Foraging Swine
Scorched Earth Brewing Company

 

Disclaimer: Haven't had a ton of smoked beers. Count among the successes as O'Fallon and New Glarus. Fails as Stone.

This, frankly, tastes like smoked gouda. Scorched Earth often teeters on a brink in its beers (if you're in the mood for cherries, Saint Monty is god's gift), and I appreciate that. But this is a bridge too far.

Yet another Chicagoland brewery I had not heard of.
But, I like what they are trying to do; particularly pairing beer with food.
But caution: Rauchbiers are very much a difficult beer to brew. Worse, the standard is set so high by Schlenkerla that it may be too ambitious for Scorched Earth to get into that category just yet.
But, try this beer with food... smokey pork as they recommend.
Being one of those weird vegetarians, I had it with a ratatouille. And it went well with that stew.
Beer success? Close.
Greatness? Scorched Earth seems to be still working on it.
And about the brew's name... my guess is that a large part of your potential market may take it personally and buy someone else's brew. Similarly for the name of the company. A mild marketing makeover should be considered.

 

 

 

Dark reddish chestnut color with auburn highlights, ample khaki foam, creamy and densely textured. Long lasting coverage and ample lacing. Slightly hazy, looks like Autumn in a glass.

Lightly smoky and woody, light yeast note, very malty aroma.

Malty with a bit of bitterness, dry wood smoke in the aftertaste that lingers. Mellow, not extreme. Not especially peaty, maybe a hint of sweet porcine smoke but not bacony or anything. Medium bodied, fairly smooth, bitterness is a touch high for a rauchbier. Made a good pairing with a buffalo landjaeger from Ream's.

2016: Call me crazy, but a random beer review is an odd place to offer unsolicited marketing advice to a brewery, rather than review the actual beer itself. Especially to one that certainly doesn't need it...

 

 

Served in a Second City glass.

Moving on to some potential smokey goodness. This stuff pours a clear garnet-amber topped by a finger of dirty cream foam. The nose tries to make some statement about slightly sweet, syrup-like maltiness, but it's all drowned out by the fact that it's mouth (the entire face, really) is wrapped in burnt gauze. The taste echoes this issue, Band-Aid-esque phenols trumping all else. I like smokey stuff, but this is just far too the adhesive bandage territory for it to ever work for me. The body is a light-leaning medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a drying finish. Overall, I must say "Nay" to this beer. It just reeks of inexperience with smoked malts, when it's not choking me with Band-Aids and whatnot. VDubb and I had to both pour our glasses out. That hadn't happened in some time... Still, with the other offerings I've had from Scorched Earth, I'm still open to their ideas. ...Just not this one.