Brewery: Stone Brewing Company
Beer: Smoked Porter with Chipotle Peppers
Style: American Porter
ABV: 5.9%
Character: American style Porter brewed with chipotle peppers
I am usually not a fan of beers with peppers brewed into it, as my palate didn’t like the cold feel of something hot! Due to the uniqueness and rarity of this beer in my area, I had to get it when I saw it. I have had this beer in my fridge since November 2012, as I really wasn’t sure about this beer going into it. Well here it goes…
Poured into my Boulevard Brewing Smokestack Series tulip glass. This is definitely a porter. Black in color, not able to see through it at all, but not thick like oil or anything like that. (NOTE: I have definitely seen my share of thick oil-like beers!) It poured thin in fact, and had a thin light tan colored head that disappeared on me rather quickly, leaving none to little lacing on the glass.
First contact with my nose, chipotle pepper right away, as it slightly burns, then I get the smell of the smoke and chocolate. Here’s the thing, Chili peppered beers usually smell very strong and bun the nostrils just as the pepper naturally would on it’s own, and usually smoked beers have an overpowering smokiness to the smell. Well, with this beer, I get neither of the two overpowering the overall aroma of this beer. There is a nice mix of the pepper, smoke, and normal porter characters such as chocolate, and malts.
With the rather pleasing aroma of this, I was now anticipating my first drink. Down it goes! Do I burn, do I cringe in disgust? No way! This beer surprisingly has a great taste! As with the aroma, the mix of smokiness and the chipotle is a match made in beer heaven. Let me say this another way, Stone Brewing made a perfect combination of the aroma and flavors. I’m sure there are others out there right now trying to achieve what this beer is, met with great disappointment. Now, it’s not completely innocent, as this does leave a slight burn on the way down, and in the aftertaste. Head over to your favorite Mexican restaurant and focus on the slight burn the chips and salsa leaves, and you will know exactly what I feel right now. Usually the salsa given is a watery sauce that is not that hot, so don’t get smart and go to a place with a salsa made from hellfire or anything, ok.
Usually with porters, they make me feel full, as they are usually heavy bodied, but again this bad boy gives me a surprise yet again. The beer is medium bodied, smooth, clean finish. Overall I will say that this beer is an excellent beer to introduce people into chili beers. Your average porter fan will enjoy this beer, I think. I can’t wait to find it again, so I can buy a few bottles next time, a couple for drinking, and a couple for cooking with. Oh hell yes!!!!
Find it, drink it, enjoy it, feel the burn! Don’t be a pussy!
Cheers,
BMD!
Beer Metal Media 