Worthy 2012 limited edition Baltic porter hybrid plies cocoa-dried chocolate malting and black coffee bittering to subtle blood orange peel bittering that’s pleasingly overwhelmed by peaty mulch composting. Dark chocolate-roasted cocoa nibs influence fortifies dusky mocha finish.
On tap at Barcade, medium-bodied obsidian-hued porter brings beechwood-like smokiness to burnt-toasted dark chocolate, cocoa nibs, and coffee bean influence. Tobacco-charred walnut roast and earthen hop oils deplete initial smoked wood surface.
On tap, soft-textured dry porter relies more on soy-sauced dried fruiting than expected mocha malting. Sun-dried fig, plum, and pomegranate illusions inundate soured frontage. Mossy peat-smoked earthen dewing nabs stove-burnt coffee and flaked chocolate subsidy.
Peculiar medium-bodied Baltic porter loses initial black chocolate-kissed coffee roast to oily hop-charred walnut sharpness and trifling dried fruit sourness. Closer to a precarious schwarzbier with its musky caramel-malted creaminess, dry cocoa-powdered piquancy, and tannic black cherry tartness. Ashy cardboard backdrop fades abruptly to buttery soy cocoa finish. Perplexingly meandering.
Chalky mahogany-hued tan-headed Baltic porter with concealed 9.4% alcohol thrust mires candi-sugared lactose malting and sour chocolate blur with harsh hop char. Dry cocoa astringency, weak burnt caramel jot, and frail anise blot weaken earthen walnut-pomegranate trail, disrupting thin port-barleywine illusions.
Black as Texas gold, here’s a fab Finnish porter in a cozy 11-ounce bottle contrasting rich coffee bean affluence, sharp cola nuttiness and creamy sweet-sour chocolate milking against massive oily-hopped Blackstrap molasses bittering. Fudgy burnt caramel snip and recessive anise blot speckle ancillary ashen cedar char. Acidic port notes sneak by mossy bottom. Label accurately insists it’s ‘high gravity, bottle conditioned, strong, aging like fine wine.’ But its soft-tongued effervescence makes it go down easy. Fully formed though a bit abstruse and in need of better flavor specificity.
Sambuca-like hue and black chocolate aroma perk up bittersweet mocha malting and lingering coffee overtones to lasting creamy finish. A fine Texas find. Brewery defunct: circa 2006.
Metallic auburn hued porter finds early licorice dawdle fading to ashy malt smokiness and dismal leathery tobacco spell. Charred hop bittering obscures thin cocoa-vanilla creaminess, dried fruit quip, and black tea acridity informing shaky finish.
Distinguished prune-hued fruity porter links ripe tangerine-peach-melon tang to flaked chocolate dryness, coalescing for loud raisin-nut finish. Spicy hop bottom and herbal fringe swell upon third passing, seducing expressive fruitcake nuance. A tough find, though.
Precarious raisin-breaded brown-bodied porter pits cheap cognac sweetness against dry mocha, stewed prune, and chocolate liqueur illusions. Maple-sapped anise stickiness gets cloy, but hazelnut tease adds nice touch to earthen grain bottom and dried fruit finish. A bit light for its class.
Creamy Baltic-styled dry-bodied ebony porter offers deep burnt coffee bitterness to milky vanilla-chocolate richness, accruing black licorice snip to woody bottom. Dissipated chicory-espresso finish picks up chestnut-roasted barley toasting overwhelming luscious butterscotch snippet beneath surface.
Strong dark Polish porter aids sweet barleywine lead-in with favorable oncoming brown chocolate creaminess and thick maple syrup richness for truly original full-bodied peculiarity.