Move over, Ghost Face Killah! You’ve just been out-peppered by Flying Dog Heat Series Carolina Reaper Peach IPA. That’s not to say that the heat level in Carolina Reaper Peach IPA is higher than in the Ghost Face Killah, as I would have to do a side by side to be sure, though going on memory the Killah seems hotter. Still, Ghost Face Killah is made with the third hottest pepper in the world, the Ghost Pepper, while the Flying Dog beer is made with the Carolina Reaper, the world’s hottest by scoville units. Somebody needs to brew a Trinidad Scorpion beer to pay homage to the world’s second hottest pepper.

Anyway, I had heard about the Flying Dog Heat Series beers, but they are not available here in Georgia. We do get Flying Dog beers mind you, just not all of them. Why is that? I’m sure I don’t know. Luckily, good old Dave Coulter came to the rescue and picked me up a bottle-thanks Dave! The beer is described on the label as an “India Pale Ale brewed with peach and Carolina Reaper peppers”.

From the label:

No amount of cowbell can save you from a Scoville scale buster and Guinness World Record holder developed by a truly mad scientist. Relish the sweet peach and juicy Galaxy hops…while they last. Then, fear the reaper.

Ingredients from the website:

Specialty Malts: Caramel, Oats, Wheat

hops: Galaxy

yeast: American Ale

Flying Dog Heat Series Carolina Reaper Peach IPA has an alcohol content of 6.8% by volume with 40 IBUs. As I said, you can’t buy it here in Georgia, but Total Wine does sell it in Virginia for $10.99 a six-pack. The “mad scientist” bit on the label refers to the fact the Carolina Reaper is a hybrid pepper developed to out-Scoville the Trinidad Scorpion. My bottle has a best by date of 01.26.17 on the label; I drank it on October 16^th.

Flying Dog Heat Series Carolina Reaper Peach IPA pours to a pale golden color with a thick loosely packed head of foam and a sweet peach nose laced with hints of green vegetal peppers. Taking a sip, there’s a thin maltiness about his one (the wheat for you) and some definite peachy fruit permeates, but the peppers are the true star. For using the Carolina Reaper this beer ain’t all that hot, but it’s hotter than many I’ve had, and a vegetal pepper flavor and slow burn heat run throughout. As you sip, that heat warms the mouth and the back of the throat, especially the latter in the finish. I get some hop bitterness at the last, but really the heat drowns out most of that.

The secret with peppers of course is not just how hot they are, but how much of them you use. Though I would like more heat here and think that Flying Dog could have used more of them, you sure can’t say Flying Dog Heat Series Carolina Reaper Peach IPA isn’t hot. It’s certainly one of the hotter and better pepper beers I’ve ever had, and I love the way the peppery fire balances against the juicy peach. Lovely balance is what it’s all about, and the flavor and drinkability more than make up for the (relative) lack of heat for the hottest pepper in the world.

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