Lvivske Porter

Brewed by Lvivska Pivovarnya (Carlsberg)
Style: Baltic Porter
Lviv, Ukraine

Bottle. Pours dark reddish brown with a medium tan head. Aroma is sweet, roasted malt with a fair amount of caramel and anise/licorice. Both of those secondary notes are there in the flavor as well; the dominant flavor, though, is the roasted, slightly burnt malt. Nicely balanced out by enough hoppiness to keep it from being too sweet. I can feel the alcohol on my tongue more than I can taste it. A very fine beer, probably the best Ukrainian one I’ve had.

500 ml bottle @ home.Pours dark brown with a tan head.Aroma is sugary sweet with some alcohol and roasted grains.Sweet tasting ,kinda grainy with some roast and molasses and licorice.Medium body.Somewhat nice Baltic porter.

500ml bottle bought for a very reasonable price at a kiosk in Zaporizhzhya, which was, in fact, the only place during 10 days in Ukraine where I came across this obviously hard to find beer. Well worth the search, because it was definitely the best one I had among 35 different beers made in the country. No wonder this is the highest rated Ukrainian beer. It starts very promising with a deep mahogany coloured body supported by a moderate sized, beige foamy head. Brittle caramel comes first to the nose followed by elements of black spices and maybe a touch of lozenge. Blended flavour of earthy, roasted malts, molasses, prunes and aniseed malts added by a modest dose of bitter pepper to a smooth finish. Hidden alcohol, but still decent powerful in the mouth. Everything works well together even though it gets rather sweet in the long run (enjoyed in my cabin on a cruise ship from Yalta to Odessa, 14.07.2009).

This is by far and away the best Baltic porter I have ever tasted. I spent 10 days in Lviv and sampled several other examples. The has a slightly sweet caramel flavor balanced very well with hop bitterness. The head is creamy and long lasting. If you like this style, you will be very satisfied. It does have a slight alcohol bite, but at 8%that is to be expected. Overall, this is an excellent beer and worth the trip to get it.

Bottle, 8.0%. Weak caramelly aroma. Clear dark brown colour. Big light brown head. The flavour is peppery, there is some liquorice. Not really sweet. Dry roasted aftertaste.

Locorice aroma. Large, frothy, off-white head. Good lacing. Clear amber body.Moderate sweet flavor. Medium palate.

Bottle@Home, thanks Savad. Toffee and malty aroma. Brown colour, beige head, good lace. Sweet, sugar, bitter, malty, toffee, hints of coffee and port, metallic bitter finish (even nasty at the very end). Light sticky mouth feel. Gives me a very pasteurized feeling, rather disappointing.

Pours mahogany with a beige head. Roasted malt, licorice, chocolate and coffee aroma and taste. Dry roasted finish and bitterness.