Back Road Christmas Ale 2005

Formerly brewed at Back Road Brewery
Style: Smoked
LaPorte, Indiana USA

Head is initially small, frothy, brown, mostly diminishing. Body is black (non-opaque). Aroma is moderately malty (roasted grain, chocolate), with notes of earth, anise, and vanilla. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Medium body, velvety texture, lively carbonation. Fairly good aroma, somewhat tart for me though.

Bottled. Beer is very dark brown, nearly opaque, with a small, tan, frothy, rapidly diminishing head. The aroma is roasty-chewy-sweet: malty with moderate notes of roasted grain, unsweetened chocolate, shortbread, light note of caramel; Hoppy with a moderate note of resin/pine; Yeasty with a moderate note of dank basement; Light notes of garden soil, alcohol and a traces of vanilla and passing glimpses of smokey savory meat. The flavor is moderately-to-heaveily sweet, moderately-to-heavily bitter, lightly acidic with a long, lightly acidic, moderately sweet finish. The body is full, the texture is velvety and the carbonation is lively.

(Bottle via trade with BBB63, thanks Mike!) Pours into glass the color of black molasses or used motor oil, take your pick. Quickly develops into 2% liquid and 98% brown foam, head slowly dissipates. Sloppy spots of lacing. Aroma: alternated between great whiffs and bad whiffs. Great whiffs were layers of rich molasses, brown sugar, sweet smoke, roasted coffee, dates and raisins. Bad whiffs were plasticy and Band-Aid, with some sourishness at times. Mouthfeel is almost double-textured, with a thin watery texture on the oustide and a thicker, chewier texture on the inside. Wow. Flavor: probably best described as black molasses overlain with sweet smoke, followed by rich black 100% Colombian. I was picking up smoke right upfront and through the finish and into the aftertaste. The smoke taste is moderate but apparent. Some very unique aspects to this, in taste and texture.

Mildly medicinal, smoky aroma has plenty of berries and some underlying chocolate as well as hints of salt and chickpeas. Opaque black body is topped by a low tan head that recedes to a fine bubbled cover. Chocolate, coffee, raisins and berries enveloped in a mild but notable smoke flavour with lingering sweetness. Mild warming to the medium bodied, thick, rich mouthfeel with fair carbonation. Bottle enjoyed with MartinT, Olivier_MTL, Rastacouere and Siroy.

Thanks to BBB63 for this bottle. Dark beer out of the bottle with a brown head. Sweet coffee and chocolate nose. Very rich drink with lots of coffee, with the initial flavor being roasted coffee beans. The smoke comes to the fore in the middle, but is nice and balanced with the coffee. Coffee burps. Very nice beer.

12 oz bottle. Deep brown in color with a nice tan fluffy head. Smokey and chocolatety aroma. Roasty coffee notes. Roasty, fruity and cocoa flavor. Nice peat character. Thin bodied. Well balanced. Finish is dry. Smooth. Nice beer. Drinkable.

12 oz bottle. Nice balance of smokiness, coffee and chocolate. Body is just a tad on the thin side but the flavors are spot on. Some dried fruit flavors are in there but they’re pretty subtle.

12 oz bottle, via BBB63. Very dark brown, almost black body under a one inch light brown foamy head. Aroma is chocolate malt dominated with some roasty undertones. Only the slightest hint of smoke, and a little coffee as well. Flavor is roasty and chocolaty up front with a bitter espresso astringent finish. Very little smoke noted, and really only in the far back end of the finish. Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied with moderate fine carbonation. A pretty good Porter overall, but not the best Smoked beer. I think this would score much lower if rated strictly to style of Smoked beer. The smoke came across as more of an afterthought in the flavor. Very drinkable all the same though!