Smuttynose Smuttlabs Smoked Cherry
I’m all for experimentation in brewing and that’s exactly what Smuttynose’s Smuttlabs line of beers is for. But sometimes, these experiments just don’t work out — at least for my own personal preferences. This bottle of the company’s Smoked Cherry (a 6.6% ABV Berliner weisse) was bottled in January of this year, but I purchased it in mid-July. Given the style, I wasn’t too worried about that short duration in the bottle. My only concern when I picked it from the shelf was the combination of flavors.
And that concern did not go unwarranted. The wheat and tartness of the base style were exactly what I needed, but the smoked-meat quality from the malt just does not fit in a beer of this style. The cherries did their best to overpower the smoke with plenty of fruity earthiness, but the smoked malt just stood out a bit too much for my liking.
I’ve been drinking micro/craft beer long enough to know that not every beer is going to tickle my fancy, especially in an age when so many breweries are trying to out gimmick or out experiment the next. As such, I don’t know what I was expecting with Smoked Cherry — perhaps a challenge to my tastebuds. Well, they were certainly that, but not in a good way.