Alaskan Baltic Porter

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

$8.49 for a bottle; I took the chance and OMG this is fucking delicious. One of the most distinctive beers or this or any style I can remember. On the flavor is some kind of caramelly, toffee-ey, sugary-sweet (without being cloying) character. Like oak-aged cherry is in here as well; cheating off the description here, I can readily see a cherry-vanilla thing as well, not unlike a soda spiked with that flavoring. I could even see the banana aspect as others here have described; it’s perhaps like the flavoring used in a fruit smoothie, quite breezy for lack of a better word. And it goes down as smooth as silk. Gets knocked down a peg for no head-retention. A very special beer; just too bad it’s priced so damn high.

This mostly smells of the brown sugar surprisingly, dominating the other elements one would imagine to be more aromatic in general. This is very good. Sweet. Tons of flavor. Doesn’t very strong at all. Good cherry flavor with the vanill and wood there as well. Each element is subtle on its own but complex and fantastic together. Great finish. I really loved this one.

Appearance: Pours a dark mahogany with a decent tan layer of froth. Aroma: Sweet cherry, and very faint roast. Taste: A great pronounced balance of cherry, vanilla and oak. Mouthfeel: Medium bodied. Overall: One of the best beers I have had this year, and surely my favorite from Alaskan. An amazing use of oak and cherries.

Bottle: Poured a light black color porter with a quite large light brown foamy head with good retention and minimal lacing. Aroma of lightly sweet black chocolate is dominant and very enticing. Taste is also dominated by well balanced sweetness with some quality black chocolate notes. It seems almost impossible for some chocolate malt to taste so good and it makes me wonder if some syrup were used. In any cases, this is an incredible treat and something I wish I would have access to. Body is full with some good carbonation and no signs of alcohol.

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.

From a 22oz bottle poured into a Snifter at 50°. Color is a solid black with very good carbonation and a tall soda like brown head. This falls to a nice tight head that stays on top as you drink. Aroma is almost like a barley wine with rich malts coming across with vanilla, oak, toffee and wine then a little alcohol in the back. It has a full body that goes down with a light feel coming across creamy and smooth. Finish comes on with a moderate sweetness of honey, vanilla and chocolate then just a hint of the cheery showing. After taste is dry and clean with an oak taste coming out and all of the sweet flavor fading out quickly. WOW this brew rock with big flavors, an easy light feel and almost no alcohol showing. Must be the best brew I have had from Alaskan.

Pours jet black into the glass with a tan head. Aroma is chocolatey with a minimal coffee roast and some fruitiness. Flavor is velvety smooth with a deep chocolate flavor followed by a warm vanilla finish. Absolutely delicious and extremely smooth.