Founders 'Mango Magnifico Con Calor' 2016

Founders Brewing 'Mango Magnifico Con Calor' 2016. 10% abv. Honey-orange color. Hazy and dense with sediment. Thin off-white head that quickly falls to a sustaining collar. Moderate retention, little lacing. Nose of vanilla, mango rind, bitter greens, fruit pastry. As the temp rose, the aroma quickly became unpleasant, with a dominant scent of salty, buttery crackers, apricot jam, and Parmesan cheese.

Front taste is mango, butter, honey, black pepper, with apricot on the back end. Aftertaste is where the jalapeño finally emerges, with roasty chili pepper tones over a jammy, herbal expression. Ends on a sweet, if not vapory finish. Medium body. Mouthfeel is cool, round, tingly from the delayed spice, increasing heat.

This is a bizarre, disappointing, nearly offensive beer, a failed attempt at combining unlikely flavors to create something special. The promised mango and jalapeño tastes are delivered in spades, but that is not necessarily a good thing, at least not within this recipe. The combination here results in an odd, off-flavor, confused beer that starts with an aroma of Parmesan cheese mixed with a jar of apricot preserves and the rotted skin of a mango. Think of a stinky foot, smothered with spoiled jam. The spice notes from the jalapeño seem to only accentuate that odd smell and taste.

I haven't had a beer this bad in years. I ended up pouring the last third of it out. I got a headache from the sugar syrup in the beer. An overall unpleasant experience. Part of me wants to try this beer again, just in case I had an infected or turned bottle. That occasionally happens with every brewery. However, the experience was so bad that I don't think I could pick up another bottle of this. 

If you like fruit beers or hot pepper beers, there are many far better choices out there. Even if there weren’t, I’d still avoid buying this failed experiment again. Pass on this one.



From the brewery:

"Mango Magnifico is a high-gravity fruit beer brewed with mango and a touch of habaneros to add just the right amount of heat. The delicate flavors imparted by the sweet richness of the mango are punctuated perfectly by the subtle heat of the habaneros, proving that fruit beers do not have to be one-note. Each 750mL bottle of this 10% ABV ale is both sophisticated and refreshing, making it the perfect beer to share… or to keep all to yourself. Mango Magnifico is part of a long lineage of Founders’ fruit beers, including Rubaeus, Cerise, Blushing Monk and Big Lushious."

[source: foundersbrewing.com]