Alaskan Baltic Porter

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

22oz bottle $9. I bought this just because I like their barleywine, bad idea. This was dark black, decent head, looks just fine to me. The smell was sweet, sticky, vanilla, uhhhhh. The flavor hada hint of the cherries and a lot of vanilla sweetness. I honestly could not get past what the vanilla and oak had done to this beer and I did not think there was anything special about it. It was not a bad beer it was just quite average tasting and I was expecting to be wowed. Oh well.....

Bottle. Black pour with beige head. Aroma is lots of roasted malt, vanilla, molasses and brown sugar. Flavor is the same, with the vanilla and wood taking a pretty large role. Sweet underneath, probably from the cherries, although they are not very distinct. Flavor gets a little muddled in the aftertaste.

Pours nearly black with a ring of dark tan foam - sugary sweet aroma, with strong notes of bourbon, vanilla, cherry, toasted oak - smells more and more like bourbon with each sniff, which is fine by me - initially, the flavor is strong, burnt sugars, and not much else - this is followed by doughy character, light cherry, strong vanilla - some brown sugar, raisins - just the faintest hint of oak, but none of the bourbon the aroma suggests - syrupy sweetness persists throughout, but a moderate bitterness comes through in the finish to try to balance it out, but it arrives a bit too late - some decent flavors going on, but it’s way too sweet.

Bottle. Head is initially small, frothy, brown, mostly diminishing. Body is dark brown. Aroma is moderately malty (chocolate, molasses, caramel, roasted grain), with notes of candy sugar, vanilla, alcohol/whisky, and a hint of cinnamon. Flavor is heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly to moderately bitter. Medium to full body, syrupy texture, lively carbonation, moderately alcoholic. A sticky, syrupy sugar bomb to be sure. Good luck drinking 12oz of this, much less the whole bomber. Not sure why all the adjuncts were deemed necessary, but perhaps the base beer wasn’t that good? Either way, not all that impressive (unless perhaps you have a serious sweet tooth).

Bottle; 2009. Really nice looking pour. Dark brown with a medium sized, firm light brown head. Aroma of fruit, cherries, vanilla, yeast, wood, cocoa and roasted malt. The aroma really grew on me. Could really taste the vanilla and cherries in this one; vanilla came off just a bit artificial (even though its not), but the cherries were great. Alot of roasted malt and sweet fruit too, with some lingering alcohol in the finish. At times, the finish was a bit strange, almost a tad metallic. Palate was nice and creamy and full. Somewhat hit and miss overall, but many more hits.

22 oz bottle, dated 2009. Pours brown with a smallish tan head that quickly goes to a thin film that leaves some lacing.

The aroma is alcoholic fruity chocolate. The alcohol is pretty sharp. Lots of rum soaked cherries, plums, apples and fudge.

The flavor is strong alcohol and lots of slight tart fruits. The some roasted chocolate and some plasticy cardboard bitterness in the finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied.

Overall, I was excited to see a baltic porter since I like the smoked porter quite a bit, but this beer is a bit of a mess - strange fruity alcohol with lots of off notes.

Tap @ Forester’s in McCall: Pours black with a huge thick tanish brown head. The nose is robust; a metallic coffee/chocolate and sweet cherry malt note along with the obligatory earthy hops. The flavor is creamy and smooth with a nice balanced sweet roasty quality followed by some hop and alcohol sharpness. Very smooth and clean on tap here with an approachable body. I could have drank these all night. Surprising to see on tap at this dive bar in a mountain town in Idaho. go figure.

bottle. black pour with thick frothy tan head. lacing. great aroma of dark fruit, maple sugars. maple, chocolate, sugary, old oak flavor, rich malts. nice.