OFallon Smoked Porter

Brewed by OFallon Brewery
Style: Smoked
OFallon, Missouri USA

Bottle: Opaque reddish-brown with a small tan head. Aroma is smoke, moch and bacon. The taste is smoke, grains, wood, charred grains, meat, and sulfur. Medium bodied, moderate carbonation. The smoke here seems to have a bit more of a salty charred flavoring than some other smoked beers I’ve tried. I don’t mention that as a negative; this beer is well done.

Dearker than some Imperial Stouts that I had the same evening, hazy, brown, off-white large-bubble head. Fun aroma suggesting leather, bagpipes (I used to have a leather bag on my pipes that got moist; synthetic bags are more common these days), and bacon. Gentle effervescence of smoke, and the flavor is rounded between the dimensions of smoke, roast, and general porter characteristics. The palate is unremarkable, with moderate carbonation. Interesting and well made.

(22oz bottle) Cola/black body with tan head. Aroma is smoked fish, smoked cheese, some caramel. Taste is medium sweet, milk chocolate, smoke, some roast, light caramel. Medium body. Surprisingly drinkable beer.

Smells like smoked salmon. Nice. Also taste like smoked salmon. Not-so-nice.

Wait a second, hold on here. Its a winter seasonal available year round. Does that mean winter is year round? Hmmm, seems suspect. Regardless, this smells like some semi decent smoked jerky, hints of campfire as well. Flavor is less smokey then the flavor, but its still there. Semi sugary with a pretty nice malt complex. Not really that impressive, but a good brew. Still remindes me of jerky though.

Tap @ GTMW. Opaque midnight brown in color with a creamy tan head. Roasted pecans, jerky and cocoa powder for aroma. Smoked and porter characteristics are there for flavor, but, they should be. Jerky and semi-sweet chocolate chips add dimension, but it still comes up thin on the palate. Decent balance but uninteresting.

This is very good. It reminds me of the Alaskan Smoked Porter, except that I can actually buy this one here and for a reasonable price too ($3.99 for a bomber). I sat outside on a nice evening and drank the beer while smoking a very well-aged La Gloria Cubana Wavell Maduro, a very rich tasting cigar that would overwhelm most beers, but this smoked porter held its own and the two were a perfect match. A good introduction to a smoked beer for someone who has never tried one - there is enough good porter in here so as not to overwhelm the uninitiated.

Pours a dark brown, small light brown head. Aroma of roasted coffee, chocolate, roasted malt, toffee, milk chocolate. Flavor is coffee cooked in a metal pot over a woodfire in the wilderness.