Polar S’moretex
Off Color Brewing

Shimmering black body with a brown ring and spotted lacing. Aromas of boozy malt, roast, light toasted marshmallow, and dark chocolate. Pretty roasted and boozy but grew on me, the bigger issue is the sip is so front loaded: all the toasted marshmallow, dark chocolate, earth, char, roast, barley, and booze up front, and thinned out roasted malt to finish. Feel is lighter for a RIS, plenty thick and roasted though, sneaky how smooth it is.

I was so stoked to find out OC was bringing back Polar Smortex for 2021. It is easily their best beer; super roasty and thick marshmallow sweetness. Has a nice chocolate malt to add even more decadence to the stout. I will buy this every year they release.

IG: @firesidewithphil

For my dulled sensory memory, The S'mores Family have to be drunk side-by-side to analyze these variations on a theme. But of course, S'mores are too strong to have more than one. So, I am reconciled to having my S'more one-at-a-time. And at my advanced age, that is more than good enough.

Polar S'moretex Looks above average, but not lots; needs more foam, and it must last longer than the first minute after the pour. But an AIS doesn't have to Look good as long as it Smells as great as this one, full of chocolate and roasted malts. The spices and marshmallow find their balance in the mix almost immediately and stay that way through the finish. An integrated AIS. In my mouth, I wish this could take a longer sit.

Now drinking my 67th unique Off Color ale (and drinking twice as many bottles/cans of their's as any other brewer in the last several years), I'm thinking that almost no brewer works the family of ales concept (some say, product line) better than Off Color. And that says a lot about a 7 year old brewer. Polar S'mortex is part of the S'more family of AIS. Predator leads the best North American line of saisons. And The Foxes lead the trouble-making family of Wilds. I'd say Off Color has six or seven major families of beers, working off similar recipes. But Off Color's latest is the "Beer For......" family which is more a marketing concept because the recipes vary greatly.

Bottom-line of my analysis: Off Color is brilliant.

Pours a thick, viscous black color. Completely opaque but peppered with sediment. Not really sure what all that is to be honest ... Im guessing graham crackers? A very weak head forms after the beer is poured and almost instantly disappears again. No residual head whatsoever. Aroma has notes of chocolate, graham cracker, roasted malts, vanilla, marshmallow, with a lovely woody roastiness to it.

Taste has notes of roasted malts, some charr on the back end, with a definite hoppy presence to it. Its reminiscent of a Russian Imperial stout. Notes of graham cracker, cocoa, chocolate and some light cinnamon and generic winter spices are noted with more subtle notes of vanilla and marshmallow. What I really like about this is that the additives are there, but balanced enough let what is really a lovely stout base still come through. This is boozy and hot, a big ass stout for sure. Feel is moderate to full bodied. Kind of chewy almost? But not to the extent of the newer pastry stouts - this is old school chewy. A really smooth, moderate carbonation provides some zip. Pretty dry on the finish.

Overall this is a really well made stout from Off Color. Their DinoS'mores is really hit or miss for me, so I wasn't sure what I would get from this one. But, in the end its a lovely cold weather sipper for sure.

 

 

brewed for that crazy cold snap they had this past winter, an even bigger version of an already enormous beer. i kind of like the robust alcohol, the total boldness of it, no apparent attempt to hide it, just to crank it up to 11, and i think thats pretty neat, especially for a truly cold weather beer, nothing warms faster. i like the rich smoke and chocolate on this, its fudgey, full bodied, desserty, and decadent, but its not diabetic and there is enough bitter earthiness from the smoke to balance the sweet, somehow this isnt out of proportion in any one direction or the other. i even get a graham cracker aspect when i look for it, the strong vanilla and marshmallow aspects are obvious all the way though it too. there is a time and a place for a beer like this, and i think they have identified it, and made the beer to suit it. its always been the saison and wild types that impressed me most from these guys, but this one is masterful as well. i like the little bottles, and it was a fun one to share with old friends. huge though, a little guy passed around is really all you need. i couldnt imagine much more of it. it sure worked, i warmed right up after enjoying my portion. very well done, better than it should be for what it is, not a novelty at all.

 

First I have a lot of praise for the new 250ml bottles used here. That’s the perfect amount of a 14% beer for me to drink. No more bombers!

Pouring it a slight amount of lacing appears and stays. It seems thinner than my preference but still nice for a stout. I’m picking up the s’more and alcohol on the nose after it warms a bit. I taste the s’more as well which is nice. Overall I like it. Would love to taste back to back with regular. I think the barrel aged may win out as my favorite version though.