Blik 33cl in Achterveld. Milde rooksmaak, wat soja, redelijk zacht, bacon, leer, maltig, koffie, pure chocolade, laurier, bitters, hop (Willamette, HBC682). (30-12-2022).

On tap. Pours black with short tan head. Aromas of smoked malts and coffee. Flavors of roasted malts, light smoke, nuts and soft black sugar. Dry. Nice smoked beer without overkill.

Weicher, cremig malziger Beginn. Torfig bei geringer Süße, ein wenig Schokolade, vollmundig malzig. Langer malziger Mittelteil und Abgang bei weitgehend konstanter Aromatik. 11/9/11/11//11

One of Kromme Haring’s core beers, Smokey the Barracuda, now brought back to its own origins, by reviving the original recipe from the brewery’s early days and without the tweaks and improvements this beer has undergone throughout the years – interesting idea. From tap at Dok. Thick and frothy, pale greyish beige, shred-lacing head on a pitch black beer. Aroma of sweetly marinated grilled spareribs, barbecue sauce, elderberries, mocha ice cream, unsmoked pipe tobacco, bonfire, chestnuts, burnt toast. Crisp onset, somewhat stingy carb, clean with notes of dried fig and again those ripe elderberries; smooth and oily, toasty-bitter but also caramelly sweet malt profile, nutty with a roasted coffee bitter tail – but then the smokiness takes over, in a ‘barbecued’-like way as well as, in the end, a bit ashy and tobacco-like. Herbal hop bitterness too, leafy even, combining with the roasted aspect in the end to a great, extended bitter finish. Expressive, bold beer – but also rather daring in presenting the original recipe unpolished by its later improvements, so a side-by-side tasting with the currently marketed version should be interesting. This original version seems a bit less balanced to me, but this is from sheer memory only… In any case a colourful and tasty interpretation of the smoked porter concept once established by the Alaskan Brewing Company. More of those ought to be made, in my opinion.

Very little smoke. Just a super crisp and relatively light bodied beer. Lager-like for sure. Mild bitterness, mostly dominated by chocolate malt. Bierbaum Amsterdam

Bottle. Black pour. Aroma of nice smoke, chocolate, malt, coffee and soft caramel. Taste of strong smoke, chocolate, subtle vanilla, roasted malt, coffee, caramel and a smokey finish. Very good.