New Glarus Unplugged Smoke on the Porter

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Sampled on 7/31/10. This smoked porter pours an eclipse black color from a 12oz bottle. Small to medium sized beige foamy head. The aroma is chocolate, coffee, dark fruit and some smoke. A medium bodied smoked porter. The malts are roasty and chocolate, touch of coffee and a nice mellow smokiness in the background. The hops are herbal. The smoke is evident, but mostly in the background. A nice smoky porter with an excellent flavor balance. Nice balance. Good carbonation. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Dark pour with a nice beige head. Aroma of smoke but not overpowering. Flavor of smoke, cocoa, and malt. A really nice beer. I always look forward to New Glarus' unplugged beers.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 10 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

i am moving up north, this is ridiculous!!! .. . amazing bbq meaty smokey aroma .. amzing smoky playful flavours .. . thanks to john once again!! .. . black and crazy! still clean.. an awesome awesome treat!!!! did i say amazing!!

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 5

Poured a typical brown with small head. Aroma was smokey dark chocolate. Flavor was much the same with some coffee flavor as well. Something was a little off in this one for me that i couldn't put my finger on.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Thanks to pfoxyjohn for this one. Pours a very dark, almost black color with a medium tan head. Nice aroma of smokey malts and mocha. The taste is similar to the smell, sweet smokey malts with a bit of a bitter finish. Not bad at all.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Black-brown and tan head with good lacing. Smells of hickory and chocolate, but not very strongly. Somewhat bitter, with subdued smoke and roasted malts. Nowhere near the best of the style; it just isn't very distinct.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

pours a dark brown with a medium size tan head. aromaa are chocolate , coffee and smoked malt. flavor was very much the same as the aromas. chocolate smoked malt and coffee. overall i liked it.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

A solid pour into my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip glass nets me a two-finger thick, lightly browned, tan colored head. The beer is quite dark, with a burnt, concentrated brown color. When held up to the light the beer shows an almost opaque darkness, but does show some flashes of murky, concentrated amber around the edges. The aroma has the hearty aroma of smoked malt, it smells quite similar to beech-wood smoked malt, though perhaps a touch softer ad less meaty. Underneath the chewy smoked malt character are notes of roasted grain; a touch of char, a rich toasted whole grain character and as the beer warms a bit, rich notes of dark chocolate and city roast coffee beans. I really like that the smoke is distinct, dominant even, but doesn't drown out the beautiful dark malt aromatics here.

Fairly light bodied, almost thin in some ways. The beer is also quite dry tasting up front, with even a touch of roast grain derived acidity to it. The smoke adds some richness to the flavor, but isn't quite as prominent as it was in the aroma. The dark, roasted malt notes play a significant, almost leading role here; roasted cocoa, well toasted whole grain bread crust, blackened toffee and, in the finish, a bitter, burnt grain note and some charred acidity lingers on in the palate. The smoke seems to accentuate, or perhaps even contribute to a certain sweetness here in the finish. As the beer warms up it starts to gain in richness and texture; the body has more viscousness to it and it feels fuller as it rolls across the tongue. The malt sweetness also is magnified as the beer warms up, this works really well with the smokiness and even adds a touch of dark fruit character up front.

This is quite a nice beer. I really like the mix of flavors from the smoked and the roasted malt mix. My biggest complaint is that a 12oz bottle is not nearly enough of this for one sitting. This is one of those beers that started out a bit slow, but finished up great.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottle: Poured a clear black color porter with a nice foamy head with good retention and great lacing. Aroma consists of light smoke with some notes of light coffee. Taste is a nice mix between some creamy roasted coffee notes with a lingering smoke final. Body is a bit light for the style with some good carbonation. Some additional smoke and a fuller body would have improved this beer in my mind but still is a great achievement as is.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Bottle from Bockyhorsey. The pour was brownish with some reddish hues. The head was a little weak, but ok. The aroma was meaty smoke flavors over top of a roasted dark malt choco-coffee blend. The flavor followed the aroma, some more coffee and roast than chocolate. When all is said and done, I don't like the meaty smokes mixed in with the porter elements - the rauch-edness seems to work better with lager and marzen base beers much better. Thanks, Bill, for the great opportunity, though, always indebted to you for your kindness.