Thanks go out to the groovy one for the chance to try this beer. Cracked it at The Brick Store with the intention of spreading the love around amongst several BA’s, but ending up drinking the whole thing with only brickstoredave sharing the “burden” with me! The reason I mention this is that this is a reflection of the drinkability of this beer – it was exceptional, and went WAY beyond my expectations in that regard.
750 mL, gold-foiled and capped champagne style bottle.
I was concerned about he drinkability of this beer before I opened it. I am generally pretty wary of the American Porter style since the American version of the style usually takes away the creamy malt goodness of the traditional, English style Porter and replaces it with far too many hops. Also, 10% ABV is just really, really, really tiring for me – over and over again this goes too far. In short, I usually feel that “Imperializing” a porter is just silly. The abiding memory of this beer will be how it broke the mold.
Pour is a pretty standard look with an apparently jet black body which reveals some dark brown on exposure to some serious light. Head is initial good, but fades quickly in line with the ABV.
Definitely creamier, less hoppy and smoother than I was anticipating. Drinks “English” rather than “American”, and in that respect I was delighted. Some simple chocolate and mildly burned notes in the nose and taste, with a light burn in the finish that is a LONG way from where I expected it to be. Cocoa and light, English Drinking Chocolate and patent malts finish the beer.
Drinkability is MASSIVE, and if you take the ABV and the style into account, then it’s off the charts.
Having not had this fresh I cannot say for sure, but I bet this has benefited MASSIVELY from aging – my strong suspicion is that young I was would not have enjoyed this half as much.