Drench
Benchtop Brewing Company

 

 

There is a black stamped date code near the bar code: 05/31/23

Appearance: The body is a medium shade of gold with very good clarity. It has a large fluffy white head which has very good head retention. It leaves thin strands of tightly packed lacing on the glass. It is an outstanding looking beer.

Aroma: It has a very strong wood smoke aroma which conjures imagery of smoked ham, smoked sausages, and smoked turkey.

Taste: Acrid wood smoke comes through up front with a bit of a very light malt flavor and some very faint mineral and herbal notes in the background. The smoke is the most prominent characteristic and it feels like you're standing over the top of a campfire. It tastes a lot like latakia pipe tobacco near the middle of the mouth. There is a light herbal note towards the back of the palate and it has a lingering smoke flavor which is pleasant.

Mouthfeel: The beer has this acrid bite which prickles the tongue a lot. There is a strong bitterness to the beer which seems to come mostly from the smoked malt but there is some herbal hop bitterness towards the back of the palate as well. The body of the beer is fairly light and easy to drink.

Overall: The smoke character was very well pronounced but it came across a bit too strong for the style and it was acrid towards the front of the palate. There were good flavors that accompanied the smoke, namely this light herbal character but also a bit of what tasted like latakia. For the style it seems askew but smoked beer lovers will likely find this a very pleasant beer if the acrid notes can be overlooked. I would buy it again because it definitely is good enough to scratch the itch if I'm in the mood for a smoked beer.