Bièropholie Calumet Grand Chef (unfiltered)

Formerly brewed at Bièropholie
Style: Smoked
, Canada

Deep brown in colour, lingering beige coloured head, fair retention, some lacing. The aroma is very roasty, lots of smoke, rich, dark chocolate, some light coffee. The flavour is very smoky, very rich, no noticable alcohol, earthy, some chocolate, lightly sweet. Rich mouthfeel, medium body, medium carbonation. Finishes very long, again with lots of smoke and a lingering sweetness. An incredible smoked beer, Bièropholie are clearly one of the best brewers in Canada as this beer clearly shows.

341ml bottle shared by <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?U target=blank>mds, thanks Mike.
Opened on June 22, 2007.
No best before date.

3rd LCRBM. Aroma has coffee, chocolate, sugar and a nice smokey touch. Brown-black coloured with a lasting, brown head. Taste is sweet, has some chocolate bitterness, some fruits, some coffee. Siruppy, thick texture. This is great stuff!

Bottle@LCRBM. Sweet coffee, hint of smoke and varnish aroma. Black color, brown head, good lace. Sweet, coffee, chocolate, blackberries. Full and warming.

3rd LCRBM. Complex aroma of brown sugar, malt, beechwood smoke. Sugary sweet flavor with pineapple, heavy malt and beechwood. Smoky bitter finish. Excellent!

Bottle shared with Hogtown Harry and Blankboy, Harry’s bottle. Tasted side by side with the regular version (this one first). Nice smoky aroma - very earthy and rich - lovely! Very very dark brown, medium brown head. Taste - fantastic! Rich silky mouthfeel with tons of smoke, chocolate and even some hops - what a lovely soft chocolate finish. Complex and stunning.

A Mes rate: Bottle at LCRBM3. Absolutely superb. Black viscous body with a tan head. Amazing coffee and dark rubbery malt. Lip smacking bitter dark chocolate and just a delicate lick of smoke. Excellent balance and chewy thick but not cloying. Fanbloodytastic.

Bottle (341ml). Shared with blankboy & tupalev, my bottle via trade with Viper666. Thick, oily deep dark brown with a decent creamy brown head. Thick carbonized malt aroma, tons of smoked peat, lush herbal hops - lovely. Taste - smooth! - creamy, lush hops, deep smoked malt - yum. Thick body, nice astringency, soft carbonation, the malt holds up all the way through the medium-long finish, tasty afterwards too, not too hoppy or sweet. Terrific.

341 ml bottle from Métro Joannette, Verdun QC (May 2007) served at cellar temperature from a Unibroue glass. Head slightly darker and longer-lasting than filtered version. Aroma is woodier, meatier, cheesy and funky compared to filtered’s fruitiness….the body is a little less full, drier and somewhat vinous, more bitter/roasty and closer to what I think of as a traditional porter….sugars are really restrained here, and the drier, thinner, harder mouthfeel just doesn’t support the strong burnt nature as well, though it comes close when you let it get fairly warm; ideally this works at a slightly warmer temp than the filtered..…a bit grapy/pruny at the finish, and just a tiny bit too salty/metallic. There really is a marked difference here between filtered and unfiltered versions, and though a certain Mr. ClarkVV will probably kill me for saying so, I marginally prefer the filtered version in this case; I think perhaps the extra yeasty activity has in this instance dried out and thinned the body just a little more than would be ideal. In any case, cheers to Bièropholie for letting us experience this beer twice in such a manner!