Smoked Porter
Reuben's Brews

 

Handsome dark brown pour with a long-lasting pile of suds in the tall Maredsous goblet. Smooth and easy to drink. Creamy carbonated mouthfeel. Grainy aroma with fruitwood smoke in the nose.

Pleasant caramel taste with a burr of hoppy bitterness. Some malty sweetness that is very pleasant. The smoke is rather subtle but goes nicely with the roasted malt flavors. Then the dark aftertaste and a modest bitterness add to the interest. Totally drinkable. From the 22 oz bottle purchased at Haggen market in Burlington.

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque in the glass, with a half finger khaki head that dissipates to a thick cap, leaving nice lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, hints of chocolate and a faint smokiness that is more smokehouse than fire. Flavor follows, with semi-sweet dark toasted malt, bitter chocolate and a more pronounced, but not intense smokehouse smokiness, finishes quite a bit more dry with lingering light hops and smoke. Medium bodied with a pleasant creaminess and good carbonation. A nice well balanced porter with a subdued, but pleasant amount of smoke, which does taste like smoked grain with a hint of smokehouse meat. I liked the malt body better in this than the robust porter and the moderate smoke flavors add to the char and flavor of the malt. Wouldn't mind trying a more robust version of this one.

 

Muddy dark brown with big cola bubbles leading to a pockmarked head. Moderate lacing. A little uninspiring, but nothing to turn one away.

Nose is much more mild smoke than I anticipated. Smoothe rich malts without much defining directionality, inviting but not evocative.

A bit more smoke here than on the nose. Flavours are dark burnt malts with some coffee and pointed grain. I'll be honest: It's not incredible, but it is nuanced and comes together seamlessly. I'm not as head over heels for it as I had anticipated, but it is definitely well made (no surprise there...) and one I am comfortably enjoying. Basically my feelings are that this makes me a think of a solid, well executed base porter with an incredibly well blended and definitely-present-but-not-overwhelming smoke element.

I reserve the right to change my mind at any time. This is one of those that I find myself enjoying more than the numbers suggest, but where I don't feel that any individual numbers bear adjusting. Solidly enjoyable