Smoke On The Water
Brasserie du Grand Paris (Les Brasseurs du Grand Paris)

A: Pours a slightly hazy light to medium honey in color with moderate amounts of active visible carbonation rising quickly along the edges of the glass and moderate burnt orange + medium golden yellow + brassy colored highlights. The beer has a finger tall fizzy foamy off-white head that reduces to a medium to large sized patch of thin film covering a little more than 50% of the surface of the beer and a thin ring at the edges of the glass. Light amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Light to moderate aromas of bready + grainy + caramel malts with a hint of grainy + caramel sweetness underneath slightly stronger than moderate aromas of smoked malts. Light to moderate aromas of citrus/grapefruit + herbal hops.

T: Upfront there are light to moderate flavors of bready + grainy + caramel malts with a hint of grainy + caramel sweetness underneath slightly stronger than moderate flavors of smoked malts. That is followed by light flavors of citrus/grapefruit + herbal hops which impart a light amount of bitterness which fades away fairly quickly leaving a lingering smokiness.

M: Just shy of medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Slightly crisp initially.

O: Drinks pretty easily with the lighter body and the well hidden alcohol assuming that you enjoy smoked flavors + aromas. An enjoyable combination of the hop profile with the smoked malts. Glad my wife was able to find this one at the local shop in Paris and bring it back for me.

 

Clear blonde without any head, this beer delivers a light but enjoyable smoke presence. A lot on the malt the beer also shows some herbal hop notes. Quite drinkable

 

Pours a hazy dark orange (it's hard to pinpoint -- looks kinda like apple juice) with two-finger, airy white head. Almost no lacing.

Smell is citrusy and very malty -- there's bread and also a kind of sausage/cigar smell from the smoked malts. Leather too. Sounds like it shouldn't blend very well with the citrusy hops, but it does.

Taste is similar, but less hoppy. The smoked malts really play a central role here. It's not very flavourful though -- I expected it to be heavier. Hops get more pronounced as it warms, so it ends up being pretty fruity, notably in the aftertaste. Slightly peppery too.

Light body, light carbonation. Again, not what I was expecting, but it works surprisingly well.

So smoked beers don't have to be dark! Cool. Shame the taste is not as strong as you'd expect from the smell.