Stone Smoked Porter

The best part’s the appearance - it’s rather beautiful. The consistency and mouth-feel are also nice, but I find the flavor pretty dull. Dark, smoky, dry: It’s all that, yes... but not strikingly tasty. Extra credit for being from my hometown of San Diego, though. :)

Bottle. Pours ebony with a good amount of transparency around the edges where the brew thins. A nice abundant tan head forms and lasts for some time. The aroma isn’t strong at all. I notice some cocoa, vanilla, smoke, and a little bit of wood. But it took me a few times of pressing my nose into the mouth of the glass. The initial flavour is mildly chocolaty with hints of wood, and a bit of vanilla and brown sugar. The brew passing causes me to think, "watery," as it has that similar feeling in your mouth when you drink unfiltered tap water. Hm, that’s not exactly a quality that I like. The smoked and wood notes start to creep in. The smoked notes seem to mix nicely with the chocolate flavour. Though, the feeling of the unfiltered tap water just doesn’t seem to go away. All in all, this is okay. It’s drinkable. But far from impressive.

Nice pour and attractive. Smells rich, chocolate, burnt. Tastes clean porter, mild smokiness. Okay not Stone’s best effort.

Pretty black color with a loose tan head. Slightly smoky aroma. Heavy on the roasted malts at the front with a bitter finish and occasionally smoky element in there. A little metallic. Apart from that standard porter flavors. You don’t get the smokiness on every sip. You kinda have to look for it, some of my friends could not find it at all.

This is the beer that made me look for more by Stone. Smokey, but not overwhelming. One of my favorites, a dark, full-bodied beer -- glad my "beer guy" can get the bombers by the case for me.

650 ml. Opaque black with a three finger head that settles to a lasting ring. Earthy coffee, smoke, cocoa, wood and molasses aroma. Marshmallow and molasses flavor is well-tamed by the peat, cocoa and coffee. Some wood and prickly-herby hops peek through at the finish. Medium body is smooth with light carbonation, slightly watery and dry-chalky at the same time, like a good porter should be.

on tap -pours a rich tan head and black color with red tint. Aroma is dark malt-chocolate, peat, some dark fruit. Taste is sweet dark malt-chocolate, peat/smoky, some dark fruit, earthy hops. Nicely done, not my style. Occasional.

Bomber pours a dark chestnut body with a healthy tan head. Aroma of burnt charcoal, Pacific hops, and caramel. Taste features smoke, fruity hops, a hint of chocolate, and some roasty bitterness. Topnotch!