Church-Key Holy Smoke

Our Holy Smoke is a peat-smoked scotch ale. This 6.25% abv ale is dark and malty, and is enhanced with smoked whisky malt straight from Scotland.

3.3

202 reviews

Campbellford, Canada

Community reviews

3.9 650ml bottle, 6.2 alc./vol. from LCBO, Shops at Don Mills. Pours a dark brown colour with a small lasting tanned head. Smokey aroma, smokey taste. Not as smokey as the German Schlenkerla though. Which is a good thing. Notes of coffee flavor with a medium body and carbonation. Ends with a dry and spicy finish.

4.3 Great look, nice brown head that dissapears quickly. Has a nice aroma that accompanies the taste very well... the smokey flavour is nice and doeant linger too long on the palate. Goes well with pizza.

3.1 Clear dark amber with a tiny ring of foam. Smoke, some chocolate bitterness, leather, roasted nuts. Taste is balanced, a little bitter. Light body with a thin texture.

3.4 Sample at the Badge-Whore Bowl (OSU vs AL) tasting on 01/01/2015. The beer is cola-colored with a medium thin off-white head that recedes gradually. Small patches of lacing. Aroma of smoked malt and chocolate. Medium body with flavors of peat malt, dark chocolate and earthy hops. The finish is smoky with a peaty malt aftertaste. Decent overall.

3.3 Little to no head. Pours dark - almost stout like. The smoky flavour really shines through. Would pair well with a gamy meat.

3.4 Pours a hazy medium-dark brown with some light coming through and a small spotty dull white head. Aroma is smoked malt, peat, rich darker malts, and a touch of oak. Flavour is smoke(kinda like liquid smoke), oak, rich dark malts, mild sweetness, and faint dark dried fruits.

3.7 Thanks to cfrancis for this one. Pours a clear dark amber with a red hue. Aroma of peat, campfire, nutty, biscuit, wood and leather. Taste is leather, peat, wet wood, biscuit and nuts. Overall the peat is big and bold but balanced and nice to drink.

3.5 Drinkable in small quantities. Nice for sharing with a friend or spouse. Reminded us a bit of Ireland, where we would often smell peat burning for home heating. Medium sourness, creamy texture.

3.4 Bottle.Brown black pour, minimal white head. Aroma is smoke, and sweet malt. Taste smoke, light sweetness, fizzy carbonation, malty finish with light grains. Not bad.

3.6 Pours a dark brown, minimal tan head. Aroma of peat. Taste of peat, oak, dark fruits, and caramel.

3.2 Bottle, given to me by Robbie, shared with Grippitis. Medium brown, golden highlights. Lots of peaty smoke in the aroma, sweet bready and brown sugar undertones. The palate features moderately heavy peaty smoke, but the caramel malts are quite thin. Not bad, but lacking malt structure.

3.0 Bottle courtesy of sic1314. Poured a clear dark brown with a round white head. The aroma is smoky, roast malt. The flavour is medium is light bitter with a light, watery malt bitter palate. Light bodied with soft carbonation. Lacks body and flavour.

3.3 Bottle shared thanks to sic1314. Pours clear dark brown with a ring tan head, aroma of dark fruits, raisins, caramel, light smoke and peat. Flavourismoderate sweet and bitter. Medium bodied with soft carbonation.

3.3 Poured deep dark reddish brown with no head. Aroma of rauched malt, liquorice and treacle. Medium body, flavour of the aroma, lightly smoked, sweet berries.

3.3 bottle shared at THT Thin white head. Clear burgundy pour. Smokey taste. A nice smoked beer

2.9 Promising start. Big billowing easy head. Dark brown to black colour. Initial softness on the palate turns out to be fairly hollow with little development or definition apart from some fuzzy furriness. The peat and smoke traces are very slight and very much in the background. Needs much more individuality and content.

3.4 Thin head and a Coca Cola look to it. Nose is giving off a bit of smoke and some chocolate, but very subtle. Taste is slightly bitter coffee and more subtle chocolate. Overall I can’t shake the feeling that this is just a very mild version of stronger beers I’ve tasted in the past.

