Have you ever tried a beer that you respected in terms of craftmanship, but didn’t necessarily care for, from a flavor perspective?
That was my experience with Founders’ Mango Magnifico con Calor:
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.
So you combine a fruit and chili beers. I like those two things, but this thing? Ehhhhh...
Review:
The bouquet is VERY fruity, with that mango really coming through. But you do pick up a hint of the chili capsaicin behind it. Very subtle. And the beer follows through with a very sweet flavor on the front end that that hits you hard, but briefly before it swims right over the malt of a Belgian-style ale. You get a last little bit of mango sweetness and then WHAM! The habanero flavor hits you with a heat that lingers — no in that “I have to now drink something else to put this out” way, but you’ll know what you had to drink.
In terms of the craftmanship and the flavor, this thing hits all of its marks and for that it gets a 3.75-star grade out of five, but it just wan’t my taste really.