The list of decent smoked beers continues to grow with the addition of Nils Oscar Rokporter, a big six 6% beer from Sweden.
The underlying stout/porter is big — in imperial stout territory, in fact. It easily stands up to smoke flavours and so, rather than coming across as a novelty as do some other smoked beers, just seems perfectly balanced. There are hints of smoke in quite a few readily available porters (including Fuller’s) so in this, it’s just like that track has has boosted in the mix.
Whether there’s any truth to the idea that all porter used to taste smoky, it certainly gives you a feeling that you’re drinking something from the past — from before breweries became places filled with stainless steel, plastic pipes and computers.