Church-Key Holy Smoke

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

Time for a re-rate on one of my first ratings. When this beer is on, that is fresh and full of flavour, it is one of my favourite Ontario Micro’s. It has tons of peat smoke in aroma, the body is that of an old style porter, it has tons of rich, smoked malt flavour, again all peat, and there is a lovely lingering bitterness. I can, and have, drank these all night. But consistently has always been a problem and this year I have found the bottles and the tap versions to be very disappointing. I’ve long been a champion of these guys and I hope they can regain some of the consistency that made them my favourite Ontario microbrewer. My rating will be an average of my bottles/pints over the past 2 years.

On Tap At Bow and Arrow. A real one beer at a time drink. Smoky aroma and beautiful blackness. Nice smoky malt flavour that sits on the tongue. A good ale when you’re having just one.

More roast than smoke, like a stout, Thats good. Much carbonation, however. New formulation? Some fruitiness and malt made it balanced.. Surprisingly enjoyable directly form them at the 2004 St. Lawrence fest.

On tap at Bar Volo. Appearance is a very dark brown with an average frothy off-white head. Good lacing. Aroma is pleasantly smoky with caramel malt and hops. Flavour is a lightly acidic combination of smoke, caramel malt, light hops and a touch of scotch that really works. This beer is even better on tap than in the bottle in my opinion as the smoke flavour comes through much more. This is very good and my favourite Smoked beer.

Draught @ West 50, Mississauga: Had this one a few years ago before I was "in to" beer and had hated it, but I’d been assuming my improved palate might now enjoy it. Truth! Poured copper in colour, very little head on mine but the lacing was incredible. Aroma is earthy and smoky, albeit more muted than the Aecht I had a while ago. I found this one far superior to the Aecht in flavour as well, offering a more subtle flavour than the "punched in the face with corned beef" from the former. This one is well balanced with flourishes of smoke and significant hopping, and just enough whiskey-style maltiness to balance. I’m a convert, I really enjoyed this one!

A dark reddish brown colour with a modest fizzy head. A slight smoky, peaty aroma with a hint of bbq. Smokey flavour with notes of cooked bacon, biscuits and sweet caramel. A very accessible and enjoyable smoke beer.

This is a nicely put together brew. The smoke is balanced with the malt, and neither is overpowering. From a personal preference, I’d like a bit more malt, and have the smoke lingering in the background, rather than the foreground. A really underrated brew.

(Bottle 34,1 cl) Clear mahogany with a reddish hue and a beige head. Lightly burned, ashy nose. Medium body with both burned and smoked accents. Dry and lightly hoppy finish. The smokiness is only discreet and pleasant. 161206