Introduction

Phil Bannan Sr., Founder and Owner of Scuttlebutt Brewing, will tell you that he opened a brewery so he would never run out of beer. He named the business Scuttlebutt after his wife “Scuttle”, to placate her for introducing such chaos into their lives. Twenty-years later, Scuttlebutt remains an independent brewery; family-owned and operated, and continues to make sure Phil Sr. never runs out of beer. We asked Scuttlebutt Head Brewer Matt Stromberg why a jalapeño tripel? “I frequently am asked what would inspire me to create a beer like Jalapeño 777... I really enjoy the flavor of peppers and often employ them when cooking, however I found when drinking most pepper beers, the heat would stack up on me and I didn’t crave a second glass. I wanted to produce a pepper beer designed to be drinkable, with just enough heat to keep you honest. The Tripel 7 (Scuttlebutt’s Belgian Tripel) had some intriguing flavors to play the peppers off of so we gave it a shot. The resulting beer proved to be extremely popular and we decided to make it an annual release. This is now the fourth year that we have produced it and the first year with wider distribution in bottles. There’s something of a cult following for it, we make a little more each year, completely sell out and continue to receive inquiries for it year round.”

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How it looks

Jalapeno 777 pours a clear, dark golden colour with a substantial white head that dissipates fairly quickly.

How it smells

The nose on this beer is very peppery with the characteristic vegetable smell of jalapeños, Belgian yeast and a touch of sweet honey.

How it tastes

Taste-wise, the delicate white pear flavours of the Tripel 7 Belgian base marry exceptionally well with the broad, pungent flavours of the jalapeños. The main flavour on this beer is the vegetable flavours of the peppers but there is also a nice sweetness coming through with Belgian-yeast flavours. The more beer consumed, the more you discover that the heat is cumulative; it warms the palate but doesn’t overwhelm with spice.

Recommended food pairing

The heat and jalapeño flavour in this beer would make it a nice pairing with braised meat tacos, as the slight sweetness would complement the meat, and the spice would cut through the richness.