(draft) Cloudy dark brown. Medium head. Delicious smoke aroma. Flavor was pretty good. Much more subdued than other Schlenkerla offerings. Maybe a little bacony, but this was surprisingly good.

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(bottle) Golden color, minimal head. Aroma of stale hops. Flavor of a citrusy stale lager tamed just a bit by smoke. The flavor wasn't too bad, but the damn aroma was disgusting. I poured most of the bottle out.

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I was not expecting to like this. I don't know why. A nice clear dark amber color. The aroma of a smoky campfire. The smoke flavor is fairly apparent, and it's just smoke - no bacon or grapes or anything else to taint the flavor. I liked this a lot.

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The first time I had this, I wasn't very impressed. Now, four years later, I see that my palate has become sophisticated enough for me to recognize this for what it really is. A truly great smoked beer. Can best be described as a more intense Marzen.

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(bottle) The first thing I noticed was the fantastic aroma. The second thing I noticed was the color. Very dark - almost like a porter. Not what I was expecting from a weizen. The entire beer, in fact, was not what I was expecting. Instead of toning down the smoke to keep a fair balance with the light-flavored wheat, they left the smoke intact. The result was a smoke beer, with no hint at all of its wheat heritage. This is not to say that I didn't like it, because I did. I just didn't like it as much as I expected to.

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Just about as good as it gets. Dark and smoky. Not too bitter and not too sweet. This beer can be aged for years too, though I doubt that I'd ever have the discipline to do it. Absolutely yummy.

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(draft) The first time I saw this, they were calling it "Smokey the Beer." What a stupid name. This beer tasted terrible for the first few ounces, then once my palate had been numbed enough, it tasted pretty damn good. A lot like their regular, nonsmoked porter. It's probably the same beer. Just a touch
of smoked malt, a little chocolate. I liked it.

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(bottle) I had a little of this. I remember liking it, but quite frankly I was too drunk to remember much else about it. I will provide a real review the next chance I get.

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(mixture) I mixed Rogue Chocolate Stout and NABC Cone Smoker in a 1:1 ratio. I'd been expecting these two very different flavors to elevate each other to new heights. But that's not what happened. They pretty much cancelled each other out. Good thing I didn't waste too much beer with this experiment.

(mixture) I mixed 1/2 NABC Tunnel Vision with 1/2 Rogue Smoke Ale. For whatever reason, I figured that the honey sweetness of the Tunnel Vision and the smoky bitterness of the Rogue Smoke would play off each other quite well. I was right. I would drink the stuff if it was available commercially.

(mixture) I mixed Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier and Spezial Rauchbier on a 1:1 ratio. Amazing head, courtesy of the Weihenstephaner. Aroma of bananas and cloves, slightly subdued. Flavor of a German wheat beer. The smoke shows up in the finish. Yummy. I'm a freakin' genius.

(draft) I told the drunk next to me (he had asked) that I predicted that this would be my favorite beer of the night. I was wrong. The smoke was reminiscent of bacon, or perhaps beef jerky. Probably the only smoked beer that I've ever had that I didn't like.

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(bottle) Hazy copper, with a decent head that faded quickly. The aroma is malts and dobblebock weirdness. No smoke in the aroma, which did not bode well for me. The smoke did, however, show up in the flavor, and it showed up nicely. The flavor was very well balanced, with hops and malts and smoke, plus the expected dopplebock weirdness. I liked this a lot, and I wasn't expecting to like it at all.

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(bottle) Almost completely black. Huge heaping head. Heavenly smoked malt aroma. From under the massive layer of foam, some chocolate notes rose and made themselves known. The mouthfeel is a lot thinner than I was expecting. Flavor is intensely sweet. Some smoke in the finish. After the first few sips, I became numb to the sweetness, and the overall balance of the beer became evident. Quite yummy.

Left Hand Smoke Jumper

(draft) Stupid name, I think they've given up there. The beer was black. More than black. It was anti-light. Very little foam, as is typical for NABC beers. Not much of an aroma, just a touch of smoky malt. Fairly thick and creamy mouthfeel. Flavor is a bit sharp and smoky, surprising after the tame aroma. Finish is creamy smoke. I liked it, so odds are good that they'll never make it again.

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(draft) This beer has gone through a few different incarnations, all leading up to this, what may be the ultimate smoked ale. Dark brown, minimal head. Malty aroma with a teasing hint of smoke. The first couple of sips are sometimes a little bitter, but that fades quickly and all that's left is yumminess. I really wish that this were available more often.

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(draft) Clear amber, with a decent head that actually seemed to hold up fairly well. Aroma of light smoke and metallic hops. Mouthfeel was that of dirty dish water, and the flavor was more of the same. I don't know what the finish was like because I spit it back into the glass instead of swallowing it. I was very disappointed with this.

UPDATE 091007: I tried this beer for a third and final time this evening. I actually managed to swallow three times. I was not going to risk a fourth time. Just disgusting.

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I'm Combining my descriptions here. See the entry for Cone Smoker.

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(bottle) Almost black with a decent tan head that faded quickly. Aroma is mild smoke and chocolate. Flavor is mostly mild smoke flavor. I really like this because there's nothing competing with the smoke. Pretty damn good. My second-favorite smoked porter.

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There wasn't very much smoke, and what there was was the "grapey" kind of smoke that I don't really care for. To make matters worse, there was no bitterness, only sweetness behind the smoke, and those two flavors clashed quite a bit.

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(draft) It was a good beer, not nearly as smoky as I'd been hoping, but the smoke flavor and aroma was still pretty apparent. It had a less wide-ranging and complex flavor than the Cone Smoker I get when I'm back home, but sometimes simpler is better. A little subdued. Quite yummy.

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(draft) Amber in color, with a slightly sweet smoke aroma. Much lighter in smoke than other rauchbiers, but sometimes that's a good thing. A very good session beer. Usually when this available on tap I drink it exclusively.

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It was pretty good beer actually, not as strong of a smoke flavor as some of the other smoked porters I've had, but enough to be recognizable, and enough to be pretty good. I'll call it "smoked porter light."

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