Aldaris Porteris

Brewed by Aldaris (Baltic Beverages Holding - Carlsberg)
Style: Baltic Porter
Riga, Latvia

Pours black with deep ruby edges and a one-finger white head. All the base porter aromas--lactose, chocolate, molasses--with a prominent fruitiness: cherry meets plum. A hint of banana bread. Sweet flavor the whole way through. Begins toffee-ish and chocolatey. About halfway through it becomes very lactic, and it closes on a lightly smoky coffee-milk taste. The finish dries out and seems to coat the mouth. Very good, if a bit too lactic for my tastes.

Pffft. The consensus is a philistinic ass! You put this stuff in a bottle that says "Ayinger Celebrator" on it, the consensus won’t know the difference, and it’ll rate a 4.1+! Wow. Just wow. <shakes head>

It’s a dead ringer for the Celebrator, I swear on any future children that I have, it’s the absolute truth. Even the head and retention rate is an exact match.

Pours pitch black with almost no head. The first signs of some oxidation. Had a heavy dark fruit banana smell. Definitely smells older. real sweet in the taste, somewhat oxidized. Not much carbonation. a lot of dark fruit in the taste as well. Almost tastes somewhat like a Belgian quad. Definitely old, but it was still pretty good.

Pours ruby red to brown with a thick lasting foamy head. Smells of tarte cherries, sugar and sweet malt. Tastes of chocolate, cherries and spices. Finish is slightly vegetal.

Black, brown edges, small frothy, light tan head. Roasty malt, graham crackers, dry wood, and chocolate milk. Medium/full body, smooth. Simple, great brew.

Deep, deep brwon color, almost black. Ruby highlights when you can get some light through it. White head. Rich malty, sweet aroma. Flavor is slightly grainy at the beginning, lots of chocolate and some roastiness. Sweet with coffee notes. Medium full bodied with a long finish

Aroma of toasted malt with some chocolate aspects. A brown color you can’t see through, with a beige head that stands up and laces somewhat. Medium mouthfeel that thins. Carbonation is very light. The start is sweet malt with that chocolate, but there’s a companion cola flavor. Which is followed by toasted malt. Top or bottom fermented? Probably bottom, but does cola indicate top? The web site is not helpful: Porteris ir īpaša tradicionālā, stiprā alus šķrine ar karameļu garšu un vieglu vīna piegaršu, kas jūtama arī aromātā. (seems to track the commercial description)

500ml bottle - Pours very dark brown with a finger’s width head. It has a fairly mild dark roast malt aroma. A tasty roast malt flavor is complemented by some good chocolate notes. Medium to full bodied, it finishes smoothly. The lagers I’ve had from Russia and the former Russian republics were bad, but they do seem to know their porters.