Bièropholie Calumet Grand Chef

Pours an oily black-brown with a deep mahogany tinge when held against the light. Dense dark tan pad of a head has excellent low retention and generates lace until the final sip. This looks stunning! Hardwood smokiness is the first aroma to register, followed by a coarse pungent leatheriness. A smokey, bitter chocolate palate feels rich and thick in the mouth. There is not so much a fruity quality as there is an acidity to this beer that keeps it from becoming cloying. There is a sound woody or peach-pit bitterness in the finish. This was a huge treat for me, I can’t believe I’ve been saving this for so long!

My Bottom Line:
This luxurious Smoked Porter sports an affable wooden and peaty smokiness atop a most huggable roasted caramel. Serene and ample, its prominent residual sugars are intelligently offset by the roasted malt’s dryness, the leveled salty smoke and a subtle leafy hop touch. A world-class specimen from Bièropholie!

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A ring of foam surveils the nearly opaque ebony.
-Subtle raisiny, blueberry fruitiness adds to the complexity, seemingly seeping out of the dark chocolate.
-The smoke is never too intense, and offers earthy and peaty notes on top of its wooden character.
-There is no sign of the abv; this is absurdly drinkable.
-Vanilla and coffee appear once in a while.
-This is richer than the original Calumet, and perhaps a little less drinkable because of it, but if you’ve ever wondered how the first Calumet would translate into a sipper, your wishes have been granted.

Fresh bottles and on tap at various places.

Tap at Vices et Versa. Beer of the trip. Easily. I’d place this in my top 20 very quickly. Now I just need to score some bottles of it. Very smoky, clean, hammy aroma. Slight mint and chocolate. Good complexity. Taste is uber-smoky, with a perfect porter to back it up. Finish is intensely awesome. All this is compounded by an absolutely beautiful pour with immaculate lacing down the glass. I loved this beer.

1100th rating, 70th of this beer, bottle via trade with Glouglouburp, decided to open this pretty much because my girlfriend loves smoked beers and this is the 2nd rated Smoked, and well I had it. Pours black with a half finger light brown head. The nose is ridiculously smoky and meaty. Its pretty damn hardcore. Taste is incredibly smoky and full of smoke and burnt malts. This is a crazy smoked beer. Its almost crazy intense. This is a crazy beer, and pretty much defines the style for me.

Bottle: Poured a deep pitch-black color porter with a medium brown foamy head with good retention and some good lacing. Aroma of smoked malt is well balance with some rich roasted malt with hint of sweetness. Taste of smoked is very well balance with some rich and creamy lightly bitter roasted malt. Body is really full with a creamy texture and some medium carbonation. I am really impressed by this one since I generally don’t like smoked beers.