Alaskan Baltic Porter

Brewed by Alaskan Brewing Co
Style: Baltic Porter
Juneau, Alaska USA

nearbeer’s Spring Cleansin’. Sample from a bottle thanks to tronraner. 2008 Bottle. Dark black with a finger of tan head. Aroma of licorice, vanilla, roasted malt. Taste is big black licorice sweetness, vanilla, lightly bitter roast finish. Is very sweet overall.

Great dark visual while pouring, nice dark thick small bubbled head. Nose is amazing lots of soft aromas, chocolate, burnt oats, vanilla and oak. Taste is roast, burnt coffee and sweet overripe dark fruits. Taste did get a bit heavy as the bottle finished.

2008 bottle. Black in color, thin light tan head. Sweeter aroma, molasses, treacle, almost a juniper- or licorice-like tinge. Taste has some mild roast, but is overpowered by sweetness and a bit of alcohol. Doesn’t have the cleanliness of a traditional baltic but still pleasant, but not great.

2008 bomber. Pours very dark with a small head the color of milk chocolate. A ruby tinge can be seen around the rim, but only when the beer is held up to light. Aroma is heavy on oak smokiness, followed by sweet cherries, and then chocolate in the background. The vanilla aroma was subtle enough that it could barely be detected. The first sip is - SLAP - cherries! The initial swallow is a cherry cough syrup sweetness that quickly flashes off, followed next by dark chocolate, and then finishes a few long seconds later with the charred oak smokiness. The smoke taste lingers persistently on the inside of the cheeks. Overall, this is an excellent beer. I think a year in the cellar would make this beer truly fabulous - by mellowing the initial (almost artificial) cherry sweetness and bringing forth the chocolate in the finish. I’ll have to pick up a couple more bottles for the cellar.

22oz Bomber – Gravity Beer Market – Olympia, WA
Aroma: Huge dark malt and rich alcohol and spice aroma.
Appearance: Dark brown in color, clear with a light head.
Flavor: Dark brown with tons of coffee and high alcohol flavors
Palate: Dry finish with a great overall Mouthfeel.
Overall: This was a huge beer with great flavors. One of the betters Baltic porters it was drinkable.

Bottle Pours out a black topped with a very small tan head. Aroma was of sweet milk chocolate and some crazy banana. Along with some vanilla. Tast was very nice rich chocolate, and dark roast. A very sweet and tasy brew. Thanks Matt.

I can’t remember being crazy about any baltic porters, but this one was very good. Pours black with a tan, short lived head. Smell is banana, chocolate and cocoa. Taste is rich malt, dark chocolate and banana. Nice and rich and extremely tasty. Full body and normal carbonation. Unlike any other baltic porter I’ve had.

22oz bottle poured into a tulip. Pours almost black into the glass with a creamy beige head that settles into a thin cap and leaves sporadic lacing. The aroma is very sweet with The taste has tons of sweet dark malts and lots of molasses, raisins and even some grapes. There’s also some vanilla and wood sweetness with some licorice thrown in. Definitely a sweet aroma. The taste follows the aroma with a cola sweetness up front. It’s got some chocolate, vanilla and dark fruits as well. Got some banana sweetness in the finish with a bit of dry woodiness. The mouthfeel is very slick with lower carbonation than I expected. I had high hopes for this when I cracked it but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. It’s a little too sweet for me and lacks complexity. A good beer but not one I’ll go back to.