Arrogant Punishment
Q: “What do you call it when you take a sip of oak barrel aged Double
Bastard Ale that’s had the other half of the bounty of chili peppers from
Greg’s home garden ceremoniously added in, resulting in a punishingly
intense level of hot pepper heat to an already overly intense beer whose
elevated alcohol level caused a significant transference of pain-inducing
capsicum?”
A: “Punishment.”
Punishment is 2013 Double Bastard Ale brewed with freshly harvested peppers and aged in bourbon barrels. Brutally hot and unyielding in its imposition, this intensely hellish spawn of Caribbean red hots, fatalis and Moruga scorpion peppers is a just dessert for any spice-taunting masochist who dares to engage it.
Bastard Ale that’s had the other half of the bounty of chili peppers from
Greg’s home garden ceremoniously added in, resulting in a punishingly
intense level of hot pepper heat to an already overly intense beer whose
elevated alcohol level caused a significant transference of pain-inducing
capsicum?”
A: “Punishment.”
Punishment is 2013 Double Bastard Ale brewed with freshly harvested peppers and aged in bourbon barrels. Brutally hot and unyielding in its imposition, this intensely hellish spawn of Caribbean red hots, fatalis and Moruga scorpion peppers is a just dessert for any spice-taunting masochist who dares to engage it.
2.8
169 reviews
Escondido, United States
Community reviews
Bottle, shared at a beer tasting @ Beer Temple - thanks Peter for providing these beers. Amber/red color. Not much head. Aroma’s: pepper, Maggi, caramel. Retronasal the heat already kicks in, pepper all the way. Flavor is sweet, but masked by the heat. Strong alcohol feel (or is it the pepper?). Full bodied. Very hot from the peppers. The heat last very long, but there is some bitterness detectable. They should have a version without pepper, cause it’s really over the top.
As hot a tamale as advertised in their always provocative promotional material. Characterized as “a brave beer” by beer enthusiasts I shared this with, it’s hard to imagine how many peppers go into creating this searing sipper. On top of the heat, there are delicious caramel malts, bourbon from the barrelling and enough hops to support the taste. Nice one to share and I wish I had more.
January 22, 2016 - bottle from AV3. Light brown pour with some head. Aroma was sweet, bourbon and veggies. Taste starts out with the sweetness and bourbon, but then becomes unbearably spicy hot. 2013 vintage.
Having tried a Crime a couple of years ago, I was better prepared for this one. Punishment isn’t as difficult to drink as I remember the Crime being. Still, one would ask, why destroy a perfectly good beer with this level of hot pepper and then charge so much for it? And who would buy it? Well, I guess enough daredevils are out there to keep the tradition going. Pours a cloudy brown with almost no head. Aroma is, strangely enough, largely of beer, with malt and grain dominating, although there is a hint of pepper in the aroma as well. The taste is, again, largely of beer. It drinks much like a regular Double Bastard, though with the addition of a huge burn at the finish. I found myself warming up to the Crime as the beer itself warmed up over time. Punishment is a better beer from the get-go, though it is still something to be sipped and savored. You might want to try this with a few friends ready to see who can "out-tough" each other.
500mL bottle, pours a deep dark orangey brown with a small off-white head. Aroma brings out spicy peppers and vomit. Flavour is absolutely vile, with intense spicy peppers and vomit. An absolute atrocity. Drain pour.
Bottle: Poured a caramel orange with ring of tan head. Very sweet bourbon and underlying heat. Very spicy heat that hits you in the back of the throat.
500 ml. corked and caged bottle. Pours a medium, rapidly collapsing light beige head, over a clear copper (SRM 15) body.....nose is chile peppers, with an Habanero note, hints of toasted malts, light hints of bourbon......taste is slightly sweet with light toffee/caramel notes, light bourbon, becoming chile hot, which rapidly dissipates, no esters, minimal hops.......mouth feel, medium body. alcohol warmth present, slight astringency, high carbonation. This is a failed experiment as the chile dominate the malts, yeast, barrel overly much. Changing the chile used, reducing the quantity would be the equivalent of changing around the hops. Habanero chile should not be used in brewing. BJCP 5/3/10/4/5
Entirely too hot to enjoy. Pepper flavor dominates and the accompanying burn masks all the flavors that may be there. At be good to cook with.
Bottle. A touch darker and murkier than Crime -- like tarnished copper. Little head. The nose is highly vegetal up front, packed with freshly chopped peppers. Beneath is the undeniable toffee sweetness of Double Bastard. Caramel, bourbon, oak, vanilla and maple all make appearances. The peppers disrupt what would be quite a treat. In the flavor, toffee, caramel and overripe oranges give way to rich toasted oak, which gives way to near-overpowering heat. Floral hop bitterness settles into the sides of the tongue about the same time as huge pepper heat assaults the front and throat. Malty-sweet and capsaicin-heavy. It’s physically hard to drink this -- you need to wait about a minute between sips to let the heat die down. I feel about it the way I feel about most spicy foods: good flavor is ruined by pain.
Stubby bottle. Pours a amber color with a medium white head. A big spicy nose, some bourbon. The flavor is initially more sweet barrel, vanilla and sugary malts, but this is all about massive heat. The spiciness is overpowering and makes this pretty much undrinkable. With that said, it is interesting.
Stone gets some credit for trying, but this is a pretty undrinkable beer. I’m amazed how much beer quality remained considering how much spicyness dominates nearly every dimension of this beer. I ended up mixing part of this with a light lager, adding lemon juice, and arriving at something approaching a Michelada...
Orange, dark amber color. Some spots for lace.
