Feel the burn with the Oskar Blues ghost wing challenge

By Jonathan Shikes Tue., Apr. 6 2010 at 1:27 PM

Categories: Beer Man, Cafe Society

This might hurt a little.

Do you think you're tough? No, seriously, do you think you're tough?

Because if you have even a lingering doubt about the fortitude of your stomach lining or the iron sides of your throat, you won't want to try the ghost wing challenge at Oskar Blues Homemade Liquids & Solids in Longmont.

What are ghost wings? They're like regular hot wings, but instead of using regular hot sauce, they're made using ghost peppers - or Bhut Jolokia - which, at 1,000 times more potent than jalapenos, are the hottest chiles known to man.

They're the same ones that the Indian army is attempting to harness for use in terrorist-fighting weapons, the same ones that carry a warning on the bags sold at spice shops, the same ones that Boulder's Twisted Pine Brewing is using in a new beer.

Here's the challenge: Order two pounds of ghost wings (tell the server to "Weaponize Me," says Liquids & Solids manager Garret Frase) and eat them all, along with the carrots and celery they come with, in ten minutes. You get one beer and no napkins. Do it and the glory, the wings ($15.98), the beer are all free. Oh, and you get a T-shirt, too.

"I've seen four or five people do it and ten or twelve people cry," Frase says. "They are very, very hot. It creeps up on you. That's why the call it the ghost pepper."

Frase recommends Oskar Blues's new IPA, the Gubna, for your single beer - "hoppy beers always cut through spicy foods" - but the anyone who tries it gets milk as well, whether they complete the challenge or not.