CINCINNATI — Anyone who loves Cincinnati chili enough to wonder if it would make a good beer flavor will soon have their first chance to find out.
Covington-based Braxton Brewing Company is the bold local beer creator making the first-ever Skyline beer. It's part of a larger push to create variants of the brewery's Dark Charge brew, something Braxton started doing last year.
"Skyline Chili Spice," a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout, is one of around eight new variants announced for this year.
"Dark Charge has always been about pushing boundaries while honoring tradition," said Jake Rouse, co-founder and CEO of Braxton, in a press release. "This year, we're taking that spirit to the next level with bold new variants like Skyline Chili Spice — the very first beer ever crafted with Skyline."
The press release describes the beer's flavor as "our love letter to the Queen City's most iconic dish."
The company describes it as rich, barrel-aged stout flavors mixed with a touch of Skyline spice. Each box also comes with a can of Skyline chili, in case you want to whip up some coneys or a 3-way while you sip.
The variants will officially be featured at Braxton's Dark Charge Winter Block Party on December 6 at the Covington taproom.
Other Dark Charge variants announced in this batch alongside Skyline Chili Spice focus more on dessert-like flavors. There will be this year's Dark Charge Imperial Age Stout, a Dark Charge cookie butter flavor the brewery says tastes like "pure Biscoff bliss," and a creme brulee flavor.
The variants for this year also feature Dark Charge Chocolate Buckeye — fashioned after Ohioans' favorite chocolate and peanut butter treat.
Then there's the Cobbler Box, which adds three new cobbler-flavored variants to the lineup, including peach, blackberry and cherry.
The brewery announced the beer Wednesday, but pre-sales won't open until Tuesday, November 25.
