Simple Malt Fumée Massive
Brasseurs Illimités

 

 

 

Pitch black a small head that disappear quickly. Smells almost like an Islay scotch, really peaty and smoky. Too sweet in the mouth too, a light molasses taste. But with a beautiful peaty aftertaste that, again, reminds me of Islay scotchs. Smoke is there but the taste isn't...

From BeerAdvocate magazine Issue #62 (Mar 2012):

LOOK: Opaque black, thin coffee-colored lacing

SMELL: Smoke, jerky

TASTE: Viscous, creamy, smoke, peat, sugar, burnt, raisin, chocolate, earth, nutty, spice, strong lingering smokiness

Gotta love Canadians and their slight obsession with smoked products—thankfully for us, it extends to smoked beers. While this one is indeed smoky and big, it seems a bit unbalanced. The smoke permeates the experience, and there’s very little that pushes back in the name of balance. We say this as smoke beer fans, too.

 

 

 

Got this one at Peluso in Montreal. Best stop for Quebec craft beer.

From a bottle into a snifter.
IBU: 33

APPEARANCE: Pours dark, chestnut brown and yields a small, medium looking, tan head with decent retention. Head quickly fades to a faint wisp and ring. A clear sienna brown in the glass with no carbonation evident. A splotchy wisp and ring remain but leave no real lacing down the glass.

SMELL: Really smoky for sure, but not obnoxiously so. Smoked meat, tobacco, some dark chocolate, and light caramel notes. Pretty bold on the smoked malts, but other aromas add complexity.

TASTE: Smoked malts, roasted notes, with some leather and tobacco at the finish. Bolder and lingering aftertaste is smoky and leathery, with some bitter dark chocolate as well. Tobacco is there the whole way through. Well balanced and certainly enjoyable.

PALATE: Medium-full body and slightly lower levels of carbonation. Creamy on the palate, goes down smooth and finishes a touch mouth coating. Good, full feel. Nice stuff.

OVERALL: This is quite good. I will admit that I'm not the hugest smoked beer fan, but since I'm a pretty big fan of Illimites, I thought I'd give this a shot. Very happy I did. The smoke is very well balanced and there are lots of other nice aromas and flavors worth contemplating. Another solid brew from a solid brewery. Cheers!

 

Love me a smoke monster once in a while, I can smell this one from more than 3 feet away.

A- Poured into a pint glass with a pretty much black body with a bit of brown around the edges. Mocha brown head forms with a creamy texture and around one finger in size. Retention is decent and there are a few patches of lace.

S- Reminds me of Ardbeg/Islay right off the bat. HUGE aroma. Reminds me of a campfire with leathery, bacon, coal and burning wood. A hint of caramel and roast malt underneath.

T- Interestingly not quite as smoky here, other reviews seem to mention this as well. The malt and yeast open up a bit with notes of caramel, dark fruit, spice, raisin, cocoa, nutty and roast hints. The smoke is pretty much half of the flavor with notes of campfire, leather and bacon.

MF- Creamy moderately thick body. Carbonation is smooth and pretty much silky. Smoke just dominates the palate.

I understand what the beer's name means and it is pretty much right on. The smoke is big, especially in the aroma, and will surely please people who like really smoked beers or even smoky Scotch.

appearance: dark brown, opaque, tan tinted head, leaves some spotty lace and has good head retention

smell: smells like good ol' bacon. brown sugar, chocolate hints, mahogany, leather, couldn't quite place one other essence in there

taste: full bodied, little on the creamy side. smoky hints from the smell aren't too dominant; good balance between smokiness and overall taste. good carbonation and tasted some oak in there

mouthfeel: i found it a little watery given its 8.6 ABV, but smooth overall

overall: one of the better smoked beers i've had, the complexity of its smell complimented the flavours, which were fairly balanced and not overpowering. i'd buy it again

 

Thanks to Aaron for this 12oz bottle.

Pours dark, dark chestnut brown with hints of ruby around the edges. The head is small and leaves a thin collar throughout.

Aroma is really inviting with smoked malts mixing with caramel, peat and some hickory. It's definitely got some molasses sweetness that balances out the smoke.

The taste doesn't quite live up to the aroma as the smoke starts to take on a bitter character that's not wholly unpleasant but it's not as well integrated as the nose. There is a more prominent scotch/peat kick up front with the sweetness not really balancing things as well as I was hoping.

The mouthfeel is very creamy and smooth with nice, soft carbonation.

