Alaskan Smoked Porter

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

Poured a thin yet almost opaque blackened color. No head. Nose and flavor reminiscent of a campfire and smoked salmon. Quite complex and distinguished. Far more exciting and quaffable than most other rauch or smoked brews I have experienced.

A very hearty beer. Deep, dark brown, and pours out "like tar". Aroma is a little smokier than flavor.

Dark brown with ruby coloured edges, beige head, good retention, some lacing. The aroma is very smoky, meaty, molasses, some chocolate, woody. The flavour isn’t as smoky as the aroma would make you believe, some meatiness, more porter characteristics, dark chocolate, burnt malts. Smoky and lightly bitter mouthfeel, medium body, medium carbonation. Finishes dry, lightly bitter, chalky. An excellent smoked porter, highly drinkable. Seems to have the perfect amount of smoke all the way through.

650ml bottle shared by <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?U target=blank>beerhugger, thanks Steve.
Opened on March 16, 2007.
Vintage 2004.

[437-20070725] 650mL (Vintage 2006, w/ jerc, tuqueboy). Rich smokey malt aroma with notes of band-aid. Dark brown red body with a quick tan foamy head. Very smokey bacon, slightly meaty flavour that’s mostly malty with a bit of coffee and chocolate and a hint of medicine. Full body. Very interesting, nice for the category. (7/4/8/4/16) 3.9

[1039B-20080112] 1pt6floz (c/o HogTownHarry, w/ him, garthicus, jerc, mds, Radek Kliber; Vintage 2006). Iodine earthy bandaid smoke aroma. Dark dark brown body with a quick foamy light tan head. Smoky earthy roasty malt flavour has a bacon finish. Full body. Very nice balance. (9/3/9/4/17) 4.2

Bomber, 2005 vintage. Pours black with dark-brown edges, and a dense velvety beige head. Aroma is semi-sweet dark and roasted malt punctuated by smoke and charred wood. Flavor has a bit more of the malt, which is quite complex, ranging from sweetish notes to bitter chocolate, wood, and considerable roastiness, plus a hint of smokiness. Gets better with a more balanced and complex mingling of flavors and aromas as it warms. This is excellent, though not really a rauchbier in the usual sense -- more of a quality strong porter with some smokiness added to the mix, so you might like this even if you don’t like smoked beers in general. Highly recommended.

Rated 7/27/07. 2005 vintage. Bomber at Freakin Frog in Las Vegas, NV. Black body with mahogany edges. Minimal head that quickly recedes completely. The aroma is like the fire pit at a barbeque joint! Very strong, smokey smell that is hard to cut through. I found some sweet malty notes in there, but I feel like I singed my nosehairs in the process! The flavor is intense at first, with a smokey, oakey, campfire-esque profile. As it sits and warms in the glass, in mellows considerably and starts to reveal its sweeter side, with chocolatey malts fighting their way through the smoke. Medium to full body. Fairly smooth finish. This beer is tough to guage, because it changes considerably as it sits.

<b>I have some recommendations for enjoying this beer....</b>

1) Enjoy it with a friend, as I did. It is an intense beer and you’re probably not going to be able to kill a bomber unless you’re really into this style.

2) Pair it with the right food. I was not eating at the time, but I think this brew would be better served as a compliment to some sort of grilled game, or perhaps a roast pork.

3) Taste it in stages. The intensity mellows out considerably as it sits and warms. Its really almost a different beer at the end of the glass than it is at the beginning. A <i>better</i> beer, in my opinion.

RBSG 2007 Grand Tasting. 2006 vintage. Deep, clear brown with a thin tan head. Meaty (um, pork?), smoky nose, wood and chocolate.Flavor is more of the same, with some biscuity malt filling out a medium full mouthfeel. Excellent!

Wow...this beer is good. I acquired a bottle from the BevMo on a recent trip to California knowing it was a highly regarded smoked beer. It poured a dark black body with a very pleasant smell of toffee, and roasted coffee. The taste had a noticeable smokeiness but it worked nicely with the natural flavor of the porter. If you have a chance to get this beer by all means do so. A+