Black Oak Nutcracker

Brewed by Black Oak Brewing
Style: Porter
Etobicoke, Canada

Was getting kinda drunk by this beer, but... Dark brown with a nice tan head. Aroma of toasted molasses, slight wheat, smoke, and alcohol. Flavor was roasted malt, coffee, smoke, cinnamon, chocolate, and some spice. Finish has some of the cinnamon hotness. Well blended and complex. Has a great flavor. Enjoyable.

[158-20061225] 341mL. Malted vanilla coffee aroma. Dark, dark brown body with reddish hints and a light brown head. Very coffee, very malty, very roasty flavour with hints of cinnamon, fruit and after-bitterness. Full body. Great blending. (7/4/7/4/15) 3.7

[833B-20071113] Tap @ C’est What (Toronto, ON; Vintage 2007 "Unfiltered"). Cinnamon spice malt and coffee chocolate aroma. Black brown body with a quick foamy dark brown head. More cinnamon and coffee and chocolate in the flavour. Full body. Well balanced! (8/3/8/4/16) 3.9

Shortlived beige head over ebony beer. Rich black chocolate and wood nose, slightly sweet. A bit of tobacco as well, very roasted. Very dry wood flavour, plywood, touches of coffee and bitter chocolate. Ever so slight malty sweetness, tucked away under the dry bitterish roast. Ends on a sweeter note, hazelnut-like. Quite slick, medium bodied at best. Quite decent porter, txs to Stephen. I could not identify the cinnamon.

On tap at Rhino. Black with a nice head. Tastes of dark chocolate, coffee , and little bit of cinnamon. Nice!

341ml bottle acquired in trade. This one initially poured all head (light brown). Settled into a dark black color. Aromas of roast, coffee, dark chocolate and very light spices. Tastes of roast, dark chocolates, light coffee and some caramel. I wasn’t really getting a large amount of cinnamon out of this as the description says (a little in the aroma and maybe some in the background tastes).

On tap @ Rhino. Strong sense of chocolate, nuts and some spice (nutmeg) in the nose. Very syrupy, heavy and flavourful, with a long bitter finish. Some smoke and woodiness. Good, but you can’t drink more than one.

on tap @ The Beer Bistro. Lovely beer, quite a bit more coffeeish than last year, but all the flavours are still there. lots of cinnamon, and spices, but a little more coffee, and bitterness than i remember, but all in all, very very nice.

341 ml bottle - pours blaaaaack, with tiny ruby highlights at glass bottom, and with huuuuge tan head. Delicious slightly sweet aroma that really accentuates the cinnamon, but there is the roasted malt to rein in the spice element. Flavour is so great, the aforementioned cinnamon followed by some smoke and roasted malt, trailing into one of the longest finishing beers I’ve ever had - fading notes of both coffee and chocolate, with the cinnamon again playing an important role, sweetening everything up a bit. Body just slightly too thin, but that’s just a minor quibble. This is a beer that truly benefits from being served at cellar temperature - cool, NOT cold. Put it in the fridge 15 minutes before serving and you’ve got a mighty fine beer on hand. Superb, and perfect for the Christmas season. I’m so excited I’ve got 21 more to enjoy....Black Oak’s seasonals are things of beauty. This will single-handedly get me through the winter.