SmokeBeerMinistry first learned about these guys back in January of 2017, and since then they took my advice and put some effort into their website, at least I’d like to believe that it was my advice that they acted on. The next step will be to get them to look into organizing a robust, over the top, smoky beer. To be fair, that was not their intention here with Sans Pardon, how ironic. This beer smells like excellent beer. Slight smoke notes, stout beer wafting around, a bit of caramel, which is fairly balanced with the malts, bitter notes, and a number of other tastes like coffee, nuttiness, and must. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I got this beer. I know about De Dochter and the caliber of their work, regardless of my palate. And, with this beer being 11% abv, I’m only happy to investigate what about this beer drove them to write “touch of smoke” on this little dangling paper tag tied to the fancy bag the bottle is wrapped in (is presentation everything?) But the smell and taste kind of diverge, and the review gets a little tough for them. I taste burnt coffee, and musty basement, ash, something fruity, and I swear I taste old red wine, but that might be wafting off my shirt. Also, the carbonation had about a month left in its life, because the bubbles were tiny fizzy bubbles that dissipated quickly. I still liked this beer better than their Vanilla Smoked Porter that you can read about here. Anyhow, Final score = 4 Smokestacks, out of 7. Also, Rooibos is a kind of tea.

Here’s a picture of the bottle still in its paper sack, probably feeling all uppity.

Here’s the spreadsheet that will pay dividends any day now… any day.

Looks like a family business:

http://www.dedochtervandekorenaar.be/?lang=en