Court Avenue Smoke Jumper

Brewed by Court Avenue Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
Des Moines, Iowa USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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Cask. Deep copper body with a with a creamy light khaki head. The aroma was caramel with some almonds and light grapefruit. The taste was lightly smoky with some moss and roast peanuts. A decent woody finish. I thought that this was a little off, but possibly it was the cask.

Shaker pint pour at the brew pub in Des Moines, Iowa. I had ordered the cask version, though I am fairly certain this is a normal tap. Really no cask properties to speak of. Pour is mostly clear copper, slight ruby with an off white head that falls pretty quick. Aroma is mild smoke, wet campfire the next morning along with a pleasant cereal grain. Clean nose, though not real assertive on any front. Nice enough. Taste is the nose, light mild smoke along with cereal grain, and perhaps a hint of grassy hoppiness. Smoke is subdued, and certainly is not the dominant. taste. As with the nose, clean and nice enough. Palate is light to medium bodied, normal carbonation levels and a clean crisp finish. Nice gentle smoke beer.

This thing is about as hoppy as it is smoky, and it’s not that hoppy. Now that I’ve got that out of the way this is pretty good certinally some caramel flavors and some good roasted malt with a mild hoppy bitterness that works really well with the mild smokiness. This just seemed a little reserved, there could be a little bit more smoky and it would be phenomenal.

Cask at the brewpub. Poured a clear dark orange color with a fluffy off white head. Decent aroma of spicy malt, toffee, and grass. I didnt get any smoke in the nose. Light to medium bodied and delicately sweet with a smooth cask mouth feel. As mentioned by a previous rater, the flavor was a combination of American amber and ESB. I tasted toffee and a bit of citrus fruit. There was also some smoke, but it was so subtle that I may not have tasted it prospectively. A nice session beer, actually. Very enjoyable, but would have liked more smoke.

Very disappointing. Lacks both the rich aroma of good cask ale and the thick smokiness of a true rauchbier. Aroma and flavor are both very generic. Inoffensive, but uninteresting as a result. Ramp up the smoked malt and we will see if it is any good, but as is it should not even be called a smoked beer.

Sampler off cask at the brewpub. Comes to the table with a bubbly and foamy cask head. Aroma is lightly sweeter yet unrefined (I do not even know what that means). Just kind of plain, like an American ESB and not really an Amber ale. Taste is similar, maybe a bit more sweetness that is not from sugars. But otherwise the smoke really does not come out, especially at such a low percentage of the malt bill.