Arcadia London Porter

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

Mocha nose with prunes and molasses. Dark brown with a thin tan head. Currant and mocha flavor which transforms to a more solidy espresso character. Bark also is present. Great tasting, but thin.

Botttle at home ... black ... creamy tan head ... sweet roast ... soft .... good roast ... little coffee ... light bitterness ... nice enough but ive had better from 4%

12oz bottle. Pours black in color with brown head. Aroma sweet, roasted malt and chocolate. Taste dark chocolate and roasted coffee with bitter finsih.

bottle, from trade with barleyPops, Real good aroma, sweet, bitter chocolate, coffee, milk, minor grapefruit bitterness. Blackish brown color, good head, faded slowly, minor lace. Bitter sweet flavor, like aroma. Medium body, smooth mouthfeel, bitter dry finish, Very nice porter, maybe I was in the right mood for this. Flavor was favorite part, combined with mouth feel I would keep a bit rolling on the tongue for a minute or so. One I had my eye on for a while now and it met expectations.

12 oz. Opaque black with a lasting disc of cream tan foam. Coffee, chocolate and light char on the nose. Tastes of coffee, bitter chocolate, charred mesquite and light caramel. Medium-heavy body is smoothly carbonated, chalky and roasty dry, and very drinkable. This is a nice strong porter.

Pours very dark brown, black toward the center, and a 2-3 finger creamy, light tan head that has great retention and leaves decent lacing. Aroma is roast, chocolate, a little char, odd citrus notes, dry instant coffee, planty "englishy" hops, straw, toasted grain, a little caramel and sweet grain. Flavor is sweet grain, milk chocolate and caramel up fornt, follwed by lots of ashy bitterness, coarse smokiness, some dark roast coffee, a little too much planty hops, lemon drop and some ruebarb bitterness to the finish. Palate is medium body, chalky, overcarbonated and fairly dry to the finish. An odd and not terribly good brew, very confusing in flavor and body aroma isn’t bad but it really doesn’t shape up.

12 oz bottle. Dark brown with a big brown head. Chocolate and grapefruit nose, some roasty malt. Excellent ringed lacing. Roasty malt flavors, bittersweet chocolate and a grapefruit tinge. A damn fine porter!

THOUGHTS: I knew nothing about this beer before buying it. I just saw "porter" and picked it up. I either really rally liked or was disappointed by other Arcadia Ales. This was one I really liked. It might be my favorite Arcadia so far. It was very complex and ever changing. It had nice use of smoke, that wasn’t overwhelming, but was definitely a major presence. This one didn’t need too much chilling. The smoke became more prominent as it warmed. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a dark brown that was black in the glass with red highlights and was bottle conditioned. It had an average to large, tan head that mostly diminished, but left good lacing. The aroma was light to moderate roasted malt and cocoa powder, with lighter coffee notes, light to moderate yeast, soy sauce at first and then smoke later. There was also a little sour fruit, BBQ sauce, a little alcohol, and slight liquor. The initial flavor was lightly sweet and lightly bitter; while the finish was slightly sour, sweet and lightly bitter with an average duration. There was smoke, cocoa powder, dark chocolate, coffee, roasted malt, BBQ sauce, slight soy sauce and sour fruit. The medium body was oily with lightly fizzy carbonation and a light astringent, light alcoholic, slightly metallic and smokey, dry finish.