Smoked Red
The Hidden Mother Brewery

maybe the best beer i had in here, a drinkable but earthy red with a ton of nuance. this is not a style i usually am moved by, lots of dime a dozen amber types out there, but this isnt one of them, its advanced and interesting with the smoke, subtle in the right ways while also being very distinctive. the smoke element is somewhat unique to me, like perhaps they smoked the grain in house, i dont know if they did or not, but this has a different profile than the commonly used smoked malts to me, so its highly possible. there is still a little malty sweetness to this which offsets any harshness from the smoke and makes this round and layered, there really arent much hops happening here, and the ferment is cleaner than in many of their others i tried while i was in, this is very well composed and executed. its not all that dark in color, not caramelized or rich to me, its more earthy and toasted, a little bready, and the smoke makes it autumnal too, definitely a fall beer. i like all this flavor in a lower alcohol package too. nobody has really gone for the session smoke beer to my knowledge, and nobody is calling this that, but to me thats what it is, i could happily make an afternoon of these...