Velvet Rut
Melvin Brewing

16 ounce can, canned on 12/31/20, thanks to Brutaltruth for this one! Served in a snifter, the beer pours a very dark brown color with about an inch or so tan head. Head retention and lacing are both good. I like the aroma, there's a decent amount of smoke along with some dark fruit, coffee and bittersweet chocolate. Taste is similar to the aroma, but there's also some burnt/charred malt and earthy flavors noticeable. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's easy to drink and a bit coating with a moderate amount of carbonation. I thought it was a good overall smoked porter, wouldn't mind trying it again!

these tall melvin cans all look so sharp, just love the aesthetics, and i am stoked to not have missed this one, drinking amazing now, even in summertime, its just so well made, and i dont think these guys ever get enough credit for their dark beers, all of them are excellent. this is a strong porter with an english vibe as a base, sturdy but not boozy, lightly fermentation forward but not yeasty, and well layered on the dark grains. it then incorporates some amount of smoked malt, which may have faded a little since this was canned, but is quite subtle. the whole thing is cohesive and warming and balanced, i love the malt complexity with the light campfire smoke, baking chocolate earthiness, and roasted bitterness, it also has just a hint of toffee sweetness in the center, and feels smooth as can be on the palate, nothing acrid or harsh from the smoke, not much residual sugar, and not so roasty that the low end is all you can taste. i love the texture of this, with all the body and carbonation, and the aftertaste is as delicious as the beer itself. i like smoked beer a lot, so could always take a little more that in here, but i appreciate the restraint too, and the overall quality of this is fantastic. a perfect morning beer, this experimental series continues to slay, but i would buy this at least semi regularly if it was part of their permanent lineup, really a gold standard for this sort of thing!

Delicious

 

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque black in the glass with a two finger dark khaki head with great retention and solid lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, cocoa, drip coffee, lactose and a bare hint of smoke. Flavor is dark toasted malt with light char, coffee, cocoa, lactose, a hint of vanilla and smoke. Lingering coffee and toasted malt. Medium bodied with light creaminess. A satisfying roasty porter with milk stout and export stout characteristics. Oddly, not much smoke, although it may be subsumed into the coffee flavor. It does show up faintly well after the taste. Cocoa and vanilla make a showing and the sum is a good, well balanced porter with some stout-like intensity of the adjunct flavors. Needs maybe a little more malt body to support the cocoa and coffee and I'd vote for more smoke, it's very subtle. Misses the smoke part, but still a solid, well made, lightly charry porter. Looks nice too.

 

Taste dark roasted malt with a hint of smoke, dark chocolate and an earthiness. It has a light mouthfeel that leaves the palate quickly and a mild hop presence. While I could taste the smoke at first, it disappeared quickly as I sipped and pretty soon could no longer find it.

16oz can poured into a nonic.

A: Clear, dark brown showing red highlights, with a large creamy khaki head.

S: Its called a smoked porter, and there is definitely some mellow smoke, but rich chocolate and woody sweetness are both far more prominent than the smoke. Impressions of earthy character, roasted malts, faint coffee, mild char.

T: Here as well the smoke seems to take a backseat to the rich, creamy chocolate roast character. Mild smoke and mellow woody sweetness, vanilla, coffee. Very nice.

MF: Rich, creamy, smooth, 'velvety', full-bodied.

O: I loved this. Dare I say it could have been a bit more smoky? Either way, this was delicious - tasted a lot like an Imperial Milk Stout.

From the tall boy can in a snifter. This solid brew pours a dark
blackish brown with a fantastic head of light brown foam that
settles to a thick ring, thick clumping layer, and shows some VERY
nice lacing. Nose of subtle smoked malts, dark bakers chocolate,
light coffee, and dark roasted malts. Flavors follow but exceed by
a fine presentation of dark coffee, dark bakers cocoa, balanced smoke,
moderate char, and nice earthy malts. Nice mouth feel; medium full
body, smooth, moderately coating, light soft carbonation, and a moderately
dry finish.

Overall----excellence balance and a fine brew to enjoy!

Cheers

Canned on 12/31/20. 16oz can poured into a tulip. Pours almost black; fluffy khaki head that falls leaving great retention and sticky lacing. The aromas are malt forward. Hints of cocoa. There's basically no smoke going on in the aroma department. The flavors basically follow the nose. There's a nice little sweetness going on, but it's definitely not cloying or over the top at all. More cocoa along with some milk chocolate. Some milk sugars as well. Hints of vanilla. The smoke characteristics are very mild and basically go unnoticed. The smoke can be noticed in the flavor department if you dig deep. Strong malt backbone. Alcohol is well hidden. Mouthfeel is full-bodied with moderate carbonation. It's fluffy, smooth and ultimately dangerously drinkable.

This is a solid brew, but it's not the best smoked beer or smoked porter. I never would've guessed that this was supposed to be a smoked porter. Other than that, it's enjoyable.

16oz can from Brewers Haven. Near black pour, thin ring of head. Smoky, ashy aroma. Smoke dominates the taste too, along with some minor sweet notes. The smoked malts rule though, coupled with a dry bitter bite.

Canned December 31st 2020.

It pours a really dark brown bordering on black. Nice fluffy head of off white foam, very good supply of lacing.

Smells malty, sweet, some roasty notes, some smoke.

The taste is malty semi sweet, abundant smokey notes, dark chocolate that doesn't impart a lot of bitterness. In fact, this is a bit sweeter than I thought when it warms up. Bitterness level kept in check throughout, alcohol more noticeable than I had hoped for.

Pretty decent mouthfeel, a tasty Smoked Porter overall. Got 3 more cans to revisit.