This beer was a gusher. Upon opening, the fizzle rose higher and higher up the neck of the bottle, slowly foamed up, out, and down the side, which happens. I checked for additional signs to warrant a drain pour, but concluded with a shoulder shrug and a “smells alright” comment, so this proceeded. And this process revealed early on that there is smoke in there, albeit faint and hidden as one might expect from cherrywood smoke. Originally a scotch ale called Drafty Kilt who touts its use of smoked malts, this barrel aged rendition found its way into the hands of a sharp eyed SmokeBeerMinistry administrator who spotted the phrase “smoke vs oak” on the side, and reports that oak won. Barrel power is a pronounced and powerful metric in this beer that adds to the utils of pleasure. Subtle smoke blended with barrel power, smoky molasses, chocolate malts, and caramel, seem to get along swimmingly. Advice for the brewer: clean up the label by removing words, then add smoke. Overall smoke metric = 4.5 smokestacks.
| Brewer | Monday Night Brewing |
| Beer Name | Bourbon Barrel Drafty Kilt |
| Brewer’s Description | What do Scotland and the American South have in common? An appreciation for good booze. But that doesn’t mean they always get along. We put our award-winning Drafty Kilt Scotch Ale in Kentucky bourbon barrels and let them duke it out in the cellar. Who won? You did. Oh, also we did. Again. A GABF Gold Meal. No big deal. The chocolate, caramel, and roasted malts in Drafty Kilt complement the charred oak and vanilla notes in the bourbon barrels quite well. Notice we didn’t say “compliment.” Scotch and Bourbon still don’t send each other Christmas cards. |
| Food Pairings | Chocolate, Smoked meats, Strong cheese, & Cigars (not a food) |
| Brewery Location | Atlanta, GA |
| Alcohol content by volume | 8.5% |
| IBU (International Bitterness Units) | 26 meaningless points |
| Beer opacity rate 1 – 7 (light – dark) | 5 |
| Smell smoke? 1 – 7 (No – George Burns) | 2 |
| Smokepower taste: 1 – 7 Smokestacks | 3 |
| Sausage detection? Y or N | N |
| Beer thickness 1-7 (water – used motor oil) | 4 |
| Barrel Power 1-7 (in name only – burns nose) | 5.75 |
| Overall Happiness: 1 – 7 (sad – happy) | 4.5 |
Aggressive hyperlinks on their website, but it looks fine:
SmokeBeerMinistry 