Arcadia London Porter

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

I am officially done with Arcadia, this is my last stop on the Battle Creek express. Ths was the first Arcadia beer that caught my eye a while ago. On my jouney to this beer I made a few stops, which were really disappointing. It reached an apex at the Scotch Ale, which I really dislike and unfortunately I see similar characteristics in this beer. The aroma is high on "bean," best way I can describe it. A grassy hop, which is a turn off as welland some faint bleach like aroma. The worst part is there is some good roastiness that gets muddled in all this. The taste is fine enough with full roastiness and a slight herbal hop finish. Carbonation is average, medium body and a coffee aftertaste. From now I will save my pennies for a different brewery.

Bottle. Dark brown. Aroma is that of chocolate and roastedness. Flavor is a nice blend of malts, chocolate, cream, and caramels. I initially wasn’t sure about this one, but this is one solid porter. Alcohol is well masked.

12oz bottle, courtesy of artusory. Thanks, Ryan! Pours a dark brown center; light tan head with good lacing. Plenty of marshmallow and bitter chocolate in the aroma. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: roasted malts, vanilla extract, and milk chocolate; hints of smoke and bitter citrus hops. Medium, roasted malt and bitter chocolate finish.

(Bottle) Pours a drak brown body with a small beige head. Aroma of chocolate, caramel, and light roastiness. Flavor of roasted malt and chocolate.

Bottle shared with tupalev & jerc. Pours a very dark brown with red hues and an average size somewhat-lasting creamy tan head. Nice aroma of dark malt, lots of coffee, some chocolate, a little milky and some hops. Flavour of roasted malt, milk coffee, some chocolate and a bitter finish. Medium bodied, creamy mouthfeel. Wow, this is a very good Porter!

Bottle shared by Blankboy. Black body, with a smallish creamy khaki head (3+). Pleasant aroma with notes of cocoa and chocolate, sweet coffee notes, mild aroma but it is quite nice. Flavour is similarly restrained but still shines with lightly bitter roast, accents of dilute cocoa/chocolate. Avg-Medium palate is pleasantly smooth (3+). This is dangerously drinkable without being bombastic. Thanks for sharing!

12 oz bottle. Pours to a deep brown to black color, with a rocky, white head, that fades, and a moderate carbonation. The nose on this beer excellent, with robust aromas dark chocolate, roasty, coffee, and hints of smoke. The palate is firm, with hearty and robust flavors of dark chocolate, roast, coffee, estery black currant, and light, salty/sooty smoke flavor. This beer finishes with more of those bold flavors up front, then ends with some good piney hop bitterness that lingers. Really a very robust and flavorful example of porter. Impressive. Would work well with hearty dishes, and hell, why not a good cigar?

Dark brown, full bodied pour with a creamy, compact tan head. Retention is on par with the best Belgians, lacing is thin but elegant and plentiful. The aroma consists of chocolate, caramel, lightly roasted malts, a touch of smoke, cabernet grapes, molasses, coffee and dark fruits. Really a tangible and forthright nose, elegant and refined, very impressive. Just a tad short of sublime, mainly due to a limited malt expression. Flavor is even more exciting. Notes of chocolate and caramel are intertwined in an exclusive manner, showing off rather than impeding my enjoyment of a lovely malt profile. The malt is moderately sweet, coffee flavor moderately to heavily acidic. Dark fruits are at a minimum, but this sets the tone for a balanced creature not usually seen from this brewery. Not overly complex, this is just a fine example of a porter that’s ready to be enjoyed. Finishes strong and lengthy, somewhat dry, with a low bitterness level that is present but is just another outlet to showcase the balance. Palate is very rich and full, surprising. This beer deserves more recognition. My session porter of choice, high alcohol or not, it falls just short of brilliant. Well done Arcadia.