Smoked Porter
Brewery Ommegang

12oz bottle into a tulip. Bottled 9/9/17, best by 9/2018, so about 3 months past "prime".

Looks great in the glass. Body is such a dark brown that it's black. Solid tan head which lasts throughout, leaving excellent lacing.

There is no aroma at all. If I try really hard I can talk myself into a faint roasted malt

I sipped and swigged on this one for a while, also letting it warm, if deference to Ommegang's reputation. But the fact is, there are almost no flavors here. No smoke or chocolate at all. A very faint lightly roasted malt, and the very occasional apple. But I'm grasping here. It is not unpleasant to drink, but I'm guessing this one doesn't age particularly well.

Mouth below medium, finish neutral.

Overall, if Ommegang put this one out again, I'd advise drink fresh, which is odd for a porter. At this point, there is nothing going for this drink.

RB transfer

 

 

 

 

This beer poured a very dark brown color. There was a modest tan head that dissipated quickly.
Roasted malt, chocolate. Very little smoke.
Chocolate, caramel taste. Smoke a little more apparent, and there was more of a char taste.
On the thin side.

 

Poured black with a two finger tan head that dissipated quickly to a thin broken film. Minimal lacing. The initial aroma reminded me of chocolate with a hint of smoke. Caramel mingled with the chocolate and smoke later. Tastes of chocolate, caramel, clove, and weak smoked malts. This is my first smoked porter. The smokiness is faint in comparison to an Aecht's brew. I found this to be thinner than other porters that I like. For some reason, it seemed wet in the beginning but finished dry for me.

12oz bottle into Ommegang Goblet
BB 9/2018
L- pours a dark brown almost black with a huge beautiful brown foamy head
S- chocolate, smoke,
T- buttery smooth malt, slight bitternes, followed by chocolate, with subtle smoked finish
F- smooth and creamy, light to medium-bodied
Overall, while still a few months to the BB date, this seems to have gotten worse with age, as the flavors especially the smoke has mellowed. All in all still a wonderful beer, that I would go drink again

 

An English porter hybridized with the Belgian dark ale, featuring Czech Saaz hops and smoked malt (presumably German). Let's see what this panEuropean brew has to offer...

Smells oversweet, going heavy on the chocolate malt and caramel.

Skews heavy into the caramel and chocolate/Whoppers skid, eschewing the ostensible smoked malt flavour. So much for the "smoked porter" angle...

Overly sweet, lacking adequate smokey or roasted barley-redolent flavours.

Chewy. Smooth. Wet.

Draws too much from eclectic influences, yielding a confused flavour profile that doesn't reside neatly in any one (or two!) style(s). A spirited but overambitious and unwieldy beer from Ommegang. It's a swing and a miss, yes, but when the swing is this inspired it's hard not to like the result for what it is. Call it a "Belgian stout" and it's above average fare. Call it a smoked porter and it's way off the mark.

C+ (3.13) / ABOVE AVERAGE

***
03/31/18:

"Smoked Porter is brewed with a carefully crafted blend of Pilsner, Special B, Munich 20, Cara-20, Midnight Wheat, chocolate malt, and smoked malt. Balanced hopping is achieved with Saaz, while fermentation with American ale yeast ensures the malt remains in the spotlight."

I do get some very minor smokiness (we're talking maybe a 2/10 in terms of intensity) which plays nicely with the English malt backbone. But for a beer billed as a smoked porter, it's quite wanting in the smoked malt department.

Belgian brewers chocolate is nice in itself, I guess, but the chocolatey elements of this beer feel poorly integrated overall.

C+ / ABOVE AVERAGE

Great brew. Dark chocolate in color with a smokey malty smell. Great moth feel and body of a porter. Great for A Sunday brunch of eggs and smoky bacon on a cool late winter day.

