Chip Shot
Smog City Brewing Co.

Wonderful aroma of cinnamon and vanilla. Great take on their coffee porter, with spices added, and orange peel notes on the finish. These added flavors create a more complex profile that really adds to their already-fantastic coffee porter.

 

 

 

 

Whew, this is a flavor explosion, for better or worse, with all the listed adjuncts - cinnamon, orange, vanilla, and coffee - all on full display. Looks great, jet black with a ring of tan foam. It also succeeds in the body, which is rich enough to hold up to the adjuncts without feeling heavy. In the nose, it's not so bad, intense to be sure, but fairly pleasant, in the way that a Yankee candle is sort of pleasant at first sniff. On the palate, the intensity really starts to overwhelm though, with the vanilla and orange battling with the cinnamon-spiced coffee for dominance, leaving in their wake something a bit overpowered and chaotic. If you like heavily flavored stouts, this may actually be your thing. Personally, I prefer a little more light handedness, and to my palate this beer suffered for lack of it.

 

Pours a dark brown with a beige head that leaves some lacing. The aroma and flavor of this beer are very unique: strong notes of orange zest mixed with coffee, hints of cinnamon and vanilla sweetness balance the citrus and bitter roasted chocolate/coffee flavors. Overall this was a fun beer to try a taster of, but not something I would want to drink a full pint of really, so while I thought it was well executed for what it is, I couldn't give it a higher score because of the lack of desirability and drinkability.

 

 

A: Big coffee aroma with a light citrus pith aroma.

A: Deep brown color, totally opaque, with a thick head.

T: Lots of coffee, moderate grain roast with an odd citrus rind/pith note that did not work well with the porter base and coffee addition.

M: Medium bodied with moderately light carbonation.

O: I can see the temptation to try and create Groundworks 2.0 with big citrus and vanilla additions to create even more complex aromas and flavors (almost in the vein of mixed drinks). However instead of adding clean citrus notes, it’s more orange pith-like and didn’t work well.

 

 

Serving type: On tap at the brewery.

Pours a dark brown, almost black color. It looks essentially identical to their Groundworks Coffee Porter, which is a good thing. This beer and that beer are very nice looking. The smell is a tiny bit weaker than that of Groundworks, coffee smells along with a slight piney/citrus smell. It's different but I dig it. The taste reflects the smell nicely, lots of coffee flavor along with a small piney/citrus kick. I can't put my finger on the exact flavor but if you try it, you'll know what I mean. It's a different taste that I initially did not like but it grew on me. The feel is superior to Groundworks in every way. It is much thicker and creamier feeling, almost like a chocolate milk. Very nice.

Good work Smog City, this is just as good as Groundworks.