Simple Malt Double Porter

Brewed by Brasseurs Illimités
Style: Smoked
St Eustache, Canada

Pretty light bien pour, aroma of bacon, soy, sausages, and loads of smoke. Great flavor of smoke and smoked meat. This beer is like a meal a great example of the style.

11.2 ounce bottle from Beer Run in Charlottesville, VA. Pours a deep reddish brown color with a medium creamy head. Good head retention and lacing. Aroma of smoked malts, with faint roastiness and some nuts. Taste is lightly roasted malts, smoke, chocolate, cherries and other fruit notes. Smooth, medium bodied.

This smoked porter really is something else. The body is medium with a dark brown color. There is a unique blend of smoked peat moss in addition to some light notes of coffee more common to typical porters. A noticeable hop aroma is also present, lingering somewhat on the palate. A very decent smoked ale.

Clear burnt caramel colour with burgundy reflects. Its tight beige head quickly diminishes to a lasting film. Fragrant peat meets caramelly brown sugars in the nose. Dried apricots and pears can be imagined with effort. It possesses a growing roastiness, which offsets the sweetness with its inherent soft bitterness, but bear more minerality than I remembered, perhaps just a side-effect impression from the smoke, but I find it salty, like some scotches can be with their sea air component. In mouth, its soft hops remain timid, but provide a fit with the earthy nature of the ensemble. Cohesive small-bubbled, relatively active carbonation manages to be engaging as this palate avoids any stickiness despite the overall sweetness. Sweeter and less chewy than I remembered in its former Calumet life, but drinkable and finely balanced. At around 2.50 a bottle, it’s a bargain.

My Bottom Line:
Peat and beechwood smoke lengths are ably united in this healthy Smoked Porter, lending complexity to the subtly roasted caramelized malt flavors.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam stays atop the dark brown-laced blackness.
-This doesn’t have the nose and depth of Calumet, its predecessor, yet, but this is the first batch.
-The mouthfeel is definitely one of this beer’s finest features, imho. Fine, tight carbonation and a rich yet drinkable body of dextrins. Almost sexy.
-The smoked dryness in the finish is quite alluring.

Bottle from the first batch.

Bottle ( 341ml ). Shared with blankboy and garthicus, via trade with JulienHuxley. Hazy ruby, average frothy tan head (4-). Moderately sweet aroma - maple syrup, smokey peat. Taste follows - peatier, a nice Islay character, not much booze either - decent roast nutty malt. Light, slick mouthfeel, a little acidic, slightly still - a mild campfire tang in the finish. Pretty solid - not all that robust, but what the hey.

Thanks to HogTownHarry, shared with Blankboy and I. Appearance: Dirty dark brown with a small tan head. Aroma: Nice smokiness, slight whiskey, malt and cream. Flavour: Bitter at first, then cream, malt, bread and a long lasting bitter finish. Very nice.

Bottle: Poured a clear brown color ale with a large foamy head with good retention and not much lacing. Aroma of smoked is quite dominant with some notes of roasted malt also noticeable. Taste is dominated by a nice mix of smoked malt with a little touch of roasted malt. Body is bit thin and beer would be better with a fuller body with good carbonation. Very well done with loads of smoked malt but I think this beer would be even better with more roasted malt and a fuller creamier body.