New Glarus Unplugged Smoke on the Porter

Formerly brewed at New Glarus Brewing Company
Style: Smoked
New Glarus, Wisconsin USA

12oz bottle thanks to tayner. Dark black color and an initial smell of smoked meat. The aroma then becomes just smoke without the meat and is allright. The flavor is smoky and peaty but it doesn’t take over the nice flavor of the porter. I don;t care much for smoked beers but this one was alright. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 10-25-2008 04:07:33

Dark brown with ruby highlights and a decent sized beige head. Aroma is of smoke, chocolate and roasted malts. Flavor is lightly smokey with roasted malts, chocolate, plums and coffee. Flavors blend very well.

Black with ruby highlights. Light brown head is initially rather large, but falls quickly down to nearly nothing leave the thinest of rings around the edge of the glass. Really nice, woody and smoky aroma with some bittersweet cocoa underneath. Smoke aroma isn’t as "ashy" as so many other smoked beers, but is still robust in its roastiness. Chocolate malt flavors up front with underlying smoke. Finish has some ripened plum notes as the smoke wanes. A touch more carbonated than I would like, distractingly so at times, but overall a great smoked beer that doesn’t hide the underlying porter.

A solid pour into my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip glass nets me a two-finger thick, lightly browned, tan colored head. The beer is quite dark, with a burnt, concentrated brown color. When held up to the light the beer shows an almost opaque darkness, but does show some flashes of murky, concentrated amber around the edges. The aroma has the hearty aroma of smoked malt, it smells quite similar to beech-wood smoked malt, though perhaps a touch softer ad less meaty. Underneath the chewy smoked malt character are notes of roasted grain; a touch of char, a rich toasted whole grain character and as the beer warms a bit, rich notes of dark chocolate and city roast coffee beans. I really like that the smoke is distinct, dominant even, but doesn’t drown out the beautiful dark malt aromatics here.

Fairly light bodied, almost thin in some ways. The beer is also quite dry tasting up front, with even a touch of roast grain derived acidity to it. The smoke adds some richness to the flavor, but isn’t quite as prominent as it was in the aroma. The dark, roasted malt notes play a significant, almost leading role here; roasted cocoa, well toasted whole grain bread crust, blackened toffee and, in the finish, a bitter, burnt grain note and some charred acidity lingers on in the palate. The smoke seems to accentuate, or perhaps even contribute to a certain sweetness here in the finish. As the beer warms up it starts to gain in richness and texture; the body has more viscousness to it and it feels fuller as it rolls across the tongue. The malt sweetness also is magnified as the beer warms up, this works really well with the smokiness and even adds a touch of dark fruit character up front.

This is quite a nice beer. I really like the mix of flavors from the smoked and the roasted malt mix. My biggest complaint is that a 12oz bottle is not nearly enough of this for one sitting. This is one of those beers that started out a bit slow, but finished up great.

A great departure from the cherry rut Dan Cleary has been in with his unplugged. Sweet beer, you can smell and taste the smoked flavor though. Nice beer for the fireside.

Bottle, received in a trade. Black pour with some brown head. Aroma is sweet toffee. sweet chocolate, roast, light meaty smokiness, and cola. flavor is the same, nice sweetness and the smoked aspects take a little bit of a back seat to everything else.

Bottle: Poured a clear black color porter with a nice foamy head with good retention and great lacing. Aroma consists of light smoke with some notes of light coffee. Taste is a nice mix between some creamy roasted coffee notes with a lingering smoke final. Body is a bit light for the style with some good carbonation. Some additional smoke and a fuller body would have improved this beer in my mind but still is a great achievement as is.

12oz bottle, from 2008 Secret Santa (thanks!). Pours deep brown, capped with a moderate sized tan head. Aroma of mild chocolate, cocoa, caramel, and bacon. Flavor is bakers chocoate, caramel malt, and smoke. Smoke and mildly bitter chocolate linger on the palate. Very smooth bodied and incredibly easy to drink.