Picked up a beer by Signature Brew recently which is a brewery I know fairly well. Their ‘Backstage’ IPA is a staple in the pub I work at and it’s a lovely brew. Signature are known for combining beer and music and often do collaborations with artists. Today’s beer ‘In The Dark’ is brewed in collaboration with MCs Drs and Dynamite. It is a dark smoked lager. I’ve never had a smoked beer before which I found out is created by drying the malted barley over an open flame to impart a smokey flavour to them. So very excited to get stuck into this beer.

Pours a treacle like or autumnal orange colour. The nose on the beer is absolutely incredible. The smokiness of that open flame is so clear in the aroma. A really peaty, woody almost whiskey like smell that is very enticing. All that aroma comes clear as day on taste as well. Very reminiscent of a malt whisky with a slight sweetness mixed in. ‘In The Dark’ has a lovely smooth finish to top off a fantastic beer.

A quick note on the can art: Quite a busy wrap that showcases off the collaborators in their natural music based environments. Pretty sweet if you ask me.

What an awesome beer. The beech wood smoked malt just comes through so well in both the flavour and the aroma its makes you think you are drinking a whiskey. In fact I’d argue it’s the ideal beer chaser for a for whiskey. I’ve always liked several of the beers I’ve had from signature but this is a super clever, balanced and well executed brew! Would love a couple more of these.

Score: 9.5/10

Thanks for reading! Cheers!

Additional Information:

• Hops: Not Available
• Malt: Not Available
• IBU: 24
• ABV: 5.1%
• Gluten Free: No
• Vegan: Yes!