and ordering the "Red Chile Platter." Kudos to TheCheeseMan for providing this heavenly elixir of death!

Thanks to puzzl for sharing this recently. Deep ruddy amber colour with a lightly cloudy appearance. Aroma is very spicy. Rich hot pepper over a sweet rich apple cider character. Loads of warming spices, clove, black pepper, cinnamon and a rich sweet apple character. The more you smell this, the more intoxicating it becomes. I spent about 15 minutes just swirling and sniffing this. Flavour is also quite lovely. Initially a hit of sweet apple cider, mulling spices follow and then the heat and spiciness hit on the back. Linger hot pepper character with just a kiss of smokiness as well. Light malic acidity that helps cut through everything. Man, this stuff rocks. Eugene doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

Sampled at Applewood. Clear deep gold pour, moderately thick-looking, nice legs. There is sweet iced cider in the aroma of this beast somewhere, but it’s mostly capsicum, black pepper, earthy spicy - not your generic no-flavour pepper - earthy and fresh yessir. Taste - VERY hot, and I don’t care for very hot, but I finished my sample and was looking for more - I can see drinking this as a winter warmer, or doing small shots of it - anyway, there is more apple than in the aroma, somewhat acidic behind the sweetness - this stuff really is probably best suited as a marinade, but Matt at Applewood said you can keep it re-corked in the fridge for a few months after opening, so I’ll cook with it AND drink it. I really liked this!

Bottle (375ml) shared with some friends. 2005 vintage. Pours a hazy yellow-orange with no head (of course). Very nice smoky, spicy apple aroma. Flavour: So spicy but still very apple-ey -- whoo, I love this! Hot & spicy, oh so very HOT, but surprisingly there’s still a good amount of the apple ice wine that comes through. Syrupy mouthfeel, thick bodied. Wow, what an experience!

375ml bottle of 2005 vintage from Harry! Been burning a hole in my cellar waiting for Enniskillen to come and share it. His first glass had two peppercorns in it, mine poured out three Thai peppers. Nose of apples, mild chili, woodiness, and pepperiness. Very lightly hazed gold with no carbonation. Flavor of the Thai peppers which I buy fresh each time I go to a Bistro Beer Fest at the Farmers Market that is there each Saturday mixed with appley sweetness and woody undertones. I am going to eat the three peppers that poured into my glass and then use some of the three inches left in the bottle to make some chili after I finish the rest of the cider. This ain’t no Cave Creek Chili Beer! Nice and hot sweetness!

Bottle thanks to the CheeseMan at the Merritt Island Throwdown. Brandy color. Cinnamon, clove, sherry, sugar and allspice in the nose. Flavors include hot chili lingering on the tongue. Viscious palate, flat and uncarbonated. As a lover of oddity, art, and heat, I really appreciated this for its uniqueness, its visual appeal, and the fact that I could chomp down on a chili and a peppercorn when it was all over.

Bottle from my Secret Santa. Wow, what a beast! This stuff was awesome. It definitely split the camp though, with about half the people loving it and half hating it. I was among the lovers. The aroma is simply out of this world, so fresh and natural, loaded with campfire, cedar, rich smoke, juniper, and all sorts of camping type stuff, with a great finish of hot pepper heat. It comes together brilliantly in one of the most enticing aromas I’ve ever experienced. The flavor is a different story entirely. It starts out sweet and syrupy like an ice cider, but you can feel something lurking underneath. As soon as the liquid leaves the front of the mouth the fire comes out, a scorching though controlled burn that is a pure joy. Definitely hot, but not too hot. Never did I feel like I couldn’t go on. This was harder to drink due to the sweetness of the cider than it was the heat of the peppers. I dig how this bottle was filled with peppercorns and some 10+ hot peppers, as well. A unique treat that I’m thrilled I had the chance to enjoy.