Hickory smoke?

[wailingguitar]

Anyone make a smoked beer using malt smoked over hickory? Opinions?

[fullsteam32]

We make a brown porter that gets hickory smoked grains. I smoke the grains on a large smoker behind our building. It is time consuming, but very easy to do.
I find hickory to be a great addition, but like most smoked beers, it has its lovers and haters. In our case, the lovers are a very vocal group that makes sure I know when it is out.

Chris Davis
Fullsteam Brewery
Durham, NC

[jfulton]

Using pure hickory will give you a more pungent smoke character than other woods like cherry, apple, oak, pecan, etc. Mesquite is also very pungent, perhaps the most. If you do use it without other woods, you may decrease the % of your grist or it can become overwhelming very easily. It boils down to how much you use, and how effective your smoking method is at infusing smoke into the malt.