Alaskan Smoked Porter

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

Bottle sampled at the Ratebeer meet-up 01.27.08 at the Sharp Edge Creekhouse. Beer courtesy of Linus_Stick.

Dark caramel, thin off white head. Aroma is smoked meat, grass, malt. Flavor is smoked meat, bitter hops, some grassiness.

2005 vintage bottle acquired at 99 Bottles Of Beer in Santa Cruz. Poured impeccably into a pint glass, resulting in a nearly jet black body capped by a 2 finger brown head. Nice head for a porter. The smell, surprisingly enough, is dominated entirely by a strong smokiness, followed by roasty malt. Notes of smoke, roasted malts, smoked meat, nuttiness, coffee, chocolate in the taste. A bit thicker than medium bodied but not quite full, pretty appropriate for a porter. Carbonation is pretty nice, goes down pretty smooth. This beer is great but I don’t think I could muscle through more than one on account of the intense smokiness.

Foam Rangers January meeting. 2006 bottle. Very dark with a nice cocoa head. Smoked alder wood nose with malts. Taste is thinner than I was expecting, but still a great smoked wood flavor that would pair wonderfully with food. Enjoyed, but I find this to be a food pairing beer.

(2007 edition bottle from AZ): Pours an extremely dark body. Small head, off-white, quickly diminishing. Very smoky flavor. Not mesquite. Some malts. Fizzy flavor. Smokey & somewhat malty, dusty. Very good flavor. I can see this going great w/steaks and bbq.

After 4+ years on this site I finally got my hands on this beer, but only to find dissapointment. It was a slightly dissapointing beer, but more then that I have come to the conclussion that me and smoked just dont work together. Poured a really nice looking black with good sized foamy off white head. Nose of slight smoke, but more dominated by the roasty malts and slight chocolate. But the flavor did seem more smoke oriented. It did get a bit better as it warmed, but not nearly enough to get a passing grade from me.

2007 Vintage Pours a very dark brown in color. There are ruby highlights around the edges. Smell is smoky, dominating the underlying malt. This is more smoke-forward than I imagined it would be. Almost has to be paired with food while drinking. A little thin on the mouthfeel. For a smoked beer, this is very well done. Would like to have some cheese and sausage to eat while drinking.

Pours deep reddish brown with weak foam. The aroma is not smoky, but is reminds me of molasass. Flavor is rich and complex enough to overcome the slightly apple cider character. The body is fuller like a stout. This might benefit from aging.

2007 - This is one of my all time favorite beers ans an exemplary take on the style, that all others should be guided by. Pours a wonderful oily dark brown with some ruby highlights. Not overwhelmingly smokey this time around as I remember it being more prominent in past vintages. Nice two finger tan head. Rich and malty, with some cocoa like dustiness. Very drinkable.