Day 3: Cucapa's Obscura American Ale

I know it's only day 3, but this is easily my favourite so far. I don't know how it stacks up to the other beers offered by Cucapa, but Obscura is the most boring name in their stable of brews. Based in Baja, they tout titles like Runaway, Chupacabra, Green Card and La Migra. Let the scotch people be serious, beer should be fun.

If I had to give this one a reference point based on beers people might have tried before, I'd place it halfway between a classic oatmeal stout and a Newcastle Brown. Mmmm...just thinking about NB makes me jones for some fish and chips.

The malt is roasted, but not much. At least not enough to overpower the other flavours. A bit of citrus from the hops, but again, it's subtle. I'd say it's on the sweet side of a bitter vs. sweet continuum, but not by much. Just enough to let a creaminess come through that has a hint of caramel or even butterscotch.

I want to pair it with some Mexican food. REAL Mexican food, not the local guano masquerading as Mexican food. Can't decide if I'm happy or sad about Obscura triggering my Mexican food Jones mechanism.

If you're into the beer mainstream, Obscura would make a good change of pace beer, or something to just have in the fridge so that when someone comes over, you can say, "Hey, I've got something you should try." As such, it is worthy of my first six pack rating.

This has me thinking that someone out there, on a rotating basis, should post reviews on the hangovers induced by overindulgence in each of these beers. Valuable information. Not me, but someone. Someone else. Just throwing that out there.