Stripes On Plaid
River Roost Brewery

From an undated, unmarked 16 fl. oz. can that I sampled on July 1, 2022.

Attractive dark brown pour under a modest, slimming down tan head. Opaque.

Inviting aromas of sweet burnt caramel malts, dark toasted bread, nuttiness, light smoke, raisins, and earth.

Silky, soft medium mouthfeel.

Overall a sweet and malt forward taste with nuttiness, burnt caramel, dark fruit or maybe raisins. Subtle earthy finish. Delightful beer.

On tap at The Blackback Pub in Waterbury, VT.

This one pours a golden dark brown color, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like smoked toffee, caramel, chocolate, roasted malt, and rye bread.

This is really well done, with a smoke component that doesn't dry out the beer here - it sort of adds an earthy, almost sweet layer on top of the caramel, toffee, and chocolate of the base brown ale. The smoke was applied very well here.

This one is pretty creamy, and very drinkable.

This was a really nice take on a smoked beer, with some sweetness not usually found in the style that goes nicely with the smoke.

 

L: Dark brown with no head and no lacing.

S: Moderate smoke, light chocolate, bread, and a touch of herbal hops.

T: Smoke upfront, moves into light chocolate and caramel flavors, a kind of pretzel like breadiness, and light herbal hoppiness. Very sweet.

F: Low carbonation, medium bodied and a tad slick.

Overall: Not super impressed with this one, average would be generous. One of the least pretty beers I have seen. I would pass.

 

 

Can. Murky dark brown that pours like cola and head fizzes off immediately leaving a lame sticky mess. Mild smoky maple syrup cola root beer aroma. Wicked sweet and sticky and gross maple syrup and cola and some raisin. Bitter woody rootbeer finish. Thick and flat and cloying. I've had this on tap, and though it wasn't very good, it was not nearly this horrible. Avoid these cans. Try it on tap if you're a smoke beer fan like me.

 

Excellent smoked beer. One of the best to style I’ve enjoyed.