Sierra Nevada Imperial Smoked Porter

Brewed by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Style: Smoked
Chico, California USA

On draft at EBB. Pours a dark cola with a medium light brown head. Aroma of roasted malts and chocolate. Taste of roasted malts, chocolate and a touch of cola. Leaves a charred aftertaste.

Draft at Gingerman. A good day to be drinking smoked porter with all the snow outside in March. Great amount of smokiness in the nose with a strong alcohol burn. Flavor is even more boozy, almost to the point where you can’t taste the chocolate or cocoa. Disapponting.

Draft at Binny’s South Loop. Pour a nice, deep black/brown, small fluffy head. Nose is rich and chocolatey with a little smoke in the nose. Taste is nice, big and rich with the smoke complimenting the Porter body and tastes of chocolate and grains. A very nice beer.

Mini growler from Half-Time. Pours a deep black with a smallish brown head which deflates quickly. Smoke, port, stone fruit, toasted malt and. Medium to thick mouthfeel, enhanced by the light creamy carbonation. Slightly sweet, but with a good amount of roast. Lots of slowly developing smoke on the finish. Really good, and a couple steps above what I usually think of for SN.

16 oz. pint - $4.75 at Taco Mac in Canton, Georgia. Appearance: Black body, not quite opaque, with a lean, beige-colored head. Smell: Aroma of roasted maltiness mingled with notes of chocolate and industrial-grade smoke. Taste: Roasty, blackened malts with a charry smoke component and taste of unsweetened chocolate stirred up with licorice root. Nominal sweetness throughout. Small hint of fruit. Negligible but noticeable alcohol presence. Medium-low bitterness builds as you near the drying, smoky, roasty finish. Mouthfeel: SNISP is a bit above medium, both in terms of body and carbonation. Drinkability: It’s likable. Mostly, it’s just nice to see Sierra Nevada releasing a new beer that isn’t just another pale ale of IPA.

Tap at Barcade: Dark brown with dark khaki head. Lightly smoky nose with more chocolate character than anything. There’s a touch of sweet peat in there, and perhaps a milky note. Slick creamy body. The flavor has a dense malt character with only mild smoke, more lean peated character with some cocoa as well. Not too sweet, with a light roasted note. Decent, just a simple solid Porter, and not smoky enough!!

This is what I look for in a smoked porter. Dark black pour with a fingers worth of caramel colored head. Strong chocolate presence in the aroma with the unmistakable aroma of ash. Surprisingly this one is sweeter than I expected. Sweet chocolate and molasses flavors meld well with a bold smoke presence. Must get more of this before the keg runs out.

Draft at Taco Mac. Pours a deep, dark, almost-black ruby with almost no head (typical Taco Mac pour). The foam is tan in color and leaves spots of lace on the glass. The aroma is sweet and vinous with maltiness with notes of chocolate, too. The taste has lots of chocolate, coffee, fruit, sweet malts, subtle smoke, and some alcohol. At mid-palate the beer is quite rich and wonderfully bittersweet. The finish is full and chocolatey. The palate is smooth and creamy. It is full in body and has a light tingle of carbonation up front that slightly accents the smokiness. Overall, a wonderful winter beer - warming, full, rich, and dangerously drinkable.