Asda Whitechapel Porter

Brewed by Shepherd Neame
Style: Porter
Faversham, England

Enticing waft of claret and milk chocolate. Filthy tan head atop a coke-like body. vanishing quickly. Chocolate sweetness and a finishing coffee-like smokiness. A generous slug of fruity booze. Pleasant enough, but makes me long for stickier, more decadent Belgians.

Bottled, pasteurised, 500ml. Dark brown with red hue, short lasting head. Thinner than expected with a restrained mix of flavour. There is some sharp nuttiness with an earthy dark roasted malt note, but there is also a metallic note going on. Fruity at the finish, quite short, quite drying. Overall a beer thats reasonable, just not great.

Poured from the bottle, a rich black colour with a frothy brown head. A roasted malt aroma, though a bit metallic. A light mouthfeel with a good bitterness. The finish leaves a roasted malt flavour after the fruity hops at the front of the mouth. OK, but a little too much carbonation and that metallic-ness in teh background.

Aroma seems a bit bland to start with however becomes smokey and maybe liquice. Taste is a bit fuller with the roasted malt having pritty much all the say, but you get a hint of grassy hops also.

Lovely dark body, the off-white head leaves a good lacework. Rich roasted malt nose with some fruit and spicy hops,a big,almost crunchy, roasted malt palate dominates, but a nice acidity comes in on the finish. A very satisfying brew.

Bottle (from Asda). Some fruit and roast aromas. Body is thin with excessive carbonation and unattractive acidic flavour.

500ml bottle from Asda. Stronger than Shep’s own porter. It would be interesting to compare the two but its not really fair to set a pasteurised bottled porter to a fresh cask one. Very dark reddish brown colour. Roasty aroma with lots of licorice. Dry, toasty malt on the palate with a gentle bitterness and a sweet edge. There’s a hint of cocoa powder in there too. Quite nice balance. Decent enough, but fails to excite.

Nose is a little sour for a porter. Head is a good colour, but fades quickly. Flavour is nice - kinda sweet fading into kinda dark and licoricey. As with stablemate Gentleman Jack, I wanted to dislike it (selected by Asda), but actually found it a passable, if unchallenging, dark ale / porter.