Location: Denver, CO
Name: Smoked Baltic Porter
Type: Smoked porter
ABV: 7.50%
You might have to think a little bit to figure out why I named this review what I named it. Regardless. This is the second of 3 beers that I received from Tessa that came straight from the Great Divide brewery. Even better, I had never even seen this one before! It was like seeing a solar eclipse except without having to wear those goofy "Hope I don't go blind by staring at the sun" glasses. And the crazy part? This beer is the antithesis of sunlight. Dark, thick, brooding. Not Adrien Brody...brooding. Definitely lives up to the name and touts it proudly. I couldn't tell you what color the head was. By the time I had finished pouring it had already subsided. That left me more time to smell this thing. Please, no lewd comments. This is one of the tastiest beers I have ever smelled and I'm going to try to convey that smell to you. Ready? OK. Imagine this...you're out camping and it's time to wake up and fend off the bears. Once you've survived the bear attack the most reasonable thing to do is make some coffee over the fire. So you've got the fire going and you're getting that good "I'm making wood burn for heat" smell going on and then the coffee starts to percolate (not the dance). This is like the best coffee you've ever smelled and the next thing you know you're inhaling campfire smoke and coffee all at the same time! Throw in some dark molasses and you've got it. Once your eyes return from rolling backward you may resume reading the rest of this. This is the best smokey, darkest roast coffee, but really it's beer, ever. That's what this smells like. The taste you ask? What, the smell wasn't enough? I'm not a religious person at all but good god does this taste wonderful. Seriously. The smoke flavor slips past parted lips and rides a wave of lightly bodied roasted malt tastes that do an incredible job delivering that familiarly bitter coffee taste of a porter. There's a clean yet subtle hint of hops throughout and I suspect that does a nice job in cutting the possible stickiness that could occur from a beer such as this. I'd like to take a moment to tell you that I do not get paid by Great Divide. Though I would like to...so if anyone from Great Divide is reading this, call me. I'll come work for you. Back to the beer... I know the idea of cold, smoked, carbonated coffee doesn't really sound appealing. But what if I told you that cold, smoked, carbonated, alcoholic, and malted coffee is really delicious? Does that help? It should! This beer will not be available to anyone in Southeast Virginia who may be reading this. To you, I apologize for rubbing it in. The aftertaste has a slight peat taste to it. Whisky drinkers, you'll know what I'm talking about. The malt isn't syrupy or terribly sweet. And the light mouthfeel makes this beer irresistible. Honestly, you take a drink. Set your glass down. And immediately want another drink. I approve for savoring this beer. I would very much like to have more than this one sitting in front of me. I'm going to Denver in August for the wedding of good friends...maybe I get lost at Great Divide? FIND THIS BEER (by any means necessary). DRINK THIS BEER (with wanton and unabashed fervor). Thank me later.
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| This trumps a hotel on Boardwalk. |
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