Godspeed Goodies--Kemuri

Billed as a “Godspeed Style Porter”, Kemuri is a 4.7% dark ale brewed in Toronto by the gang at Godspeed Brewery and sold in smoky 355mL cans. Those details are slightly supplemented on the Godspeed website, which classes this as a smoked porter.

The beer is onyx with a tan head. It features a slightly peaty aromatic note, along with a whiff of sweet roasted malt. The flavour mimics the nose, but bigger: it’s quite smoky, rich in maltiness, and, at the back end, has an acrid tang of burnt espresso (but pleasant). 

Godspeed’s take on the smoked porter is basically as you’d expect from a brewery that (in my opinion, at least) thrives by focusing on attention to detail and subtlety. Unlike some smoked porters that bring the campfire energy to 11, this one has a malty, smoky character that is understated. And unlike some other SPs that supplement their flavour with big booziness, this one dazzles with a complicated and complex profile, at a low-alcohol rate. Truth be told, I typically enjoy a smoked porter with a bit more heft, but this offering from one of Toronto’s finest is a real winner at 4.7%. A bit more emphasis on bitterness to drive balance would have been my only note.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Smoke on the Porter

Smoke on the Porter is, as you'd expect, a smoked porter. It's a Torontonian ale, built by the raccoon-mad folks at Bandit Brewery. Sold in sharp 500mL bottles, this ale contains the standard 5% alcohol--a little light for the style, perhaps, but adequate.

SotP poured with a dismally thin layer of off-white head--a bit discouraging. If I had to guess, I'd say that this stuff had been sitting in the cooler at Bandit's bottle shop for a bit longer than it should have been. It's aroma was quite inviting though, with smoky malt notes and a whiff of leather. As for flavour, malt was the driving force, backed with a smoky tang that offered a bit of mystery. In terms of mouthfeel, SotP was fairly thin, which wasn't quite to my pleasure. It's finish was agreeable, though, with a blend of lingering smoke and bitter molasses.

My forays into Bandit's offerings have been largely positive, but I was a bit nonplussed by Smoke on the Porter. It had some delightful elements, but the overall product was a bit wanting. Still, I'd be willing to try it again, lest I picked up an unrepresentative bottle. For a smoked beer, there wasn't the assertive campfire warmth that I was pulling for. Coupled with a thin mouthfeel, this is a beer that, though promising, needs some fine tuning.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Yazoo Sue

Yazoo Sue is an imperial smoked porter that hails from Nashville, Tennessee. It's brewed by the Yazoo Brewing Co.  Sue is sold in a great looking jumbo bottle, contains a weighty 9% alcohol, and has a formidable 93 IBUs. Apparently, it's smoked with cherry wood. I paired this stuff with a nice Toscano cheese.  It was a top shelf combo.

Sue is a tar black brew topped with a tan head. Its smoky aroma has a faint chocolate bent. It's a smoky, malt-forward ale. It moves from sweet to bitter, and there are a decent amount of cacao notes. Sue finishes with a healthy bitterness.

Every time I have a brew from Yazoo, I find myself impressed. This big beer is no exception.  Flavour to spare, strong as hell, and huge format bottles. This is a high quality craft beer.

My magnificent friend K.C. turned me on to this stuff. K.C. is a major booster of the Bitter World, and a great addition to good times everywhere.  Thanks!

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.