Lately, The Session has been going through some changes. It started with a focus on styles and morphed into something more abstract. In the past few months, there’s been a move to reign in The Session and get back to focusing on the beers. I have no problem with that, but I also think the story that accompanies the beer is just as important. That being said, today I bring you the story of a smoked beer.
This topic challenged me due to the scarcity of smoked beers. I didn’t want to be one of the many who would have drank Stone’s Smoked Porter, Alaskan’s Smoked Porter or an Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier. Yes, I want to be different, it’s part of who I am, but I’ve also reviewed those beers before (with the exception of Aecht). So I had to find another smoked beer.
In the end, Jah did provide. A couple Tuesdays ago, for the Sierra Nevada Cask Night, we got an unexpected surprise. For weeks I had been talking to the brewer and local rep about what beers would be on their way. We knew what would be on draught, but the question was the cask. Finally the word came back it would be a porter. Sierra Nevada Porter on cask sounded fantastic. What we got was even better.
The cask arrived the night before and was full of their Imperial Smoked Porter. I hadn’t asked for this and I doubt Terrence even know or cared about The Session, but here was the beer I was looking for. Dark, roasted and of course, smokey. The flavor of the smoke wasn’t over the top like it is with the Alaskan Porter, but more complimentary to the roasted flavors already present in the beer. Coffee and chocolate flavors were the highlight in this dark brew with the smoked flavors reminding me of sitting next to a fire while drinking the beer, as opposed to walking through a burnt forrest. At 7.6%, this beer packs a punch, but goes down incredibly easy. It’s an over-used description, but this was like a beer drinker’s chocolate milkshake, creamy, slightly sweet and with a thick mouthfeel. I could have drank this all night, and did do my share when it came to polishing off the cask.
As if the smoke had influenced all beer related events as the month came to a close, I was lucky enough to find bottles of Alaskan Smoked Porter at the recent Battle of the Brews. I helped myself to a couple samples of this incredibly smokey beer and was able to compare the two recent tastings to one another. In the Alaskan, the alder smoke is strong and dominating. I really like this beer but feel it is crying out for some kind of food pairing to cut the intensity of the smoke without diluting it.
In the end, I came away with two experiences that will stand out in my mind more than the malt. The first is of drawing my own pint from the cask at Toad in the Hole, then raving about how great the beer was with the people who joined me. The second was the surprise on my face of finding a bin full of Alaskan’s best bottled products at a brewfest that catered to lighter beers.
So there you have my experience with smoke in my beer for March of 2009. If you have any favorite smoked beers, check out the other submissions for The Session over at Lew Bryson’s blog. Also, thanks to Lew for hosting this Session.
