Black Cabin Smoked Ale - Crown Valley Brewing & Distilling Co.

demuzik

Oregon

4.08/5  rDev +28.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Crown Valley's best brew, by far - this pours a deceiving, light brown - but aroma is of camp fire, leather and malt.

Head quickly disappeared, but I do believe it was at one point a nice light brown.

The smokeyness is definitely there - chewey like some smoked bacon, yet balanced nicely with bitterness but of course no hop domination whatsoever.

Quite drinkable, would certainly pair well with anything remotely smoked, BBQ'd, and perhaps fried.

Keep this one in your back pocket for a nice, chilly fall evening...

Serving type: on-tap

07-21-2011 04:05:16 | More by demuzik

Tone

Missouri

3.53/5  rDev +11%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a clear, amber color. One inch head of an off-white color. Great retention and great lacing. Smells of sweet malt, slight alcohol, hint of roasted malt, slight pale malt, and slight smoke. Fits the style of a smoke beer. Mouth feel is sharp and crisp, with an average carbonation level. Tastes of sweet malt, strong smoke, slight pale malt, hint of roasted malt, and a hint of grain. Overall, good appearance and very drinkable.

Serving type: on-tap

03-20-2011 17:22:39 | More by Tone

brewskifan55

Mississippi

3.5/5  rDev +10.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured into a snifter

A: Opaque amber. Half finger tan head that turns to big bubbles. Thick lacing.

S: Smoky, vanilla.

T: Follows nose. Barbecue, malts, chocolate. Robust. Smooth.

M: Medium with medium carbonation. Chewy.

O: One and done. Not bad, but nothing I'd search for again.

Serving type: bottle

12-11-2012 21:46:07 | More by brewskifan55

jadpsu

Georgia

2.4/5  rDev -24.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

OK, so this is called a smoked ale. I will try to be kind to its style, although I am not familiar with "smoked beers".
It's appearance is the best thing going for it. Pours a deep amber with a tan head that has decent retention.
Smell, gosh reminds me of a wet ashtray. It does have a little sweet maltiness that peaks through but the smokiness is way too strong for me.
Taste, is slightly less strong on the smoke side but campfire ashes still dominate.
Teach me to stear clear of smokec ales in the future.
This was an $8.99, 6pack mistake. I did not make it through my first bottle. My son in law could not tolerate the deep "surrey of wet ashes" smell either.

Serving type: bottle

11-22-2012 01:14:27 | More by jadpsu

ruckus232

Illinois

2.63/5  rDev -17.3%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

12 Ounce brown bottle poured into a pint glass

Appearance: Transparent copper color with nice tan head

Smell: Sweet scent with a smell of smoke as well

Taste: Smokey flavor with a slight metallic taste.

Note: I do not have a lot of smoked beers to compare this to but I assume it is average. I really have a hard time getting past the smoke flavor though. I personally do not care for this at all but was trying to rate for the category.

Serving type: bottle

09-26-2012 23:52:24 | More by ruckus232

spacemoonman

Maryland

1.35/5  rDev -57.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 1 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1

Lapsang souchong tea in a beer. Would be a 4.5 if you drink that.

If you can drink liquid smoke then this is the stuff. I even use smoking chips when grilling pizza and this was a drain pour after 1 sip. I always give things a couple sips or bites if it is food but it was not possible. Pure smoke, nothing else. I even tried to return it and just left the other 5 on the counter at the store it was so overpowering. Needs a warning label.

Serving type: bottle

08-22-2012 23:53:09 | More by spacemoonman

coldriver

Texas

3.45/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

12 oz bottle pours a deep amber with loose head. Aroma is smokey and bready malt (toast I suppose). Smoke dominates the taste, with meaty flavors. Mouthfeel is pretty harsh campfire smokey on the back of the throat. This is okay but not something I would look for again.

Serving type: bottle

04-22-2012 18:35:36 | More by coldriver

russpowell

Oklahoma

3.13/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours an effervescent amber with 3 fingers+ of cream colored head. Above average head retention & lacing

S: Much smokeyness & sweet bready notes

T: Caramel & smokeyness with dry woody notes up front. Faint brown bread notes as this warms along with just a bit of butterscotch sweetness. Finishes dry with a slight sour wood twang/sweetness that seems a bit put on for me (artificial)

MFL Light/medium bodied with somewhat prickly carbonation, body gets thinner as this warms

An alright smoked ale, some more malt depth would've really helped this. Worth a try

Serving type: bottle

04-19-2012 14:15:29 | More by russpowell

bump8628

Oklahoma

3.98/5  rDev +25.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Dark amber, small head of white foam, low carbonation, which works well in smoked beers in my opinion. Porky, smoky throughout. Really, it's all about the smoke. Smooth with a nice backdrop of caramel and bread crust. What else can I say, it's got a luscious open fire smokiness that carries the beer but is not overdone. Would certainly hit the mark with some smoked brisket or pork shoulder. A damn nice smoked beer.

