San Antonio

Brewed by Sleeman Brewing & Malting Co. (Sapporo)
Style: Smoked
Guelph, Canada

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Stein

Dark gold/amber body with a good off white head. Sweet yeasty notes with a lightly smokey aroma. Dilute vaguely smokey flavour. Surprisingly suffers more from a lack of taste than the smoke. Touch of yeast, it definitely shows its Raftman heritage.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry. Pours a clear, very bubbly, orange-gold with an average size semi-lasting off-white head. Aroma is mostly yeast and grain followed by some malt and spices and then maybe a faint whiff of smoke way in the background. Flavour’s malty and grainy along with some spices and banana (why banana?), and again, if you try really hard, you can detect a hint of smoke in there. Light bodied and quite carbonated. I must agree with the comments that this is like a diluted Raftman.

Bottle (341ml). Magic bottle appeared out of the mist, drank it alone, yessir officer sir. Gold, still, frothy white head. Sharp spicy yeast aroma, maybe some coriander, fruity faintly vegetal malt - smoked? Taste - sweet, lemony, lightly spiced - smoked? Nah ... a generic Unibroue, not one of their better efforts, going for that spicy belgian thang, getting a sticky, sugary, weak white beer - yeah, it’s spicy, but it’s also BORING - but I do see a little sweet generic whisky in the finish.

Bouteille de 341 ml. Couleur orange thé, petit collet. Arome de malte caramelisé, un peu de coriande. Très petit goût fumé, un peu amère. C’est passable.

Brown bottle, 341 ml, purchased on July 2 2006; eye: amber with golden reflections, nice tan head, clear, good effervescence; nose: yeast, caramelized malt, coriander, bread; mouth: bitterness at first, followed by caramelized malt, bitterness again, spices in there, finale is bitter with a little pepper, lightly sweet, medium bitterness, light body, rather thin, nice carbonation; overall: not so bad FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 341 ml, acheté le 2 juillet 2006; oeil : ambré avec des reflets dorés, belle mousse tan, claire, bonne effervescence; nez : levure, malt caramélisé, coriandre, pain; bouche : amertume, malt caramélisé, amertume, épices, finale en amertume avec un peu de poivre, légèrement sucrée, moyennement amère, corps léger, plutôt mince, bonne carbonatation; en résumé : pas pire

Thanks To Hopscotch for this throw in. Pours a clear amber with a with frothy white head. The aroma is bready, banana and cloves. The flavor is sweet and fruity, but I’m not getting any smoke. Medium body with lively carbonation.

UPDATED: MAY 10, 2006 Bottle... Crystal clear, amber ale with a large, whispy, off-white head. Decent retention. Looks a lot like a glass of an old Scotch or Irish malt. Fruity, spicy aroma. Maybe a hint of smoke; maybe not. Banana, apple and pear. Good balance in the flavor. More spice and fruit, but thin. Medium-bodied and fizzy. Finishes fruity and lightly bitter. Weird. Who entered this as a rauchbier?

Pale amber. Faint malt aroma. Feels like cola in the mouth. Kind of refreshing. Don’t really notice much of a whiskey presence. Not bad.