All About Beer Magazine

(Longmont, CO) – The wait is over… Left Hand Brewing Company’s infamous Smoked Imperial Porter is back for the first time in four years! Smokejumper is a hefty twenty one degree plato porter with barley malt hand-smoked by our brewers. Fans have awaited Smokejumper’s return with anticipation after the 2008 edition took the GABF gold medal home for the smoked beer category.

A true reflection of its name sake, the beer’s smoky character begins prior to brewing phase and is carried through in to packaging and ultimately onto the palate of the fortunate imbiber. Originally a homebrew recipe, Head Brewer Ro Guenzel experimented with different wood combinations until he perfected an ideal robust porter recipe with the soul of a campfire. “One of the nice things about making a beer like Smokejumper is that it gives us the opportunity to kind of pursue some different creative outlets,” said Guenzel. In the case of Smokejumper, this meant brewers worked over ten hours a day over the course of about twelve days just smoking the malt for the beer. The end result is a porter roasty brown in color, with lingering smokiness wrapping around flavors of t molasses, toasted malt, and earthy hoppiness. Brewery President Eric Wallace said that Smokejumper is a great way to give back both to the people that make and drink the beer.

Left Hand proudly brews this beer as a tribute to the fearless firefighters of the National Smokejumper Association, whom specialize in parachuting into the wilderness to protect our natural heritage across the nation. The label itself was designed by former wildland volunteer firefighter Nate Dyer of Moxie Sozo in Boulder, CO. “I just wanted to capture the drama of just being in those kinds of situations,” comments Dyer on the label’s intense wildfire imagery. Dyer was even able to incorporate the silhouette of the late BBQ specialist Mike Elgin whom helped the brewery smoke the malt in previous years.

Upon completion of Smokejumper, Left Hand turned their focus to how they could use the beer to raise awareness and promote the National Smokejumper Association. The brewery has held a series of fundraising events, featuring special cask editions as well as auctioning off signed bottles, and working with retired smokejumper Stan Linnertz to draw support. Most importantly, Left Hand wants to thank those who volunteer themselves to protect our natural heritage, our homes and our lives here in Colorado and across the nation. Here’s to smoke in your glass, not in the woods. – The Crew at Left Hand Brewing Company

More about Smokejumper: Style: Smoked Imperial Porter ABV: 8.8% Plato: 20.5° IBU’s: 50 Smokejumper is a tribute to the National Smokejumpers Association – a twenty-one degree plato porter made with barley malt hand-smoked by our brewers. Roasty brown in color, the long lingering smokiness wraps around notes of molasses, toasted malt, and an earthy hoppiness

About Left Hand Brewing Company

Celebrating eighteen years of brewing a well-balanced portfolio of craft beers, Left Hand Brewing Company is located at 1265 Boston Avenue in Longmont, Colorado. The brewery has received 17 medals at the Great American Beer Festival and 8 medals at the World Beer Cup, and its beers are now available in 26 states. “Sometimes you’re not in the mood for what everyone else is having.”