Scary pepper smell, like nuclear wings. Very dry.
Oh my God, this is the most extreme of extreme beers. It is actually hotter than buffalo wings. You may need a beer to accompany this one. The aftertaste is forever and hot as hell.
Be prepared for this one. I think it’s one of the great unique beers. It’s something special, but it’s not easy to drink.
Bottle (2013) shared by wolf! Nose of spice and peppers! Pours a murky red color. Taste like hot wings! Burns like the dickens! This one burns with an intense burning on the back of the throat. I will probably pay for this tomorrow! This is not for the faint hearted or even some one who wants to experiment. Medium sticky body, enjoyable... smooth but the heat from the peppers is the only thing you can focus on. Love or hate it.... I loved it!
Bottle shared by Damian and Lona. Pours a transparent amber with very little head. Bottle was 2 years old but was still dominated by the intense chilies. Not really even much of a beer taste apparent. Was like drinking salsa.
Caged and corked bottle. Umm, yeah, Punishment is a good name for this. I still see bottles on shelves for close to $40 ... why! Just a burn and peppery mess.
500 ml corked and caged bottle. Pours medium brown color with tan head.
Smells like hot peppers. "Tastes like burning"
Sample at Kurtkeller 018: Tequila-aged and Let’s Agree to Ruin Our Evening with Pepper beers-tastic 01 on 11/04/2014. Murky copper color with a medium thin off-white head that dissipates quickly. Short strings of lacing on the glass. Habanero peppers and malt in the nose. Full-bodied with a strong hot pepper character that dominates the malt and oak behind it. The finish is peppery with a lingering chili burn. I couldn’t get on board with either of these beers, as with Crime this is too over the top.
500ml bottle -
I could essentially copy my review of Crime and it would fit here perfectly as well. Lots of heat and lots of sweetness all the way around. The base beer gets obliterated from the addition of the chili peppers. But I liked it.
Shared with my friend Sando. This beer started with promise, as it poured a decent caramel and a creamy tight head. The nose was intense, with smokey peppers and a slight caramel influence. Then the first sip. Everything but BURN goes away. The pepper influence is so strong that nothing else in this beer shows through. I’m glad I didn’t spend twenty bucks on this. Sorry Steve O!
bottle @ Party Town / Florence KY --- Cloudy dark amber, light tan head, no lace. Taste is somewhat sweet malt followed immediately (I mean Right Now!) by power chili. Burn is on the roof of the mouth, the soft palate, the throat, and it can be felt sliding into the stomach. This isn’t punishment - this is the beer to use for playing tricks on friends. Surely Stone isn’t serious. Undrinkable (and $18.00 for the bomber). I guess the trick was on me.
500 ml bottle via local trade. 2013 vintage. Pours a semi-clear amber with an off-white head. This one is like Crime, but amped up - more spice, more peppers, bigger body, more alcohol, more balancing malty and fruity sweetness. Burns my lips. Medium-full bodied, with a spicy, boozy, heavy mouthfeel and moderate carbonation. Aggressive. Hard to drink much of, but fun to try.
From bottle during the BeerMongers Fifth Anniversary Bottle Share 9/7/14. Rated only as a chili beer, it is the best I’ve had. The heat from the chilies is cut slightly by the bigness of the beer itself, but it’s pretty powerful. Felt it in my stomach for a few minutes. Definitely for the spicy averse.
"Definitely disappointed in the 2nd bottle release of these. While the first scotch barreled batches were far and away the best pepper beers ever, this beer is so hot and pepper dominated that the bourbon barreling is completely covered up. I dig the peppers, but his is hard to kill. BB double bastard or the base DB are preferred. Subtlety could have gone a long way here. Scotch Punishment was an all timer to compare (4.5-6)."
Does not age well.
Bottle courtesy of maniac, alongside Crime provided by obguthr in an impressive display of beer tasting coordination. Aroma is eye-watering peppers. Taste is way too hot for me, and I ate kimchi in Korea.
No way. This was disgusting. Massive heat dominating everything. Can’t drink more than an ounce. Taste massive off charts spice.
Bottle. Moderate roasted and caramel for the malt, light cooked orange for the hops, light dough for the yeast, with a huge amount toasted habanero pappers. Head is small, frothy, off-white with no lacing and is almost fully diminishing. Color is hazy medium red brown. Flavor starts lightly to moderately sweet and lightly acidic, then finishes lightly to moderately sweet, lightly acidic and moderately bitter. Palate is medium to full, slick with a lively carbonation and a super spicy hot finish. The Habenero blast in this American Strong Ale is awesome.
Even for a beer with pepper this is intense. flavor of habanero and green pepper. Very hot, and I can’t imagine drinking a full bottle of this.
Pours dark murky brown with a small light tan. Smells spicy with undertones of vanilla and roast. Taste is killer spicy with hints of bitterness and vanilla sweetness. Medium-bodied with a smooth texture and soft mouth-carbonation, Stone Punishment finishes with a lingering extreme spiciness.
500 ml bottle- Pours hazy dark orange with a small light tan head. Aroma is strong in peppers, jalapenos and other peppers i’m sure, malt. The taste is strong pepper taste, intense heat burn, toasted coconut, wood. Body is full and carbonation is medium. Great, not for the weak! This is better than Crime, they are similar, but this seems to be more well rounded, behind all that heat which I love you can really taste a fine quality barrel aged beer, crazy experiment that only the outlaws of the craft beer movement would attempt, you’re the best Stone!
So bad. That’s all I need to say. Smell of awfulness. Taste is even worse.
-- rated with beerbasher/winphone