Tyranena Benjis Chipotle Smoked Imperial Porter

Brewed by Tyranena Brewing
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Lake Mills, Wisconsin USA

GTMW 2009: Reddish brown hue with a creamy tan head and good lace. The aroma is a wonderful combination of dusty milk chocolate, walnut and toasted malts versus chipotle pepper, herbs and anise spice. Some coffee and earthy yeast esters found roaming about as well. The taste starts with a malty chocolate and coffee character before that spice notes comes around to add complexity and uniqueness. Dusty and nutty upon the finish will little note of smoke. The mouth feel is soft and lush but as often is the case with porters, a tad thin-bodied and short. Overall a well done brew but would have liked to see just a bit more chipotle character (the same issue I had with most of the "pepper" brews two weeks earlier at the Michigan Brewers fest)

On draught at the brewery taproom in Lake Mills, Wisconsin. Pours an opaque dark brown brew with a creamy tan head that has some nice retention and excellent lacing. Aroma of smoked BBQ ribs, roasted dark malt, some chocolate, white pepper and a hint of molasses. Taste is full bodied, smooth and creamy with flavors of smoked chipotle, chocolate, some pepper and coffee. Finish has a nice balance of smoked and mild bitterness and has a lingering smoked chipotle aftertaste without a spicy bite like most other chipotle infused beers.

On tap at Tyranena. Poured deep brown with a nice cap of beige head. The aroma picked up smoked chipotle upfront backed by burnt chocolate, molasses, and lesser ground coffee. The flavor was malty with dark chocolate and molasses at the core.. building peppery warmth joined a bitter earthy presence around.. long bitter and smoky finish. Medium-bodied with creamy carbonation aand ample bitterness.. very much enjoyed the slow burn it provided.

Growler courtesy of Skyview. Black color with a large head. Light chipotle smoke aroma with some roasted malts. Strong wood and smoke flavor. Light on the pepper spice, but enough to make it obvious it’s there. Plenty of roasted and chocolate malt. This is really good. It’s a great way to make a pepper beer: as an accent, not an alcoholic pepper smoothie.

GTMW 2009. Poured an opaque black color with a tan head. Typical porter aroma of chocolate with a hint of roast. Medium bodied and delicately sweet. Dark chocolate dominated the flavor, but there were distinct smoke and spicy pepper accents. I wanted more pepper burn, but this was interesting.

From Skyview’s growler. Black. Malt aroma. The smoke is found in the flavor, wih more moderately roasted malt. There is enough smoke here that it might be classified as a smoked beer rather than porter.

Rich smokiness, lots of robust roasted malts, notes of gauze and bandaid (yummy!). Typical porter body. Very dark brown, nearly opaque. From growler.

Tap at The Old Fashioned in Madison, WI - I was quite impressed with this - the smoke and chipotle pepper add a nice dimension, that compliments the roasted malts, but the spiciness never really becomes that strong, just a gentle spiciness that become peppery through the finish - there are some vanilla and cocoa flavors, and even a bit of berry-like character through the finish, but the chocolate, roasted malt, and light hint of spice and smoke are the stars of the show - well-balanced and tasty - it’s nice to see a pepper beer that doesn’t nail you over the head with the spiciness.