Barley Johns Alfreds Porter

Formerly brewed at Barley Johns Brew Pub
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
New Brighton, Minnesota USA

Bottled from a growler... Pitch black lager with a small, creamy, light brown head. The nose is of brown sugar, fennel, cola, chocolate and light molasses. Huge, malty, sticky/sweet flavor. Notes of vanilla, sourmash, cola, and dark chocolate. Cloyingly sweet, but the very high ABV is well-hidden. Ultra full-bodied and oily with soft carbonation. Lengthy, sweet, chocolatey finish. Another very nice creation from Barley John. Thanks go out to footbalm for the home bottling!

2/22/05 bottling from Footbalm, the King of Traders, thanks so much!
Opaque black, as all have said, with some deep, deep magenta highlights on the edges, barely perceptible through the black pit that is this beer. Heavy coating of the glass, great lacing. Swirling the glass provides a thin cover of tan head, but with no retention. Aroma is full of dark candi-like sugars, cotton candy and bubble gum, a touch of alcohol and lots of pleasant vinousness that is redolent of the Dark Knight I had months ago. Light unmalted barley notes, or something similar to that, emerge as it warms, with dry, black licorice in there too.

Flavor, to me, was just a little too much. Massive amounts of sugar immediately take over the palate. The body is brilliant, I can’t fault that; just wonderfully full and coating. But the sugars are everywhere. Sweet cotton candy, to the extreme. Lots of chewy anise on the end, like the Ricola herbal drops on which I used to suck. Warming effect from the alcohol was quickly noted. Flavor is dark fruits, silky oats and dry barley vinousness not stouty roastiness and hops. And for that I applaud them, this really wasn’t a mislabeled Imperial Stout, as Jeff points out. But in the end, I have to search too long to pull these flavors out, the sugar is just too overwhelming. If they toned down the sugar a good deal, I could really get in to this stuff. I think the barrel aging of it really cuts the sweetness, which is why I much preferred the Dark Knight. This was the only beer I drank all night, so that my palate would be fresh and I sipped it slowly over the course of an hour. As an afterthought, I prefer dry port, dry sherry and dry wines, so take that for what it’s worth as well.

Many thanks to footbalm for the hand-bottled from the growler bottle. That was a mouth-full. Opaque black body topped by a slow to form small tan head. The aroma is really nice. Make sure to swirl that glass to get this one to bloom. Semi-sweet chocolate, cherries, alcohol, licrorice, and some coffee. The flavor is interesting and reallly develops as it warms. I started mine at 52F. Starts out with light alcohol and chocolate, then licroice, raisins, and some vinous characters jump in. Coffee comes on in the middle and then the finish is meidum bitter with cherry and licorice. The body is very much like that of a a big cabernet sauvignon. Starts out a touchwatery then it thickens up. It is really hard to beleive that this beer is 14% abv. The alcohol is well-hidden, though after about 8 ozs the ears do start to warm a bit. Its a very good and quite different beer. I was figuring I was just going to get another Imperial Stout labeled as a Baltic Porter, but this one truly stands apart from an IS I have ever had. Good stuff.

Hand-bottled from a growler: Pours a rich oily black that coats the glass with brown edges and a thin off-white head. Rich, complex, sugary, dark fruit and cherry aroma with thick, sweet molten caramel and a touch of bourbon oak and alcohol. Starts very robust and sweet with sugary maltiness and dark fruity complexity build up the body and hide the alcohol wonderfully, with only a light warming as it goes down, especially since this is 14%. Many thanks to footbalm for sending some of this down to Georgia!

Another huge thanks to footbalm (and Captaincougar). Poured a dark black color with a thin tan head. Malty aroma was mildly roasted. Just enough to smell it without it being burnt or overwellming the aromas like many big beers in this style can do. Notes of chocolate and cherries were also detected. MMMM...chocolate covered cherries. I also picked up a good bit of alcohol in the nose but the beer was a little warm and that might have brought out the alcohol. Sweet malty flavors, coffee, chocolate, and just a touch of fruit. Mouthfeel was smooth and creamy. Light warming sensation with well hidden alcohol for 14%. Everything was in nice balance.

First of all, HUGE props go out to Footbalm for getting me this beer. Tasted side by side with its aged brother, Dark Knight. 11.3oz hand bottled bottle. Served at 54° in a NB worthy glass. Pours dark, dark black with a slight haze for a head, more than the Dark Knight, but not much. Coats the glass and has legs. Aroma is buttermilk, dark chocolate, coffee, dark berries? BIG flavor. Roasted malt and a big coffee flavor, along with syrah notes. Sweet at first, with a bit of a lactic flavor. The hops kick in next with a rush of bitterness and an earthy, spicy finish. The aftertaste is dark chocolate milk and espresso, when the hops subside. Great mouthfeel, really coats the mouth and has a nice "soft" feel to it. Finished the last few ounces later @ 62.5°, it was just as good or better than before. This beats the hell out of the overly barrel influenced Dark Knight. I feel sorry for the Dark Knight that it gave up so much character to gain some bourbon and wood flavor.

Thanks to footbalm for including this as an extra in our last trade. Pours dark brown/black, with a small, tan head. Aroma is roasted malt, some dark fruit, chocolate, and even a little vanilla. Flavor is sweet roasted malt, chocolate, coffee, and dark fruit. Body seems thicker than Dark Knight, which makes it perfect. An excellent beer, not quite as good as Dark Knight, (the bourbon adds something) but it will be included as one of my favorites.

More darker than a sum bitch.Nose is licorice and lotsa’ malts.First taste is roasted goodness and warming.Very sweet and malty with some licorice or molasses.Good but not worth 60 bucks a growler.