Smoked Baltic Porter – Great Divide Brewing

Heidi Ho fellow beer snobs. As I was rooting around in the beer fridge this afternoon I noticed a few large bottles in the bottom that quite frankly I had forgotten about. So I figured I better drink at least one of them, I mean, it’s the least I could do for ignoring them for…well…I don’t know how long.

As such, I come to you today with a beer that I have never had before from a company I’ve only heard mention of. The beer in question is the Smoked Baltic Porter from Great Divide Brewing Company out of Denver, Colorado. Based on what I’m seeing around these vast interwebs it would appear that this is a late summer/early fall brew and the bottle date of August 6th, 2010 did make one eyebrow extend upward in a snob-like fashion. I also shudder to think how long it has been sitting in the beer fridge with me being as rude and inconsiderate as I have been – my sincerest apologies to this brew.

So, the beer: this beer pours dark like you’d expect from a porter. It had about a half an inch of head in it after the pour and I got some pretty sweet notes of chocolate, roasted malt and something else sweet I can’t quite put my finger on. As far as taste, this beer is very smooth and not heavy at all. At 6.2% ABV you get a little hint of alcohol as it hits your tongue but it isn’t overpowering at all. It’s the taste where the hints of smokiness come through from the Bamberg smoked malt and I’m getting some hints of coffee and bread. There is also a dryness to the finish of the brew.

Final snobs: It’s not bad overall and the smokiness isn’t overpowering but subtle. I certainly wouldn’t turn one down and honestly I’d like to make a pot of chili with it. Cheers.