Bolero Snort Brewery: Cracked Pepperhorn

Two weeks ago, I posted about how I stumbled across Bolero Snort's Barrel Aged Javahorn.  During that same trip to the bottle shop, I picked up a bottle of Cracked Pepperhorn, Bolero Snort's 2nd anniversary beer.

There is just something exciting and nostalgic about the passing of another year.  Brewers celebrate a full revolution around the sun by getting creative in the brewhouse and constructing a special beer. To commemorate their 2nd anniversary, New Jersey's Bolero Snort Brewery brewed up a brown ale.  

A brown ale?  You read me right!  For Cracked Pepperhorn, Bolero brewed an imperial brown ale with a dose of black peppercorns added for good measure.  An Imperial Peppercorn Brown Ale was born.  The aptly named Cracked Pepperhorn comes in at 8.1% ABV, and is packaged in waxed 750 mL bottles.  I had bottle 203 out of 848 total bottles.

Squid's Fist was one of Bolero Snort's first beers to win an award when they were still only homebrewers. Cracked Pepperhorn pays homage to that beer.  According to the label, Cracked Pepperhorn is Squid's Fist brought to the next level.

Bolero Snort Cracked Pepperhorn

Bolero Snort knocked it out of the park with Cracked Pepperhorn. It pours with a beautiful amber hue.  Sweet malt dominates up front and is cut with a dry, peppery finish.  It's not too heavy or too sweet.  To me, it was just right.  The 8.1% ABV provides a pleasant warming to round out the beer.  Cracked Pepperhorn is everything I could want out of a brown ale, and probably my favorite Bolero Snort beer to date. 

Now if only I could find some of Bolero Snort's Bergen County Bull Stout....