It's been a while since I reviewed a beer by the folks over at Swift Current, Saskatchewan's Black Bridge Brewing. I've enjoyed every single product I've ever tried by them.. in fact.. to me, their Milk Stout is easily one of the best Milk Stouts in Canada, very comparable to la crème of Milk Stouts.. Charlevoix's La Vache Folle out of Quebec.
Their Smoked Porter was recently available at Liquor Marts here in Manitoba but quickly sold out, so I was able to grab one before it was gone!
Appearance: Black as the night, thick and very creamy so far. The head is a light to moderate amount of cookie doughish yellow foam on top. As the beer is savoured, it's leaving behind a good amount of foam residue on the side of the glass.. that's a good thing.
Aroma: Well, it's no lie that this is a smoked porter! The first thing I smell in this beer is a mild smokiness that reminds me of bonfires in the summer time and wiener roasts at my grandpa's awesome old toboggan hill.. some of the best memories of my life. It's a tad peppery but I don't think it's going to pop up when I taste it. Light amount of coffee but the main smell here is the smoke, even if it's not as strong as A LOT of smoked beers I've had in my life!
Taste: The mouthfeel is the very first thing that comes up.. even before the tastes themselves, it's a milky/silky smooth texture on the palate and it really likes to dance with my tongue and the walls of my mouth. The flavours I get are a bit of a char, as if you got a bit of some wood char on your winter bonfire hot dog at the toboggan hill. There's a light amount of roasted coffee to give it a bit of a bitterness but it only shows up momentarily and disappears completely, dark chocolate, a bit of butter and a light amount of biscuit presence in there somewhere. The aftertaste is a light roasted/smoke aftertaste but doesn't seem to linger for that long.
Overall Thoughts: I like it, it's smooth to the tongue, it reminds me of my childhood bonfires and doesn't have unpleasant flavours that linger for way too long. This would work well as part of a smoked brisket or smoked pork marinade (with a hint more of coffee added to it). It certainly could be smokier but hey.. it's well balanced. I kind of miss the winter time burnt hot dogs over the makeshift grill my grandpa made for the bonfires just so people could cook their dogs without relying on a weenie roast stick. He's been gone 6 years last month already.. wow. *sigh*
7.2% ABV
http://www.blackbridgebrewery.ca/come-try-our-porter/
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