Brewery Ommegang "Smoked Porter"
12 fl. oz. brown glass bottle, "L091917 BBT2 BEST BY09/2018" and sampled on 03/20/2018
$3.49 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: Very dark in color, it's an opaque black even when held to the light. The creamy head is of course dark as well, a dark tan. In the nose it's softly roasty, sweetish and clove-like, floral, a touch chocolatey, and mildly smoky. It's interesting and it draws you in. I'm expecting the flavor to be exactly the same but let's see... yes, pretty much exactly the same except that the smokiness is a little more pronounced and lingers nicely in the finish. It's only moderately bitter so it is a little sweet in the finish but it's not cloying. Looking back the head has dropped but it hasn't left much in the way of lace, just a few large spots here and there. In the mouth it's medium bodied and creamy and smooth. It's interesting how the Belgian yeast comes through and mixes with the coffee-like roasty notes, and then the smokiness backs that up. It lingers with just a light touch of spiciness. I'd imagine that this would be excellent using English yeast, but the Belgian yeast just makes it so quirky that it's hard to put down. On the other hand, I'm not sure how often I'd want to enjoy one of these, it's not exactly an everyday beer. Still, I'd say it's certainly worth trying.

 

 

12oz bottle. Poured out an opaque, jet-black color with a small tan head of foam. It smelled smokey with roasted malt and hints of chocolate. Nice smoked flavor not overdone. Good roasted malt and dark chocolate flavor.

Pours a dark brown that approaches black. World class head volume, quite outstanding retention, but only normal lacing. No bottle dating.

The nose is rather weak and unexciting. There are notes of char, a faint hint of smoke and a malty sweet base. The problem is that you have to really search for them. Consequently, the nose is less than good.

Solid medium body with a smooth texture that has a touch of creaminess. This creaminess is highlighted by the quite outstanding carbonation / body balance. Effervescence is moderate throughout the middle and rises to prickly in the finely bubbled finish.

The flavor profile is very good. Like the nose, intensity is a tad weak but presents itself better. It is flavorful, but separation is a bit of a struggle. There are notes of char and roast that appear upfront. The middle hints at sweetness, thus losing contrast for improved flavor separation. Chocolate notes are more dream than reality. Smoked malts make a very weak appearance near the finish. The finish lingers with char and roast notes.

 

I could hardly contain my excitement during my visit to The Beer & Beverage Shoppe on Friday when I saw this on the singles shelves! I have long been a fan of Smoked Beers/Rauschbiers, but I had not even heard of this one until I saw it for sale.

From the bottle: "Pour slowly so as not to disturb the yeast sediment, but with enough vigor to create a luxurious head and release the rich bouquet."; "Where Heaven met Earth and stayed awhile."; "To Linger and Indulge"; "Is there a connection between Belgian-style brewing and porter, a traditional British-style beer? We think the aroma and flavor notes of chocolate malt along with caramelized sugar are reminiscent of many things Belgian ... and of all things good. Other qualities we brought to this fine beer include smoked malt, a touch of Saaz hops, a deep brown hue and a creamy tan head, a medium body with a well-rounded finish - with lingering impressions of smoke and caramel." Take note of the subtle homage to Rene Magritte's "Ceci n'est pas un pipe" on the label. Haha.

As to their pouring instructions, I was left baffled, so I Pop!ped the cap, conducted a gentle pour into the awaiting glass & then gave it a vigorous in-glass swirl. This raised just under two fingers of dense, foamy, deep-brown head with decent retention, leaving behind nice lacing in its wake. Color was Dark Brown to Very Dark Brown (SRM = > 27, < 34) with NE-quality clarity & mahogany highlights. Nose was more roasty than smoky & my immediate thought was that it was a Dry Stout, not a Porter. Mouthfeel was medium-to-full, not quite creamy, but definitely big for a Porter. The taste was more like hickory-smoked ham, sweetish yet smoky. Mmm. I was not expecting the chocolaty sweetness that also came through, but it was not unwelcome. It definitely had a smoky sweetness, but the chocolatiness was only a part of it. I don't want to oversell the ham aspect, but there was also a subtle meatiness to it. Interesting! Finish was semi-dry, mostly due to the smokiness overpowering the sweetness. There was no food pairing mentioned with this one, but I could see opening a tin of smoked oysters with this beer. Mmm.