Nimbus Smoked Porter
Nimbus Brewing Company

Tar colored, only a click away from opaque blackness with a thin but sturdy dark tan head.
Deep, dark chocolate nose, flecked with blackberries, anise, cigar ash, and more chocolate.
Flows through the mouth with more of that molten chocolate. Both bitter dark and milky sweet. It turns gradually toastier and drier, but still carries gobs of lingering confections as it then sees a burst of liquorice, toffee, dark berries and a possible hickory smokiness (though that namesake flavor is generally elusive). Yeast dots the middle with an agreeable lactic flair reminiscent of Sammy Smith's Taddy. Coffee grounds and burnt fudge linger long through through the swallow.
This is a robust and very full bodied porter. Glassy in texture, and coating. Meaty is almost an understatement.
It's not a quick drink, but it is thoroughly enjoyable. The "smoked" moniker is a bit of a bugaboo, as I prefer it to be more pronounced. I'll grant it leeway, because as a Robust English-styled Porter it has few peers.

This beer sits in my pint glass with a frothy, though typically draught thin, dark tan colored head. The beer is an almost black, amber color that shows brilliantly clear, ruby highlights when held up to the light. The aroma is initially sweet with crystal malt notes being prominent. It finishes with roasty notes of burnt malt and toasted grain. I don't get much in the way of smoke though; at most it adds to the malty complexity that defines this beer's aroma.

The taste is rich and creamy in consistency, even more so because this beer is only 5.5% alcohol. A rich, approaching satiating, malt sweetness is found up front and even lingers on through to the finish. There is a spicy hop character towards the finish that is magnified a bit by the carbonation; this helps to balance out the huge malt character. Notes of chocolate and roasted coffee beans are quite noticeable and quite enjoyable as well. The smoke character is subtle, but definitely contributes; it adds another layer, upping the complexity and richness of this already great malty beer.

There is a soft, almost berry-like fruit character to this beer as well that manifests itself about half way through my pint and toward the end of a sip of this delectable brew (perhaps contributed by the British ale yeast). This is a damn tasty brew, especially as a Porter. I could certainly wish for more smoke character, in fact it really needs more to even be called a smoked Porter, but that would ruin the balance that this beer has found as a Porter. In the end this is perhaps mislabeled on the tap as a Smoked Porter, but the signs and the description call it a Porter with some smoked malt added.

Very dark color, thin creamy light head with decent retention. The aroma was very faint. Only a hint of roasted coffee made it to the nose. On the first sip I realize the flavors are hidden and don't want to come out much. I taste the smokiness, although subtle, and also a dry coffee flavor. Not very sweet/chocolatey compared to some other American Porters. I didn't find it to be that bitter either. The alcohol is not noticible. The mouthfeel ran a bit thin for a porter, but with decent carbonation its was still nice overall. I would have another, but I would really love this beer if it just had more touch of sweetness to balance the smokey coffee flavors...