Town Hall Smoked Porter

So, Town Hall has a Smoked Porter on tap now, and I took home a growler of it last week. Looked for it on BeerAdvocate, and found none. There's more diligent reviewers than I out there these days, so I'm surprised that if it's a new beer that it's not on that site yet. But, I know they made one before, and lo and behold, there it is, under "Archived" for retired beers. When I enter a beer into their database, I always call a beer "rotating", so this sort of thing doesn't happen.

Nonetheless, let's just use my old notes from August of 2004:

Another unannounced surprise at the pub, another cult-favorite style as yet untried (to my experience) at this establishment. 

Appearance: complete darkness, black in totality, with a nice, creamy brown head, that lasts long, and leaves lace as the glass empties. 

Aroma is mild and subtle at first, showing light, subdued cocoa and coffee, with the smoke character slyly entering the frame, but never being a large factor. 

On the tastebuds, though, a different story, for the smoke comes in first and foremost, mingles well with the coffe and chocolate, making for a very complex and flavorful experience in the mouth. Very silky smooth, even irresistible, downable indeed, but with plenty going on. 

Body feels a bit thin, after a while, but mouthfeel is creamy and the taste is rewarding, so I don't hold that against it. Nice, longish finish. 

A little research shows that this beer has been around before, and has a name, "Sparnfarkel", which the current brewer blames on a former, and claims it has "something to do with Germans roasting pigs." More research shows nothing conclusive. I think it's a joke, and a silly one, the best kind.