3.4 Bottled sample at ribeye jacks. Dark brown. Minimal head. Little lacing smoky. Hoppy. Lovely

3.0 10-Apr-14 (341-ml bottle: Obtained in trade with blankboy, thanks Paul!) This beer is medium-dark brown with ruddy highlights and is capped by half an inch of tan head that settles to a creamy sheet. The nose is meaty, lightly smoky with cacao, molasses, and dark earth. On the palate, it’s much less smoky or sweet than I expected for a Scotch Ale, though still very malty. The flavor is dominated by dark, lightly sweet chocolate and grilled meat, plus cola, molasses, and dirt. The smoke is light but clearly present, but not in a campfire way. The beer is full bodied but not heavy, carbonation is medium, and for a Scotch Ale, this is about as dry a one as I’ve run across. Overall, I was expected more smoky character and am a bit disappointed that it’s pretty light. Other than that, it’s pleasant enough, but not much wow! factor here.

3.1 Dark pour with a beige head that dissipates quickly. Aroma is faint ...a little peat and smoke but almost non-existent. Flavour is also light considering its a smoked scotch ale.

3.8 I purchased this beer from LCBO, tastes meaty, which is what I look for in a smoked beer. I really enjoyed it, well done Church-key Brewing, you guys surprised me on this one.

3.3 Dark mahogany pour with two fingers of head that slip away fairly quickly, leaving a little ring of lace. What a strange nose this has. There’s this really mossy, peaty thing going on with a hint of smoke and some molasses. I get this really weird gasoline/kerosene note as well. I’m getting this weird impression of red wine too for some reason but I can’t put a finger on it. Interesting, but not exactly pleasant. A lot more reasonable on the palate although the flavours are a little muted. Lots of toffee and peat smoke flavours but really not much else. Ultimately, this stuff is fairly boring.

2.9 NIce pitch black body with modest beige head on top. Aroma is all heated shoe leather and peat, lots of peat like a scotch. Flavour is animal hair with all that peat coming through with a peaty finish. Did I mention the peat yet? This is a common problem I find with the "smoked" style, way too much smoked without enough other nuances showing through.

3.7 Pours a dark tar black color with a small white head. Aroma of mocha coffee, whiskey malt and a bit of smokyness. Taste is sweet with medium bitterness. Medium body with average to light carbonaton. Overall very good

2.0 noise bubbly head that disapers. Smoked smell and spice from bottle. Kinda cola like smell and smoke smoked smell in glass. Black wth some brown kinda looks like cola. Taste watery, sourish, some peat smoked taste and it kinda drys out and leaves a little burn in belly. Heavie bodied. Some sips r like a watery ale with a little peat smoke. Some sips r like a watery stout w/ a little chocolate and some peat smoke. Nothing bad, but has some flaw’s. Could use some changes to it. Cheer’s.

2.9 Pours a nearly opaque dark amber, with a medium white head. Aroma is quite muted, with some notes of chocolate and liquorice. Tasting notes include lots of chocolate, some peat, and liquorice. The palate is a little thin, and very little smokey character. This beer bills itself as a Scottish smoked peat ale, but it tastes more like a watery imperial stout.

3.6 On tap at the Only Cafe during the FM tap take over. Medium brown with tan head. More smoke on the palate then the nose moderate body and carbonation, meaty, fresh, and an acquired taste but I quite enjoyed this one.

3.3 Liquide rouge-brun très foncée et plutôt opaque, col de mousse persistant à la périphérie du verre. Odeurs de boisé, de vin et de caramel, mais assez peu de fumé. Celui-ci se détecte enfin en bouche, modérément d’abord, puis c’est le seul arôme qui reste, après la lente disparition des malts (caramel, sucre d’orge). Elle est un peu aqueuse, surprenant pour une scotch ale, mais possède une belle complexité et demeure agréable malgré des notes un peu timides.

3.5 bottle from lcbo A: smoky, caramel, leather. App: close to black no head. t/p: full body with sweet finish of average duration. rather soft carbonation. o: pleasantly surprise. not a big fan of smoked beer but this one worked for me.

3.0 Definite smoke aroma and flavour. Poured dark with a slight frothy head. Smooth and clean to sip on. No aftertaste. Looking forward to enjoying more in the summer with a slow roasted rack of ribs.