Alaskan Baltic Porter

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

Thanks to drinkndrive for this one. Pours dark brown with an off-white head. Nose is roast, dark fruit, chocolate, spice, overripe red grapes, and deep sweetness. Flavor is light and dark chocolate mised in with all the goodness of the aroma. Medium bodied, complex as hell, and a lovable finish of dark fruit and chocolate.

Bottle from Ledger’s. Pours semi-opaque deep brown with thin off-white head. Aroma is exceptional - roasted, chocalately malt aromas augmented by notes of spicy, creamy vanilla, light fruitiness, mild nuttiness below. Flavor is mildly sweet, offset by toasted caramel flavors and just a hint of burned flavors and roasted coffee. Finish has further coffee-like flavors, light sweetness and lingering slightly resinous bitterness. Throughout is a lightly piquant alcohol notes, but mostly alcohol is undetectable. Awe-inspiring for a Baltic Porter lover...and for a Balt. Would rival any world-class porter from the homeland.

Bottle from South Bay Drugs and Liquor: Created a thick puffy sized head that lasted for quite some time while the liquid was a darker than usual porter brown color, and had some reddish transparency. In the nose, an upfront cherry chocolate aroma that had a background of vanilla bean and oak which made me sigh with relief because this just had to be good hence why I awarded a perfect score for its aroma. The flavor is robust and rich with sugary sweetness from the brown sugar which actually becomes more apparent in the flavor then it ever allowed in the initial aroma. Also, there is a subtle touch of vanilla that tastes all natural, and so do the cherries used. Surprisingly, the cherry flavor doesn’t have the artificial can or jar made cherries and instead has similarities to a wild black cherry picked with a hard seed in the center. Considering all the other elements in the mix, the cherry, vanilla, and brown sugar are well balanced in proportion with light roasted malt and faint presence of oak chips which could have fooled me as if this beer was barrel aged in brandy or oak barrel. It practically never heard of for a west coast brewery to make a Baltic porter, but I’m glad someone from the west did it even if they are in Alaska. Thank you for making this available in bottles and in heavy distribution because I have a hunch this is a beer a lot of people will enjoy more than once.

Bottle. [thank you after4ever]
Pours deep brown with a fine, small-ish, frothy, beige head. Aroma is sweet, caramel, milky chocolate, lightly roasted and a hint of vanilla-like coffee. Low carbonation, lovely fat and oily mouthfeel. Flavour is dark chocolate, a touch milky, roasted malts, dark dried fruits and a touch of smoke. Long, lingering, vinious and dark chocolate aftertaste. Really very lovely.

Source:22 oz bottle at a Nashville tasting.
Glass:Fullers snifter.
Appearance:Dark brown pour with red highlights and a one finger brown head.
Aroma:Roasted malt, fruits, chocolate and coffee.
Flavor:Coffee and chocolate with a fruity finish.
Palate:Full body with mild carbonation.
Overall:Excellent beer from Alaskan. Love the smoked porter, and this didn’t disappoint.

From a 22 oz bottle this poured a very dark red that looked almost black with a moderate tan head and good lacing. The nose is very powerful and renders aromas of ripe fruit with cherry dominate, some vanilla, coffee, and chocolate. The mouthfeel seems more like port than beer, being very rich and smooth. The flavor is sweet with distinct alcohol, and the finish is sweet as well and mostly cherry. Very delicious.

650 ml bottle from Bev4less. Pours a dark brown with garnet highlights accompanied by a small khaki head that soon recedes. The nose is strong with dark fruits, cherries and sweet malts. The flavor is sort of like a beer version of a cherry coke; lots of vanilla, cherries, sweet malts and some earthy hops. The palate is full and smooth. The finish is long with lingering biter-sweet cherries. Overall: Very tasty, very tasty.

22 oz bottle from Bevmo. Dark brown with red highlights. Light tan head that reduced to light lace. Nose is sweet and smooth. Dark fruit and vanilla. Roast malt and coffee. Flavor is a pleasant mix of sharp malty and cocoa with coffee, and light smoothness of vanilla. Light tang of dark fruitiness as well. Very nice brew. Definitely gonna pick up a couple for the closet.