XS Smoke Ale
Rogue Ales

This wee 7-fl. oz. Bottle is a testament to both my backlog & my patience. It may be as old as 20 years & once I have completed my review, I will be requesting that it be retired. I was inspired to finally pull it out this past week as I was equally inspired to run through my remaining Voodoo Donut collaborations.

From the Bottle: "Unfiltered & Unfined"; "14.5° Plato, 20.6° L, 76 AA"; "World Beer Championships Gold '95 Silver '94 Great American Brew Festival Gold '90 Silver '91, '92, '93 Colorado State Fair Gold '95"; "12 Ingredients: Great Western Harrington, Klages, Munich, Hugh Baird Crystal, Carastan 30/37 & 13/17, Chuck's Alderwood Smoked Munich & Bamberg Beechwood Smoked Malts; Saaz & Perle Hops,Free Range Coastal Water and Top Fermenting Pacman Yeast. No chemicals or preservatives."; "346 E1 1344".

I Pop!ped the cap & went with one of the slowest, gentlest pours in memory. I did not want to disturb the lees on the kick/punt, despite being rather angry at discovering that it was a screwed-up screw-off cap! 8={} I HATE those things! Due to the combination of age & my gentleness, it was fairly still with absolutely ZERO head being produced. Color was Coppery-Brown (SRM = > 17, < 22) with NE-quality clarity, resembling tea. Hmm. Nose smelled like walking into S. Clyde Weaver Smoked Meats & Cheese in East Petersburg, PA (https://sclydeweaver.com/)! OMFG. Jimmy John's advertises "Free Smells", but I would pay S. Clyde Weaver to stand in their shop & inhale if I had to. This was the perfect amount of sweet, savory smokiness that I was hoping for. Mouthfeel was thin-to-medium, no biggie, given its age. The taste was beautifully smoky, slightly savory, but very much like sweet Lebanon bologna, freshly cut from a stick while you wait. Mmm. I always liked S. Clyde Weaver's sweet Lebanon bologna & when I first hit on smoked beers, they were both a revelation & a craving for me. This was EXACTLY what I have been looking for all of these years! 8=( Sadly, it was only a 7-fl. oz. bottle & it was long out of production + even if I could find another, I don't know that I have another 20 years on my clock. 8=( You had better believe that I savored every drop. Finish was in that semi-sweet to semi-dry range. The residual sugars were almost certainly gone, making it semi-dry, but the sweetish taste from the smoke left it semi-sweet. Dang, but this was good!