Baltika 6 Porter

Brewed by Baltika Brewery (Baltic Beverages Holding - Carlsberg)
Style: Baltic Porter
St. Petersburg, Russia

500mL bottle from an LCBO giftpack, poured into the branded glass it came with. I have been wanting to try this for a long time. Pours a super dark but still clear reddish brown with a large beige head. The aroma is very enticing, nice roasted malts, caramalt, molasses, minor chocolate, breadiness one might expect from a dark Dopplebock, and a weird earthy woodiness that is unique and quite nice. Smells awesome. Flavour is very sweet upfront, pale malts with dark roasted malt, chocolate malts, carbonated body and molasses in the finish with that woody aftertaste. Somewhat black bready, and a red grape ester shows up as it warms. Lingering bitter sweet medly of all flavours. Slightly oily feel balanced with moderate carbonation, super drinkable for a 7% beer. A very solid Baltic Porter and all around beer. Even though I have to get a whole new gift pack I plan on buying more just to get this beer.

bottle 04.04.06. pours black...dry malt, molasses and vanilla aromas. flavor is super rich and creamy, almost milk stout like. big molasses flavor and a strangely pleasing rye bread sourness. it has a nice bitterness and nutty/woody aftertastes. don’t know if the sour is the secret ingredient or if the bottle is skunked. i’ll have to drink more and conduct some tests back at the lab...

Pours dark brown with ruby highlights. The sweet chocolate and toffee flavors are well balanced with hops. No lingering flavors.

I am rather fond of this beer and have had it on multiple occasions. Sampled from a 16.9 oz brown bottle this beer pours thick black and oily with a large brown head. The aroma is of sweet chocolate. The flavor is smooth, malty and an element of baker’s chocolate. No aftertaste.

Pours dark brown with a minimal beige head. Sweet malt aroma with chocolate and light hops. Smokiness and light fruity finish with a touch of bitterness. A most enjoyable brew.

Picked up for $2.29 at Surf Beverage in Murrells Inlet, SC. Appears a dark brown with auburn toned edges when held to the light. A 2 finger, tan head slowly fades into a foamy clump of bubbles. Scattered rings of marshmallow-like protein sticks along the glass. Smell is of caramel, cocoa, raisins, vanilla, nougat, cashews, and cool cucumber. Taste is of teh same aromas with smooth caramel, vanilla, cocoa, and cashews resonating. Pretty nice stuff. Mouthfeel is medium-full bodied, smooth, cocoa-like, airy, and fluffy during the finish. Did I have a different beer than most others that reviewed this? I thought it was well done and it was a bargain.

Great porter - slightly less heavy and rich than most Polish ones I tried but still awesome. Sophisticated flavour with coffee, malt and wine notes; big, thick brown head over almost completely opaque body. Drinks very well as far as porters go, leaving the typical bitterness in finish. Splendid; no wonder it’s Russia’s highest rated beer.

THOUGHTS: Seems a little more stout-like than Baltic porterish in aroma and sort of in flavor. My first non U.S. Baltic porter. It went down easy. If I wasn’t rating it, it would be hard not to gulp it down. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a dark brown that was an almost opaque black in the glass, but had slight red highlights when held to the light and a large tan head that mostly diminished but left excellent lacing. The aroma was moderate burnt, caramel milc chocolate and hot cocoa mix malts, light to moderate hops, light yeast, alcohol and a little bit of dark fruit. The initial flavor was moderately sweet and lightly bitter; while the finish was moderate to heavily sweet, lightly bitter and slightly sour with an average duration. There was chocolate, burnt malt, caramel, hot cocoa powder and then a little prune too as it warmed. The medium body was silky with lightly tingly carbonation and a light alcoholic finish.