CITRINITAS

Style: Smoked Chili IPA
Brewed: Browar Kraftwerk, Poland
Tested: bottle, July 2017

I will be honest  - I do not really like “smoked” beers. But I like chili. So it is getting complicated – would the smoke kill chili, or would chili kill the smoke.

After trying Citrinitas, the answer happened to be not so simple. First of all  -the beer has really beautiful color. Dark red is rather unusual and pleasant to see. Low carbonation is sufficient to produce nice head. On the firs view its not heavy smoked, smells bit of it, but also pepper and mango. After tasting – one thing is clear – smoke has killed the chili. No matter how I try, I cannot detect neither chili aroma nor its taste. It’s a bit disappointing. But the real surprise comes from the hops – they in fact have overwhelmed the smoke, or at least made it more balanced. This could be the best “smoked” beer I have ever had.

I would dare to suggest it as a start point for anybody wanting to try smoked beers. Just close your eyes a bit for the lack of chili, and you get a great (decently) smoked IPA worth trying.