Jose Pistola's does Smoke!

Another great event at Jose Pistola's last Friday.  They had three smoked beers and three smoked food specials.  When I entered it smelled fantastic in there as they had just thrown some smoke chips on a stove downstairs and the whole place had a nice haze of smoke.  Really set the mood for the event.  The three smoked beers they had were: Aecht Schlenkerla Oak Smoke (I think it's their Eiche), Weyerbacher Fireside Ale, and Left Hand Fade To Black Vol. 2 (a smoked baltic porter).  Since it was a work lunch I obviously couldn't drink too much (stop laughing) but I did try two of them.  I swear I only got the second because the chili I ordered was so damn spicy I needed something to pair with it.  Adam warned me and then laughed at me when I kept saying how spicy it was but man.

The main reason I went was to try the Aecht Schlenkerla Oak Smoke.  They have a version of this that is smoked with beechwood but this one was apparently smoked with oak instead.  Since I've never had the former, I can't do a comparison but I'm sure there is a slight difference.

I'll be honest, my experience to this may be skewed compared to others so take my comments with that in mind.  Surprisingly sweet and malty in the nose with just a hint of smoke.  Expected it to be much smokier.  Some up front sweetness with a backing of smoke.  As I drank more, the smoke was always there, but it was much milder than I expected.  I read some stuff on BeerAdvocate and every review says how smoky it is, but maybe those are all for the beechwood version of it.  Regardless, this was a tasty beer.  It's apparently still on tap at Jose Pistola's and also at Brauhaus Schmitz according to PhillyTapFinder.

After that, I got a glass of Left Hand Fade to Black Vol. 2.  Fade to Black is a series from Left Hand and the recipe changes every year.  The Vol. 2, as I said, is a smoked baltic porter.

Not much of a smell to this one.  I could maybe detect a little smoke but there was very little there.  First sip had some mild roast, some smokiness and finished with a nice sweetness.  Some lingering smokiness.  Since I was eating a smoky chili, there was a decent amount of smoke as I drank it, but that could have been from the food.  It did pair really well though.  Nice smoked porter.

Another great time at Jose's.  I love this place for lunch.  Great food paired with good beers.  Always a great time.  I haven't decided if I'm going yet, but they are doing an Ithaca event this coming Friday.  All I know is that they are going to have Ithaca Thirteen, a wheatwine, which is a style I've never had.  There may be some other stuff but only Adam knows.