Church-Key Holy Smoke

Brewed by Church-Key Brewing
Style: Smoked
Pethericks Corners, Canada

On tap from Volo. poured a dark, roast color. Strong bacon and fire aromas (im not lying). the best way to describe this beer is passing out drunk by a campfire and waking up to taste the shirt you passed out in.

The finale of the Volo sampler trifecta from September 14, 2006. Again, a 5 oz sample on tap. The beer poured a dark chocolate brown with an almost non existent head although in all fairness I was so excited for the other two beer that I didn’t pay as much attention to the third pour as I should have… That being said, there was still a crisp thin white head sitting just on top. The first impression of the scent is a pound of freshly cooking smoked bacon (mmmmm….. bacon…..) (but I digress). There is a smooth silky mouth feel that envelopes your tongue like a nice winter scarf. Overall it is like eating a pound of bacon and then drinking out of an ash tray (only without the overwhelmingly negative connotations)

Beautiful dark amber colour that starts off with a nice roasted bitterness with a peaty lingering finish. Definately not for everyone, but a must try for dark beer lovers. Had it at the Bow and Arrow in Toronto.

On tap - BeerBistro Toronto. Wonderful black beer with good smokiness and roastiness. Seems to be a smoked porter which is fast becoming one of my favourite styles. Very good drinkable beer.

341 ml bottle - pours a dark clear mahogany with a decent white head. Aroma kind of faint but mainly sweet malt and some smoke of course, along with a subtle sourness. I wasn’t expecting much, but the flavour is quite lovely - not like other smoked beers I’ve had that hit you over the head with their smoked meat flavours, this one is very clean and bears the stamp of actual wood smoke - hickory and peat - an earthiness under a rich malty body. Full-flavoured, delicious and highly quaffable for a smoked. Would be fantastic in autumn.

Dark brown beer with a thin dark brown head. Massive smoky aroma which tastes like hickory and mesquite, not the usual beechwood. Flavour is much more subdued than the aroma, showing loads of sweet fruit, blackberry, cherry, plum, and brown sugar. Sweet and full bodied. Creamy texture. Great stuff.

have had this on tap, and in bottle, smoke flavour is wonderful, definate scotch ale, good beer, great with bbq

Has the smokiness with the malt and the sourness that yoiu would want. The aromas seem to hit a bit more of the old cheese standard.