Serving type: bottle

03-02-2012 22:30:50 | More by bump8628

tsauce2

Indiana

3.73/5  rDev +17.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

P: 12 fl oz bottle in to a DFH snifter.

A: SRM is deep amber. Clear filtered. Head is off white, 1/2 in, dissipates to 1 cm. Medium/heavy carbonation. Medium lacing.

S: Smokey. Rich malt base. Light hops.

T: Smokey up front, with medium wood tones that are mellow and balanced. Malt base with mild hop additions. Aftertaste is malty and slightly smokey.

M: Medium/light body. Carbonation and malt create a creamy texture, which blends with the smokey aspect that emparts a bit of a dry feel. Finishes semi wet.

O: Quite an excellent example of rauchbier. Nice smokey layers mingling with malts and hops. A good session beer too. Strongly for anyone looking for a rauchbier at a moderate price point. Will definitely buy this again.

Serving type: bottle

01-04-2012 14:02:56 | More by tsauce2

ChainGangGuy

Georgia

3.28/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: Pours a clear, amber-brown body beneath a smallish, whitish head.

Smell: Lightly malty scent of caramel, toast, and smoked malt encompassing supporting albeit pint-sized notes of stale dried herbs and fruit.

Taste: Lightly caramel-coated pale malts with a touch of toastiness and a loose level of smoke. Lightly sweet. Also, lightly tangy. Mild herbal hops, fairly low bitterness. Gentle, malty finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light body. Medium-plus carbonation.

Overall: Infused with only a mild, blithe smokiness it may work well enough as an introductory smoke ale.

Serving type: bottle

11-03-2011 14:44:09 | More by ChainGangGuy

Bung

North Carolina

3.48/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

12 oz. Darker amber, almost gray like accents. Thin layer of white retained pretty well.

Aroma, kind of a sweet smoke. Brown sugar and carmel with some bacon. Could use a little more smoke in all reality.

Taste is really more lagery sweet than smoke. Caremel, peat and sweeter cured bacon. Finishes woody. A good start, just needs "more".

Just too thin to carry much with it. Carbonation is good, but just not a chewy bacon/campfire brew that I would prefer. Drinks quite well however.

Probably a good gateway smoked brew.

Serving type: bottle

10-09-2011 03:38:32 | More by Bung

plfahey

Minnesota

3.18/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

12 oz. bottle poured into a tulip glass.

Appearance-Amber and moderately clear. Moderate beige head with decent retention.

Aroma-Sweet and somewhat smoky with notes campfire and pork belly. Some underlying notes of toast and bread from the malt.

Flavor-Sweet woodfire smoke flavors fade to bready and toasty malt flavors. Some cherry-wood type flavors. Slight bitterness in the finish, but seems to be from the smoked character. Flavors are solid, but not exceptional.

Mouthfeel-Medium body with moderate carbonation.

Not terrible, but certainly not exceptional. A nice try at a smoked beer, but just an average representation of the style.

Serving type: bottle

05-18-2011 05:08:20 | More by plfahey

alleykatking

Indiana

3.6/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Thanks to VinneVanGogh for this beer! Welcome to the BA game Vince!

A- Pours a coppery amber color. One and a half finger off white/light tan head that shows light retention. Some light spotty lacing on the sides of the glass.

S- Light smoked hints to this beer. Not as smoked as I would have liked in the nose but it would do. Toasted malts take more of a presence which I thought would be a little of roasted malts. There seems to be some stale earthy hops in the very ending of the aroma. Not quite sure what to think of this beer to start with.

T- Caramel like malts in the front of the beer give way to a light nutty flavor. The smoke in this starts in the front with a light smoked bacon flavor but by the end of the beer is just ashy and not much else. Some light earthy hops in the ending of this beer really bring a light crisp bitter bite to it if only for a split second.

M- Light medium mouthfeel. Carbonation was good for the beer and style. A light smoke and caramel malt is left on the palate. Aftertaste is stale hops, ashy smoke, and light alcohol tones. Flavors were a little off balance wise for the style with the smoke itself being the worst offender in this. The smoke left a interesting off flavor in the beer itself for it being a smoked beer. Medium heavy drying on the palate from the alcohol. A little watery toward the middle and end with the front of the beer starting off a little more heavy.

D- This beer didn't really do much for me as far as a smoked beer would go. It did have enough flavor and not so much off flavor that I could drink many of these. If it was priced a little lower than what I saw on the 6pk carrier at Vince's I would pick it up.

Serving type: bottle

02-16-2011 02:47:35 | More by alleykatking

biggred1

Indiana

4/5  rDev +25.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Deep, scarlet red with a finger of off white foam that shrinks to a skim. Smoky bacon and hickory notes in the aroma, what's not to love? Smoked pork chops, bacon and ham all come to mind with the smoky sweet malt flavors. The underlying beer flavors are nice and are not overpowered by smoke. Medium bodied with crisp carbonation. Not as smoky as a Rauchbier but in the neighborhood. Good stuff.

Serving type: bottle

11-19-2010 23:05:12 | More by biggred1