Fat Bottom’s Office Bad Boy – a delightfully spicy and sweet citrus peppercorn lager
Fat Bottom Brewing was east Nashville’s first brewery, opening their doors all the way back in 2012. And, after four years of success, the brewery actually moved from the east side of the city to the west side, into a new 33,000 square-foot facility. Today you can find them in bars and stores all over the Nashville metro area.
They love to keep it simple – you can find that sentiment all over their website. And their beers are usually that…pretty dang simple but pretty dang good. So when I saw a more “complicated” beer…I knew I needed to get my hands on it.
Office Bad Boy is a citrus peppercorn lager…which is something I had never seen before. This lager was brewed with sweet orange peel, Szechuan peppercorn, black peppercorn, coriander and grains of paradise. It features a 5.6% ABV and they just started canning it! A six-pack of 12-ounce cans was just $7 at the brewery so I jumped at the opportunity.
The beer poured a straw color with a little bit of cloudy haze to it. About a finger of eggshell white head topped it all off. The foam didn’t linger too long and quickly fizzled down to a thin ring around the edge of the glass with minimal lacing left on the sides.
On the nose, the beer was mostly pithy with the orange peel being the most prevalent quality. There was a tad bit of peppery spice that was backed up by the grist, grains of paradise, and coriander. But, for the most part, the orange dominated the smell.
Each sip begins with a creamy and smooth mouthfeel and a bit of a thicker body. And, once again, it is the orange that dominates early on. It starts rather sweet and just a bit pithy with all that orange peel. The coriander comes out early on as well, joining in with the orange after a moment or two.
Then, around the midway point, the pepper slowly begins to creep forward. It’s not a harsh or burning peppery spice but there is a nice tingle that sits at the back of the tongue. It’s rather subtle and really nice.
Every sip fades out slowly, with a lingering thicker mouthfeel and some dryness from the citrus peel and peppers. Those subtle black and Szechuan pepper characteristics do add the tiniest bit of heat to the ending without it being overbearing or spicy.
However, the more you drink, the more those peppers begin to come through. Halfway through the can and the peppers were encroaching on that early juicy orange flavor but were still not overbearing…and the citrus still cut most of the heat from them with that nice juicy quality.
With its slightly thicker body, it does sit a bit heavier than most lagers. But it’s still very easy to drink.
This beer works. I love the sweetness up front followed by that light spice and coriander. The black peppercorn is slightly more noticeable than the Szechuan but they work well together in harmony.
I will certainly be getting more. Amazing flavors and you certainly can’t beat the price. If you’re in Nashville, it’s worth stopping to try this combination.
