Smoked Beer Appreciation Thread (2023)

if this thread passes 1 page I'll give you 5 bucks

 

Goldfinger Grodziskie-Style Lager, courtesy of @FBarber. Nothing subtle about this one, I'll tell ya what. Fantastic stuff.

 

Smokey beers are definitely an acquired taste - ya either acquire it or you don't. I have. Even mild smoked like grodziskie from Neshaminy Creek or rauchbier from Spezial are drinkable, although I've had some that tasted like they were smoked over burning tires - they sucked! But yeah, the half-dozen or so of us that like smoked beers probably can't keep this thread going.

 

I picked up a four pack of Wycinaki from Treehouse a couple of weeks ago.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28743/623045/?ba=WunderLlama

I enjoyed it very much. I’m always on the hunt for beers that are less than 5% abv but also pack a good amount of flavor (but aren’t sours, ha). It’s tough to check all those boxes, but this brew does.

 

That sounds delicious. I doubt that I'd find that in distro, so I might have to drive over there to check it out. Thanks for the lead.

That's a great comparison analogy. I remember having one like that many years ago, and I couldn't finish it. Another comparison analogy that I can't drink is when the beer tastes like liquid bacon. I'm a lover of bacon, but the one time that I had a beer with that bacon flavor I couldn't finish it either. Both beers were so long ago that I can't remember what they were. They were probably a sampler glass at small breweries that I was visiting during my travels, and both breweries just over did it a bit.

 

The last smoked beer I had was in June at a BA meet-up with @GreenBayBA , @cheeseheadinMinneapolis , @Mdog , @Victory_Sabre1973 . One of the best I've had. The beer was a 9.5% ABV offering from Hammerheart Thor's Smoked Hot Pepper Imperial Porter.

 

My initial thought about smoke is that there are as many subtleties to it as any spice. I enjoy the sensation of wood smoke, different woods, and I also enjoy the flavor & aroma of smoked ingredients or wood-fire grilled ingredients in beer. Probably pretty easy to over do smoke and even more challenging if the wood used isn't clean or fully cured. From smoking food I know that bark can be very astringent and medicinal tasting a lot of the time so heart wood is what tastes best IMHO.

 

Yeah, that was damn good. The pepper had fallen off and was a lot less hot than it was fresh. I really can't wait till they're able to open up in Ely.

 

I'm with ya. When they open up shop I'm there for sure! They have the smoke usage all figured out.

 

I think I've read somewhere that beechwood is what is used mostly for smoking malt because it is neutral in having a unique flavor (other than smokiness), so any brewer that uses other types of wood is being adventurous. I've never looked into what type of wood was used in any smoked beers that I've had, so I can't say from personal experience whether other woods are offensive. It may all come down to how skilled the maltster is when using various wood types.

 

Yes. Your last sentence sums it up.

 

I believe Alaskan uses alder for their smoked porter. It is sublime.

 

I have enjoyed some of the smoked beers I have drank but then there are the others.

I have homebrewed using Weyermann Smoked Malt to good effect. @PapaGoose03 the other variable(s) is how much smoked malt you use (e.g., percentage of the grain bill) and what other types of malt comprise the overall grain bill. I have found that using 30% smoked malt provides a noticeable but pleasant smoked flavor to the beers I brew.

Cheers!

 

I now have a quest to make you pay-up. HA! Todd helped a little by reducing the number of posts per page to 20. Sadly, it will take more time than my love of smoked beers would prefer.

To your point, we had ice cream (ONCE) that brought home the ancient adage that too much of a good thing can be bad. Didn't stop me from finishing my wife's portion, because I am guilty of at least one sin, maybe two if one considers the inability to walk away from a challenge. See above 20 post challenge.

Absolutely! And recognizing how difficult it is to adjust levels to work with the other variables makes the good ones all the more worthy of appreciation. Similar to Bitterness, Sweetness, and Sourness, balance really doesn't equate to equal proportions, rather the total experience matters. IMO, smoke is more complicated because it can have a far more dramatic impact on aroma than those other attributes.

Granted, for me, the whole beer thing is more adventure and experience than anything else.

 

I like everything Hammerheart made and looking forward to them stating up again.

 

They did a collaboration lager just awhile (May) ? with Klockow , it was great
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/51689/653341/

 

Grab this Helles a lot , light smoke with out using smoked malts.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/263/29145/

 

Sounds lovely! Cheers!