Alaskan Smoked Porter

Brewed by Alaskan Brewing Co
Style: Smoked
Juneau, Alaska USA

Bottle, 2008. A beautiful marriage between a full-bodied robust porter and a Bamburg smoked beer only with a touch ashier smoke. Nose of campfire and chocolate, roasty, some caramel, some earthy hops in there. Ashy/earthy smoke. Flavor is rich with chocolate, roasty, campfire smoke, earthy malt, with a touch of acidity from the combination roast malts and smoke. Restrained hop bitterness towards the finish. Med to full body, fairly lush in the mouth despite the slightly evident acidity. Excellent.

2008 GABF. Aroma of almost a bamberg style smoked malt. Clear dark amber brown with small white head. Moderate grain astringency with roast and dark carmelized malts and light wood and smoke Very Tasty!

All the usual suspects - deep burnt malt backbone, near-burnt caramel, chocolate et al. What really stood out to me was how great the smoke and wood came through and complimented the various accents of this complex drink without being too aggressive and overpowering.

Bomber, 2008. Pours a normal porter color with a small off-white head. Aroma is pure camp fire. Beautiful smoky, woody, ashy aroma. I had this on tap and my memory was it was pure bacon/ham, in a good way, but this is more camp fire to me from the bottle. I also remember this being smokier on tap. Anyways, a nice chocolate flavor is also present and some general roastiness. This is all very well blended and melded. I can appreciate a subtly smoked beer, like Stone Smoked Porter, but sometimes I crave an intensely smoky experience so I’m glad this fits the bill. Flavor is smoked chocolate, woody, grainy, phenolic, and super smooth. This beer is great. I really like how the smoke element is seemingly perfectly integrated in all aspects. I wish this were available here.

22oz bottle. Poured very dark, looks like a little bit of brown peeking through. Nice smokey, roasty aroma. Very easy to drink, slight smokiness and a hint of coffee maybe. Very good, my first Alaskan SP in years.

2008 bottle. Pours a deep black with a large creamy deep tan head that left wonderful lacing. Aroma of chocolate, roasted malt, smoked Gouda, caramel and nuts. Flavor of smoked meats, earthy, caramel, sweet malty notes, toffee and chocolate. Smoke is not overdone but instead balanced nicely with the sweet malts and touch of hope.

500ml bottle, 2007 edition. I’ve been eager to try this beer for years, being a huge Smoked beer fan. Pours a thick, deep black with a smoked malt aroma. The smoke is very present in the beer as well, very nice. Somewhere in between medium and full-bodied. Some chocolate and coffee flavors. Some light sandy hop balance. This is an awesome, world class beer.

(11/1/08) Draught at Father’s Office in Santa Monica. Very dark brown color with a light brown head. Aroma of campfire. Sweet and smoky flavor with some BBQed meat, burnt wood, malt and some caramel. Medium-bodied.