Brew Brain Blog

Tonight I bring to you Smoked Porter from Stone Brewing Company:

This is my third beer from Stone Brewing, which I think is the most selections so far from any one brewer. Those people over at Stone seem to know what they’re doing. I absolutely loved the Arrogant Bastard, and enjoyed the IPA maybe just a notch below that. How does the Smoked Porter rate?

The beer pours a very dark blackish brown with just a little dark amber or ruby reds showing where the light hits the glass. A nice little dark tan head sits up top and dissipates fairly quickly.

The nose on this one was very strong when I first cracked the cap off the bottle. I stuck my schnoz right in there and caught a big whiff of dark chocolate, a bit of coffee and some nuttiness. Once in the glass, the scents seemed to waft away somewhat and became much more subdued.

Having recently tried the huge flavors of the Arrogant Bastard Ale and the very flavorful IPA, I was expecting big, over-the-top flavors from the this one. Instead, the flavors, while complex and enjoyable, are much more subdued. It is quite malty, with roasted malt, light bitter coffee and dark chocolate playing nice with some biscuity caramel flavor, sort of a BBQ smoke flavor (I guess that’s the “Smoke” in the Smoked Porter) and roasted nuts on the end. There is just enough spicy hops on the finish to balance things off quite well and make this one a very drinkable beer.

The beer has sort of a creamy consistency that fits the taste perfectly. Carbonation is right on. This is a smooth drinker.

I’d definitely make a habit of this beer. I’m enjoying the big malty beers quite a lot, and this one is right up there for me.

Enjoy your beer,

Brew Brain