Brewers Alley Smoked Porter

Brewed by Brewers Alley Restaurant & Brewery
Style: Porter
Frederick, Maryland USA

Draft... Clear, dark garnet ale with a small, frothy, khakihead. The nose is of chocolate, coffee, caramel and smoke. The flavor has good balance (leans just a bit to the sweet side) and carries over all the characteristics of the aroma. Medium to full-bodied and creamy with lively carbonation. Finishes chocolatey, smokey and just a trace burnt.

Growler - Dark brown with a light tan head. Smoky sweet caramel nutty aroma. Good smoke presence. The flavor has less smoke and is more typical big porter. Choco-cofffe, roasted nutty malts, and good bitterness. Medium fairly attenuated.

Sampled on 7/15/06 at the RBSG ’06 Grand Tasting out of a growler: Pours a clear dark brown with a nicely-lacing wispy light tan head. Aroma of toasty, earthy, dry, lightly smoky malts and some light diacetyl. Body starts with some mild earthy sweetness along with some toasty caramel and green hops with a touch of drier smoke. A decent beer, but I’d like to see more smoke character like Alaskan Smoked Porter.

On draught at Brewer’s Alley: Clear brown colored body that is deep and dark, almost opaque, with a medium tan head that sticks. The aroma is mildly sweek smoke, caramel, wood stove, earthy, roasted malt and chocolate. Taste is mild smoke, dry caramel, burnt toast, roasted malt, dry chocolate, mild yeast. Medium bodied, medium carbonated, with a smoke and burnt toast finish.

On tap at the brewpub on 02/28/2009. Clear reddish brown body with ruby highlights and a small light brown head. Roast, chocolate, and light smoke aroma. Sweet smoke flavor with chocolate adnd roast. Medium full body with moderately low carbonation.

I got this beer on tap at the brewery. A cloudy, rich brown color with a creamy look and creamy dark-tan head with good retention. Heavy smoky and roasty malt aromas, with some chocolate and coffee tones, as well as caramel malt. A sweet, heavy smoky taste with some of the aroma scents reappearing. The body was creamy, but not too wet, a little bit on the dryer side with a slightly thinner mouthfeel. It was a solid beer, but not one of the brewpub’s best.

A deep red beer with a thin light beige head. The aroma is sweet with light fruity notes - the aroma is a bit light for my liking. The flavor is sweet malty with notes of roasted malt - I don’t really pick up any smoked notes.

Draft. A deep, dark brown with some red thrown in. Malt, caramel, and smoke permeate the nose. Medium carbonation with a rich mouthfeel. Smoked malt, honey, caramel, and burnt sugar show up on my tongue. A hint of peat too. There is some bitterness, but it is pretty overpowered by the sweetness. Not bad, but a little out of balance on the sweet side.