Te nose on this beer really had me excited but the taste didn't live up to the expectations. I'm a big smoked beer fan and I like this one...would have been a fantastic beer if the taste matched the nose.

Thanks to Zorprime for this.

Pours a pitch black with just hints of mahogany red on the edges. Tan head receeded quite quickly to a weak cap.

Smoke, peat, rum raisen cake, booze, slight almond

Smoke is there, although not as prevalent as I thought it would be. Same rum raisin booze taste thru the smoke.

Body seems thin given the sweetness and higher ABV.

Interesting, but 1 is enuf for moi.

A: Black with mahoganny highlights, light tan head, thin ring of retention, slight leg.

S: Big smoky aroma, slighty phenolic, dark fruit, rye bread.

T: Smoky, dry roast, dark rye, dark caramel, licorice, dark fruit, good bitterness, slight alcohol warmth.

M: Fairly full body has a light residual sweetness and a slightly drying alcohol finish.

D: Very interesting, but a bit of a brute.

Viggo brought this one over. thanks eric!

12oz bottle. sampled march 7/2011.

pours deep dark brown, nearly black and largely opaque except where it fades to lighter brown at the very edges of the glass. a small cap of fine brown head forms, dropping quickly to a ring around the glass and leaving spotty lace.

aroma is nice. smoke and peat. coffee. dark chocolate. bit of alcohol. light caramel and toffee. biscuit and multi-grain bread. bit of grain and cracker. bit of dark fruit - raisin and date.

taste is nice. dark chocolate and light coffee. bit of toffee. light alcohol. smoke and peat. biscuit and toasted multi-grain bread. grain. really roasty, almost burnt. hint of caramel. medium bitterness level.

mouthfeel is nice. medium body with a fairly dry finish. just under medium carbonation level. somewhat burnt and astringent.

drinkability is pretty good. hides its alcohol well and has a neat smokey character, but the burnt edge detracts from it.

12 oz bottle, picked up in Montreal.

Pours a very dark orange, brown away from the light, appears mostly clear, medium sized light tan head forms and settles to a thin ring around the glass, a bunch of lace spots stick around, looks alright.

Smell is neat, sweet and malty, some peaty smoke, applewood, caramel and some brown sugar, raisin, a bit of alcohol, lightly fruity, a touch of smokey spice, very light chocolate milk/coffee roast, cherries, a touch too peaty.

Taste is similar, very sweet up front, molasses and brown sugar, a bit of toffee, very smokey, bit of plastic from the peat, cherries, lightly milky, a bit of chocolate, light vanilla and sugar in the finish, quite sweet.

Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with low carbonation. A bit of warmth but pretty smooth for the ABV. Not a bad smoked beer but not really sure exactly what its supposed to be.

Massive black body and dark brown head.Thick,oily body and thick creamy but oily mouthfeel. Just too much wood oven smoke to get through it, some burnt parts. Good for what it is, imperial smoke.Sugar, above average carbonation (I would like less).Unique.

I poured this one pretty hard (after noticing that the head wasn't appearing as it should) and the head disappeared like it was a glass of Coca-Cola. Nothing left. It's been a while since I poured any beer with absolutely zero head retention. The body is root beer-coloured and pretty much opaque.

Not much smell coming off this one as there is a complete lack of head. What I can smell is some dark, smoky malt, minerals and a bit of earthy hops.

There's quite a bit of smoked malt flavour with a slight crispy-maple-bacon character. Given Simple Malt's relation to Biereopholie I was expecting some massive smoke here a-la Calumet Grand Chef but it's not all that intense. Lots of minerals come out, as I've found in most good smoked beers. A bit of dark caramel underscores everything and is balanced by some soily hops. The malt could be filled out a little. I like the taste but the whole is unfortunately quite effected by the head retention problem. Some extra alcohol definitely shows but it's relatively smooth for being 8.6%ABV.

The carbonation is strange; it is present but only shows itself as this light fizzy feeling on the tongue. It's hard to describe but the beer seems flat in spite of this. The body is too thin to match the character found here and the finish is a little powdery, like 99% cocoa chocolate.

I feel like I would have thought this was a pretty good beer if there was only some head on it. This could be a great take on the style with a few tweaks. I would have picked up another bottle to make sure this wasn't just a problem with this one but I see other reviewers have found problems with head retention as well. The style is listed as "unique creation" but this is clearly a smoked porter (imperial I suppose).