Arcadia Bourbon Barrel Shipwreck Porter

Brewed by Arcadia Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Battle Creek, Michigan USA

Foamy tan head and translucent violet-brown body. Prominent whiskey and vanilla tones in the aroma plus a light smoky aspect and warm dark chocolate. Flavor is very chocolatey with a whiskey-spiked quality. Comes across like chocolate malt whiskey. Some modest roast, currants, and port notes develop. Medium juicy body with some starchy slickness. Poorly integrated overall. Doesn’t come together for me. I wish I didn’t pay $9 for this.

22 oz bottle, via MikeMac. Pours a clear dark brown with a ruby glow when held to the light. The head is dark brown and extremely creamy. Very firm and long lived. Nose is heavy on the vanilla and oak with lesser actual bourbon. Lots of dark chocolate, roast, fudge, light alcohol, and some light hops. Smells delicious. Whoa! The flavor was a shocker. Weak and watery malt up front then alot of tannic oakiness on the finish with light bourbon. There’s just no complexity to the base beer for the barrel to augment. You need to start with something decent to get something decent. Garbage in, garbage out. The finish is like chewing on pressure treated lumber when it’s still wet and fresh. Mouthfeel is quite thin with a watery texture. Carbonation is very fine with a prickly feel. This started out with so much potential, it looked and smelled awesome, but the flavor was a train--- no, wait--- a shipwreck.

22 ounce bottle poured into a snifter. The color looks pretty darn black to me. A good swirl whips up a fizzy brown head that completely disappears. Aromas of whisky and oak and blah blah blah. There’s some chocolaty character. Pretty much standard fair. Really nothing about this beer says porter. The flavor is all whiskey. There’s even a long boozey burn. Pretty thin. I could honestly do with out this one.

nice chocolate chip cookies milk coffee aroma. mahogany black with a nice frothy tan sponge head. rich and very chocolaty cookie/fudge/dough. delicious as a dessert treat. rich, creamy, full. Feels like more than 7%. mousse. can get a bit thick.

Tried this one again. I came up with the same rating and found it a little more cloying sweet. I managed to spill half of a glass of this beer. The body was black with a light brown colored head. The aroma was roasted peanuts with some milk chocolate and peas. The taste had lots of milk chocolate and some caramel. Later on, I got notes of tobacco and sweet pancake syrup. A decent porter, but I will take their London Porter. Too much bourbon and sweetness. Worse each time I have tried it.

From a 22 oz. bomber bottle with an unnotched freshness date and a blurb along the left side of label, my bottle didn’t pop open with the usual Arcadia overcarbonation, the carbonation was pretty perfect for the style. Poured a dark cola brown with a foamy, creamy, bubbly topped tan head that settled into a thin, creamy, bubbly lacing. Aromas of grape and berry fruity esters, slightly nutty, a light, softly roasted caramel and burnt chocolate, a vanilla barrel scent that goes along with whiffs of whiskey-like alcohol. Good, even carbonation and a crisp, slick, creamy smooth medium bodied mouthfeel. A nice, pleasant Baltic porter taste, a ripe purple grape fruitiness, softly roasted chocolate covered caramel maltiness, a little malty sugary sweetness, some toasted nutty cereal graininess, a nice woody barrel flavor towards the end, a slight whiskey alcohol flash too, warming in the back of the throat, and a dryish estery, malty finish. Much better than I was expecting, a good Baltic porter, tasty and balanced, well worth trying while it’s still available.

Pours black with a tan head that faded quickly, leaving a lingering lace. The soft aroma is of bourbon (yum), alcohol, and mildly of roasted grains. Taste was similar but with added chocolate, malt, and light vanilla. The texture in the mouth was mildly oily. All of this sounds like the making for an excellent porter, but I found the palate and taste to be watery. This may be a personal preference as I prefer more distinguished flavors that change on the way from nose to stomach. Very reasonably priced at $6.00 for a bottle. This is porter that would be enjoyed by just about anyone.

Black color with a thick head. Holy bourbon aroma. A strong hint of vanilla. Some malt back bone, but really, it’s all about showcasing bourbon. It’s not that it’s a bad beer, but I really can’t get anything other than bourbon.