Smoked Porter

Brouwerij van Viven

Sijsele, Belgium

Imported by Specialty Beer
Services, Inc., Seattle, WA

Brewed with American bittering hops.

ABV: 7.0

ABW: 5.6

COLOR: N/A

BITTERNESS: N/A

ORIGINAL GRAVITY: N/A

AVAILABLE: CA,  DC, IN, KY, NC

In Colonial America, porterhouses were great places to eat and drink. There is little better than a properly prepared rare porterhouse steak. When it’s charcoal grilled over a wood fire, a hint of smokiness ads complexity. This smoked porter ads even more complexity to this dining experience. Viven is deepest brown with an ecru head; the nose is rich and satisfying. On the palate, the smoke is just right, with an underlying sweetness from other roast malts. Good beer, good meal!
- Charles Finkel

Pitch black, only the snifter margins transmit tints of red. The proud brown foam leaves creamy lacework. The nose reminds me of a tobacco shop, with sweet phenolic wood smoke aromatics, figs and subdued roast. The smoke and roast swap roles in the taste, with campfire grain moving up front. Overall, the smoke component is well-played, a little coarser than German rauchbier. The velvety texture softens the finish, where the smoke is most aggressive and rugged. I also find anise and pepper in the finale. This is an unusual beer for a Belgian brewer, but is amazingly balanced and smooth for what it is.
- K. Florian Klemp

Charles Finkel
Founder of Merchant du Vin and the Pike Brewing Co., Finkel is a pioneer in the marketing of craft beers in America.

K. Florian Klemp
K. Florian Klemp is an award-winning homebrewer and general hobbyist who thinks there is no more sublime marriage than that of art and science.

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