Meantime Brewing Company Chocolate Porter

Good evening all. Tonight's beer is Chocolate Porter, a Porter from Meantime Brewing Company (London, UK). As the name rightly suggests, this is a porter with a nice dose of chocolate added to compliment the darker flavours from the roasted malt. This is certainly not a new thing in brewing, but when it's done correctly it always creates a great drinking experience. Anyway, enough with the background stuff, let's see how Meantime's offering fares after the pic....

Chocolate Porter (6.5% ABV) pours a dark brown colour with a bubbly off-white head that quickly settles to a patchy covering over the surface of the beer. The aroma is pretty amazing, with dark chocolate, cocoa, roasted malt, caramel and some light bittering hop character in the background. Although none of these are particularly powerful they still deliver enough to impress, and the combination of aromas is very reminiscent of other well known chocolate stouts (Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, Young's Double Chocolate Stout). As with most chocolate stouts the array of aromas is mainly restricted to the sweeter aspects of the chocolate, accompanied by minor elements of the beer base. There are also some yeast extract hints and even a bit of smoked malt- quite a specific collection of aromas, but you can't complain too much when it all smells this good! The taste delivers much of the same, with roasted malt, caramel, chocolate, dates, yeast extract and a noticeable hop profile in the finish. The chocolate is only apparent through retro-olfaction, whilst the roasted malt and its fruitier dimensions impact on the palette during the early stages of drinking, giving way to the sweetness and hops and their light grapefruit flavours. Towards the end of drinking some coffee also comes through, creating a mocha-esque flavour when combined with the chocolate, and there's also a developing tartness along the sides of the mouth that hits hardest during the last sip. The finish is dry and relatively devoid of flavour (save for some hop-derived grape notes), which is something I generally expect from stouts greater than 5.0% ABV and so this isn't much of a concern. The mouthfeel is on the thick side and the beer is moderately carbonated, which is perfect for the flavours on show. Overall, this is a great chocolate stout that can easily stand toe-to-toe with higher gravity beers in the same style, which is even better when considering the cost and availability of this offering compared to other popular examples. Definitely recommended, you can't go wrong with this bad boy!

Until next time....

Flying Dog Brewery Gonzo Imperial Porter

Good evening all. Thanks to everyone who read my contribution to this month's Session, it was great fun to write and as always they really help to put this obsession into context! I wasn't going to review the star of tonight's post as I've had it many times before, but in the end the desire to flex my assessment muscles was too great to resist. Therefore, tonight's beer is Gonzo Imperial Porter, an Imperial Porter from Flying Dog Brewery (Maryland, USA). This beer used to be readily available in the UK, along with Doggie Style Pale Ale, towards the end of my second year at uni, so along with BrewDog Punk IPA this offering was certainly one of my first experiences with "craft beer"- seems only fair to subject it to the reviewing treatment then! Which, as always, can be found after the pic....

I assure you that I won't be biased by the awesome Ralph Steadman artwork!

Gonzo Imperial Porter (9.2% ABV) pours a jet black colour with a thick brown head that settles to a thin halo of foam around the inside of the glass. The aroma consists of chocolate, licorice, yeast extract, dark fruits, citrus fruits, roasted malt and a nice burnt sugar sweetness in the background. The chocolate hits first with aromas of syrup and cocoa powder, which are surprisingly rich and dark even in the presence of the other aromas. The hoppy citrus fruits combine with the chocolate to give a black IPA feel to the beer, whilst also conjuring up memories of barley wines when the sweetness becomes more apparent. The alcohol isn't overpowering and only slightly vaporises into the nose to accompany the other aromas, despite the high ABV percentage. Definitely on the sweeter side of the stout spectrum, it's great stuff so far! The taste is similar to the aroma, with dark fruits, coffee, some chocolate and a caramelised sweetness in the background accompanied by a dry, papery aftertaste in the finish. The dark fruit flavours (blackcurrants, raisins) are quite fleeting, and the alcoholic presence is definitely more apparent on the palette compared to the nose, but after the roasted malt flavours have subsided the aftertaste kicks in and adds a slightly unsavoury element to the beer with some grapes and the aforementioned papery dimension. Every so often the flavours combine to give an Asian sauce flavour, similar to Hoisin, which is understandable given the sweetness and the piquant fruits from the roasted malt. The mouthfeel is slightly thick and the beer is moderately carbonated, which compliments the hop-derived fruits and supports the darker flavours very well. Overall, an interesting porter with a healthy injection of fruity hops set against characteristic roasted malt flavours. It's immensely drinkable despite the high alcohol content and is very well-balanced. The unusual aftertaste is something I've never come across with this beer before, so I'm going to chalk it up to having a bad batch and I won't let it affect my decision to purchase it again in the future. Definitely recommended!

Until next time....

Odell Brewing Co. Cutthroat Porter

Good evening all. The exams are finally over, so I've been whittling away the last few hours drinking a few interesting beers, including a couple of firm favourites like 77 Lager and Stone IPA. As per usual I've saved the best for last, which I shall reveal in the next blog post, but for the moment it's the turn of a beer that's completely new to me- Cutthroat Porter from Odell Brewing Co. I've had a few of their beers before but haven't had one in this particular style, so I'm looking forward to it already! Review after the pic....

Cutthroat Porter (5.0% ABV) pours a dark black colour with a light beige head that quickly dissolves to a patchy covering on the surface of the beer. The aroma is very subtle, with roasted malt, coffee and a hint of tobacco. The taste is much of the same, with roasted malt, coffee and a dark fruit flavour (predominantly blackcurrant). The mouthfeel is quite light and moderately carbonated. Unfortunately there's not a lot to talk about with this beer, but that doesn't make it bad at all. It's a lesson in subtlety and restraint which pays off very nicely, and considering the relatively low ABV percentage, there is still a lot of the porter/stout character you'd expect from a slightly stronger beer. The subtlety of this beer seems to be reflected in the other Odell beers I've tried before. I remember their IPA being quite flat and disappointing and Myrcenary, despite being an interesting idea in the context of brewing, wasn't particularly exciting either. I do hope to try more Odell beers, particularly their "Friek" lambic, but so far I keep getting the impression that this is a brewery with a lot of talent but a bit too much reserve. 

Until next time....