Rattlesnake Mountain Smokey Porter
Rattlesnake Mountain Brewing Company

Definitely my favorite beer to get here, but often it's too heavy for me to have more than just one! It smells absolutely fantastic. Definitely very smokey and deserving of its name. Quite malty too, with a taste of coffee.

 

 

I was served a 12 ounce pint glass from the tap at Kimo's in Richland, Washington.

A: It poured a dark brown body that was thin around the edges alowing light through and giving it the appearance of dark ice tea. The head was light tan and modest (less than half a finger). The head receded quickly to a ring around the collar and supported a thin lacing the quickly collasped into the liquid.

S: It gave off the aroma of dark roasted malts with hints of coffee, and a whiff of smoke and roasted almonds. The aromas were subtle and pleasant.

T: The flavors were subdued and diluted. The dark malts were nearly a non-factor...no chocolate and little coffee. I detected whisps of smoke but only barely.

M: It was thin, watery and light bodied. It had a funky sour back that lingered into the aftertaste.

D: Not much of a porter. Nothing to recommend it...it is a nothing brew...not much of a porter.

I’ll admit that spelling isn’t exactly my strongpoint and I repeatedly forget the proper spelling of “smoky.” Is there an “e” in there or not? I think not. But thank goodness for spell check.

As if to hedge their bets, Kimo’s spells it both ways on their menu and formerly represented it as “smoked porter” on their broadsides. I can spell smoked.

But no matter how you spell it, this one is worth your dime. It’s nice to see some photo quality head retention. And the dark, roasted aroma and all-around solid porter qualities hold one’s attention. The body is brown with (as the song says) a touch of gray. Smokey is a bit light in the finish where you hope it might kick into higher gear. But the undercurrent of sweet malts in the nose and relaxed smokiness throughout work quite well.

Had this on tap at Bennedito's, a pizza joint on Spokane's lower South Hill.

Was a dark brown, but not nearly as dark as the majority of porters out there. Medium sized head.

Smell was primarily that of a roasty, coffeeish and chocolaty porter. The smokiness is very subdued. In fact, I've had porters and stouts that have been more smoky smelling without having the word smoke appear in their name. Outside of that disappointment, there was nothing to criticize about the aroma of this beer.

Taste, like the aroma, is that of a competently made porter, with no reason to get particularly excited. The smokiness implied in the name is present only as a faint whispy flavor deep in the background. This does not taste bad, and I'm not asking to be bowled over by the taste of smoked malts, I just feel like it should be more smoky than it is if it's being sold as a smoked porter.

Mouthfeel was a little bit thin for a porter, or at least my view on how thick a porter should be.

Drinkability was fine. Certainly it didn't affect my calzone adversely. This is not a particularly heavy tasting porter, so I think one could happily have several. But don't expect a beer in the same class as Stone's smoked porter - to say nothing of the very smoky offering from Alaskan. However, this was under $3 on tap, which I would imagine is significantly cheaper than one would find themselves paying for those other two.