This is the first time I have had this beer. Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer pours a very dark brown color with a large tan head. The aroma is sweet and malty with a light vegetal undertone. The flavor is strong with roasted dark malts and has a moderate floral hop presence. The finish is a bit too sour and tangy for my taste though.

Deep red copper ale with a thick light moka head. More marked caramel aroma, light maderization. Good whiskey malt roasted taste with nuttyness very present, and good hops lingering on. The bitterness comes more from the roasted malts. No much alcohol though. If it was a brwon ale, it would be great but looses points for style.

Clear ruby tinted dark copper coloured body with a very thin tan head. Aroma of slightly roasted malt, blood, metal, cherries and some light pit fruits. Medium to Full-bodied; Strong malt presence with a good roasty character, strong toffee and caramalised sugars and a noticeable nuttiness in the finish. Overall, a decent beer from an average producer. Nothing special here and nothing horrible. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle given to me by phil [haddon90], thanks Phil! Tasted on 29-December-2004.

2004 bottle. Well it said it had some peat smoked malt and I was hoping for the best. Pours a ruddy brown, quite dark with dark mahogany tones when held to the light. Solid light beige head as well. Good so far. . .Aroma has some lightly smoky malt, like a hint of waffles with maple syrup on it. Also sneaking in there is some lightly bitter hops. A real bitter/oily character all around. Flavor starts out immediately with an apparent smokiness that is quite bold and more than I would expect form BBC. This is a beer worth drinking again and one that I would order again. The smokiness gives way to some dry roast, a hint of caramel sweetness and then a lingering bitterness on the finish from the hops and roast combined. Could use some more work on the body, which is only medium and not as balanced as it could be (needs much more sweet malt), a bit thin towards the end as usual from this brewery’s lower gravity beers. Still, the smoke was real and tasted great, so I will have to give them plenty of credit for that.

Pours a ruby red with a huge head. Aroma is malts and flavor is a smoky malt as the bottle says. Nothing really to put this over the top as a great beer but worth trying.

New rate: Has some nice smokiness in the flavour. Aroma is kind of soft. The body is thin and there probably aren’t enough residual sugars to hold this through. It’s okay, because of the smokiness, but far from a stellar example.

Updating my original rating from 6/26/2000. A little downgrade from that inflated newbie 4.0. I still think of it as a bit chewy with a nice sweet caramel presence, but this is now definitely smokey, and that is a nice addition that either wasn’t present in 2000 or I just didn’t recognize it. Clean, balanced, pleasant enough beer. Old rating: A very good interpretation of the style. Def malty, with plenty of body. Even a bit chewy (the way I like it)