This beer smells like peppers, bell peppers, green bell peppers. Taste = peppers, bell peppers, green bell peppers. There is a nice burn to it after a few seconds that helped me get the thought of stringent bell peppers off my mind, but the smell and taste are still there. Jalapeno Smoked Porter poured with just about no head at all, not too surprising after being in a barrel, but it also poured thin, which is a bit surprising given the increase in viscosity usually imparted. And is there supposed to be smoke in here? I’m trying way too hard to find it. I’m pulling out some caramel, maybe a fading memory of a barrel, and smoke may have wafted through the warehouse during storage. I’m kinda bummed about this one. I had higher expectations, which I know to keep subdued during a review, but the imbalance in this bottle is too far out of scope. Maybe switch this recipe to chipotle peppers (which are smoked jalapeños), use less of them, keep in the barrel longer or add staves to the barrel, and maybe add chocolate malt to the mix… just some thoughts, what do I know, I just drink the beer. Overall smokestack metric = a generous 3 out of 7.

This beer reminds me of the first pepper beer I ever had, which wasn’t a good one, and that experience ruined pepper beers for me for years. The same happened with barreled beers. But the last handful of beers reviewed were solid spicy beers, which makes this a bit more disappointing. And it may delay some poor bloke’s arrival to a smokebeer epiphany. For whom we will pray.

Below average beer, below average website:

http://countryboybrewing.com/