Did you think microbreweries were an American exclusive? They're not. In fact, throughout most of history, smaller local breweries were more common than huge ones. Only with the advent of industrialization did the dominance of the megabrewers emerge and, at least in America, the notion of a neighborhood brewery almost becomes extinct.

Happily, today we see small brewers popping up all over the world. One of them, the Nils Oscar Brewery of Sweden, has been a going concern since 1996. It's products can now be found in the United States, including Nils Oscar Rokporter, a dark malty beer made with smoked malt.

The back of the bottle claims the beer harkens back to "the dark, smoky beers made by farmers in Sweden at a time when farmers were the only brewers." The beer is brewed with beechwood smoked malt and Fuggles and Amarillo hops. When one thinks of smoked beers, it seems apropos to consider them in light of the classic rauchbiers of Bamberg, Germany, but since this is a porter, it might be a bit more fair to consider it against that American icon, Alaskan Smoked Porter.

Nils Oscar Rokporter pours to a deep black color with a thick creamy tan head formation and a chocolaty, subtly smoky nose. The beer is not completely opaque, and some light will pass through if you hold it up to a lamp. The palate is very chocolaty and roasty, with powerful notes of cocoa and espresso most prominent. A hint of fruity green olive pokes through, too, which I sometimes get from smoked beers.

The smoke is a bit more subtle, though it's definitely there. It's a tad phenolic, and reminiscent of hickory. And while it definitely permeates the beer, it does so very subtly, detectable mostly on the fringes. The smoke peters out a bit in the finish, where the roasted barley takes over. Along with a bit of hop bitterness, that dries the beer out nicely.

I liked this beer well enough, and it was a fine accompaniment to a snack of hearty multigrain crispbreads and pungent emmental cheese I picked up at Ikea. Still, I think I was looking for a bit more robust smokiness. At $6.99 for a half liter bottle, this is on the pricey side. And although I enjoyed it (especially for its delicious roasty notes), I probably would not pay that much for it again. I'd take a much more robust (and less expensive) Alaskan Smoked Porter over this one any day.

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