Jolly Monk Rauchbier - Drayman's Brewery

Thehuntmaster

South Africa

3.7/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

1 liter plastic bottle, 4,0% Abv.
Served chilled in my Tripel Karmeliet glass.
BBE 20/09/2011

Appearance: Pours dark brown with deep red highlights when held to the light. The large, creamy tan head lasts well, but leaves good lace.

Smell: Smokey (camp fire - charred wood and ash), roasted malt, touches of dark fruit and chocolate and a faint hint of floral hops. A very pleasant nose, but it needs to be a hell of allot stronger to get the next score level.

Taste: The taste suffers from the same lack of power as the smell, but is still very pleasant. The smoke is less pronounced than in the nose; however it is still well noted. Charred malt dominates; chocolate and toffee are also noted. Nice smoky finish (again camp fire smoke) with reasonable bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Light body (almost a bit watery) and slightly over carbonated (though I have had bottles with better carbonation).

Overall: Great local beer, one of my favourites, but it could go with a little work. Push the beer up to 6% and we will have a winner!!!

Serving type: bottle

08-19-2011 19:17:43 | More by Thehuntmaster

hunteraw

China

3.63/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Purchased at the brewery in Silverton, proud to be the first to review.

Appearance: Comes in a 1 liter brown plastic bottle. Dark brown, nearly opaque at the top of the glass but when tilted reveals some garnet - almost purple - tints, moderate head, some lacing.

Smell: First surprise, the smokiness is definitely present, but not overwhelming or overpowering - unlike the other smoked beer I've had (this being the second). Some sweetness present too.

Taste: Light smoke, then sweet. Finish is very mild, bitterness seems very low - too low, probably. Aftertaste is nice and smoky. Also, the smokiness here isn't artificial - someone didn't just dump liquid smoke into the brewpot - this is natural and it shows. The brewer told me his smoked malt is imported from Europe.

Mouthfeel: Surprisingly light bodied, carbonation seemed too high at first such that it almost masked some flavor, but that improved halfway down the 1 liter bottle.

Drinkability: Smoked beers can be overwhelming or unnatural tasting, but this one isn't. The smokiness remains natural and pleasant. Drinkability suffers a bit from being underhopped, in my opinion, which made it seem a bit sweet for my tastes. One liter split two ways still seemed like a lot of beer - I wish Drayman's sold their wares in some smaller bottles!

Serving type: bottle

06-09-2006 00:26:04 | More by hunteraw