Arcadia London Porter

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

a good porter, understandable an award winner from arcadia. not my cup of tea, but a good choice for porter fans out there

Bottle. Black body, medium creamy foamy light tan head. Chocolately aroma with sweet cream and berry. Cherry skin acidity starts the flavor with dark chocolate-covered coffee beans and some caramel sweetness following. Acidic, roasty dryness and some chocolate sweetness in the finish. Average mouthfeel that’s hampered by some dryness. A darn good porter featuring fruity, roasty acidity. If that’s your bag try this stuff!

10-Apr-06 (12 oz bottle: Obtained 06-May-05 in trade with jtw, thanks John!) I liked this beer a lot last year, and as it’s bottle conditioned, now I want to see how it does with a year of aging under its belt. I think it’s even better because the caramely character I noted the last time has been replaced with "darker" flavors. It’s roasty and bitter, yet sweet and chocolaty, somewhat earthy, quite smoky in the finish, with a touch of barrel-like tartness to help the roast balance out the sweetness. The nose is less impressive to me, presenting roast, smoke and some sweetness, but the aromatics lack the intensity I get in the flavor. Medium bodied, perhaps medium-full because of the ample residual sugar, and it’s gently carbonated, so I like the mouthfeel even though it’s not as smooth or luxurious as I might like. Very dark brown in color, appearing black and opaque through the center, but showing hints of translucent ruddiness at the edge. Like the previous bottle, this poured with almost no head, barely even a film covers the beer, and naturally, it dissipates quickly, leaving only a few wisps of lace on the glass. I’m not much of a fan of Arcadia, mostly because so many of their bottles I’ve tried have been infected in some way, but London Porter is a very solid porter, rivaling some of my favorites of the style.

19-Apr-05 (12 oz bottle: Obtained 15-Apr-05 in trade with Eyedrinkale, thanks Mike!) Dammit! I chilled the beer too much, and that killed the head when I poured the beer. Light tan head barely forms a full, complete topping over the nearly black body. Quite sweet and caramely, also fruity and floral, but lacking much roastiness, the nose is unlike almost any other porter. The flavor is sweet, fruity, and very caramely, with other components such as the moderate roastiness and coffee playing supporting roles. Ample, almost sticky palate is augmented by what seems to be a substantial amount of sugary viscosity. Need to trade for more of these. Really good stuff! (8, 3, 7, 4, 15 = 3.7)

From bottle, courtesy of CharlesDarwin. Full bodied, oaky black pour with a medium beige head that slowly reduces to a fine, tan film. Dark chocolatey aromas are craftily blended together with ripened raspberries and a topping of thimbleberry jam. Creamy, delectable sensation on the tongue. The chocolate dimensions drip lazily off the edges of my tongue, leaving a Sunday morning blueberry pancake residue to tantalize my palate for a few more minutes. Final smack of vanilla bean and peanut skins. This is an amazing porter. Thanks, Tom!

A frothy tan head caps a deep brown, almost black body. A malted chocolate aroma reaches the nose with hints of cookie dough, vanilla, chestnuts, dried fruit. Full bodied and rich on the palate with very little carbonation. The flavor was chocolaty with roasted coffee and enough of the aroma elements to make this an interesting and rewarding porter. Arcadia surprised me with this one.

Black body and a thin brown gray head. Light chocolate nose with something like a shortbread cookie. Semisweet chocolate morsels and strawberry are the main tastes that I detect. Sticky dusty strawberry finish that has a smooth cocoa taste and a low balancing hop taste that is a light nutty grass taste. Chocolate really comes forward about ¾ through the glass and it must be approaching 60 degrees by now cause I started this baby at a nice serving temp about 25 minutes out of the fridge. Definitely gets better the warmer it gets. I wonder what I would get if I heated this sucker, no that way leads to madness. It is damn good as is. A nice peanut butter and chocolate mingled flavor is working well right now. 10:45 on the day after saint patricks day where I had a very good night and I am enjoying a nice porter listening to bob marley tell me that everything is gonna be alright. Oh yeah brother bob it is going to better than that if this keeps up. Ap-4 ar-6 tas-7 pal-5 ov-16

Aromas are sweet and a little bit fruity... prune? Tast is sweet and burnt. A little syrupy. Not my cup of tea.

Very good porter that changes complexities as it warms which always tells me that a lot of effort has gone into the beer. Dark brown/red with a small brown head. Many vinous notes in the nose and flavor initially but by the end of the pint the beer had a very rich roast malt and coffee thing going on with an earthy finish. What I was hoping Fullers would have been.