Back Road Christmas Ale 2005

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

This is smoked? Very dark brown. Chocolatey aroma with light herbal, piney notes. The flavour is piney, maybe a hint of ashy yeastiness to it. Sweet and earthy finish. Only a faint hint of smoke and alcohol in the finish, and even then only after it warms a bit. Not ’alf bad.

Rerate on 5/29/06. Chuck the brew master pull a bottle out from his cooler for BBB63 and myself. This was a fine beer. More mocha than smoke, which was fine with me. Outstanding.*** Pours deep dark dark dark brown, hell lets just say black. Huge beige head. This beer was hard to pour, so much head formed. The aroma has slight smoke and roast and oxidation is apparent. Oxidation comes off in the flavor too. Some mochaccino character with a smokey finish. The palate is full and rich. Silky and substatial. Thanks for hanging on to this for me, Mike. Wish I could have just gotten fresher when I was home. Maybe I should just delete my rating?

Huge beige head, consisting of perfectly shaped small bubbles tops the opaque black/amethyst glow. A perfect appearance. The smokiness is very soft in the nose, but the brewing art is displayed with fashion, the roastiness is enticing and well cut. Bready, coffee beans softness. Sweet and leathery in mouth, it is not too attenuated which accentuates its richness. Light residual sugars head toward a fruity territory that reminds of dark grapes and blackberries, perhaps prunes as well rather than fatiguing sweetness. Earthy smoke if anything, well balanced. Perfect gentle carbonation, medium bodied. I’m impressed, this beer just did everything right and managed the impossible feat of making me forget its most apparent flaw of trying to be a smoked beer without much smoke character at all. Remarkable porter.

Any first impressions?
-A wealthy foam resides atop opaque darkness.
-Dry malt roastiness, dark chocolate, and grapey sweetness form a confident aroma.
-Roasted malt flavor and bitterness, paired with dark chocolate, propose a succulent meal.
-Portly but fragile bubbles offer the best equilibrium between luxury and drinkability.

What if you dig deeper?
-Coffee torrefaction’s fun with the trickling molasses.
-The green hoppiness and roasty bitterness hug amorously.
-Alcohol is ably concealed.
-A great, muscular yet smooth, porter, which doesn’t exhibit its smokiness enough to be called a Smoked Porter, imho. But who cares when it’s that good.

Bottle.

huge thanks to BBB63 for sending me this...what an outstanding smoked, arguably the best i have ever had, in the running with stone smoked porter. Pour was a dark brown, not too viscous, with a thick creamy coffee colored head. the smoke and chocolate of the aroma were both equally present, neither overwheling the other. there were some hints of molasses and some earth. a really smooth and even flavor, with the smoke just sitting calmly in the background and complementing the other flavors. aftertaste of chocolate and coffee, again superbly balance...this was just an outstanding beer, wish i had more.

Thanks to BBB63 for this gift! Nice thick dark brown pour. Creamy, and lasting light brown head. Lightly smoked chocolate malt aroma. Flavor is pretty good... sweet with caramelly coffee, lightly smoked peaty chocolate malted barley. A little bit of cherry and creamy stale woody milk chocolate. Full, thick flavor. Pretty good stuff.

Jet black color with an aroma of coffee, roasted malts, and mild smoke. Taste is complex, but includes coffee, roasted malts, with a hint of smoke. Smoke was not overwhelming, which is typical of smoked beers. This was a great addition to Back Road’s collection of beers.

Sampled at the Milwaukee YEHa!05 courtesy of BBB63: Pours an opaque black with dark brown edges and a frothy, lightly-lacing tan head. Sweet toasty dark caramel and mild smoke aroma has some light fruit notes. Starts with a pleasant sweet, earthy and smokey caramel maltiness turning more crisp and dry toward a roasted, smooth and drinkable finish. Very well-balanced and drinkable. A very nice smoke beer. Glad to see good things coming from Back Road.