Barley Johns Old Eight Porter

Brewed by Barley Johns Brew Pub
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
New Brighton, Minnesota USA

Growler, courtesy of my sister and brother in law (part of an extremely generous six pack of MN Growlers), shared at the csbosox tasting on 3/7/08. Pour is deep-brown, slick black with a smallish tan head that goes away fast. Aroma of roast malt, and a slight earthy grassy smell in the background. Taste of roasted / brewed coffee, with some hop bitterness to the finish. Really solid, well made Porter.

Growler shared with and courtesy of Degarth. For some reason I kept calling this one Hard Eight Porter in my head. Then I remembered it was a beer, not a Janet Evanovich novel. Pour is black as night, completely opaque and very viscous. Huge creamy mocha head settles on top and has incredible retention and lasting. Resolves to a layer of thick foam atop the beer. Looks like an Imp Stout. Nose of BBQ smoke, tobacco leaves, cocoa powder, dark malts, licorice, molasses and dark fruity esters. Flavor profile is similar, but adds in a good amount of hoppy bite and roasty bitterness. Medium bodied, very creamy mouthfeel. Huge, lengthy finish is heavily astringent, then in turns bitter and sweet before trailing off. Astringency is almost overwhelming for the first few sips, but it either fades as the beer breathes or you become numb to it. Great porter.

Draft ABR. Poured a nice deep black with a tan head. Nice smokey roasted malt on the nose as well as chocolate. Nice medium bodied beer that lets the roasted malt and chocolate dominate. A very nice porter.

Draft @ Brewpub: Black, tawny brown head, nose of sweet smoky plum, wooden grainy plum and sweet herbal hops. The flavor is clean and balanced, mocha and juniper. Nice, thoroughly hopped.

[Draft, ABR ’07] Pours black with a nice brown head. Aroma is chocolate, coffee, roasted malt. Taste is the same but the coffee is more pronounced and chocolate is more subtle--also there is some bitterness in there. Long finish. Not quite as good as I remembered.

Date: 06/23/2007
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub

opaque brown, fine tan head, spidery lace, rich chocolate aroma with a mixture of dark and milk chocolates, velvet body, rich chocolate flavor that lasts and lasts,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 10/10; Overall: 17/20
Rating: 4.1/5.0
Drinkability: 9/10
Score: ***+/4

This pours almost black with a brown oily head. Very roasty (read:burnt) caramel, chocolate, espresso, smoke, and dark grains. The texture was creamy and mouth-coating. Big abv was well-hidden but detectable. One of the best porters I’ve had in recent months. Very fine brew.

Draft. Deep brown. Good lacing. Toasted malt and chocolate with a dusty element. Chalky texture. Warmth of big alcohol.