Blue Mountain Imperial Porter

Brewed by Blue Mountain Brewery
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Afton, Virginia USA

black beer, dark tan head, chocolate, roast aroma, medium strong chocolate taste, roasted flavor, very good beer.

Nitro pint at the brewpub. It was nice and creamy, black as you’d expect, and lightly bittered. Quite a nice quaffable porter for a cold fall day. (#3487, 11/2008)

Pretty much black... very dark with the creamy head that nitro creates. Almost sandy, but closer to off-white Nice, slightly subdued chocolate aromas. Toasted malts, almost something of a nut ’n butter scent? Roasted malts, a stronger dominating chcolate flavour than noted in the aroma. Finishes quite nice, leaving a toasty, slightly bitter taste behind. Quite full bodied and rich... thicker than the style sometimes comes, but again, some of that is a result of the nitrotap. Eventually, the 6.9% is gonna catch up, but until that time, it’s smooth sailing. Nice drinking, big flavour. Something to come out for again, and well worth trying out.

creamy white head and pitch black ale. flavor of chocolate malt and a dry hop finish. a solid porter but not incredibly flavorful

(Sample Date: 7/10/2008 7:45:53 PM Source:Capital Ale House - Innsbrook) Nitro tap at Capital Ale House Virginia Beer Festival. Slightly grainy chocolate and roast malt aromas. Black with fine creamy tan head. Roast and chocolate malt flavor with slight sourness and a bit of grain astringency. Creamy full mouthfeel. Coffee notes come out in the finish. Original Rating 5/4/7/4/15/3.5 Resample 01/17/2009 at brewery. No trace of sourness and finish was dry but not astringent.

On tap at CAH Innsbrook’s Virginia Beer Festival or whatever they were calling it. Black, brown at edges, firm tan head. Light chocolate aroma with a very faintly floral note. Flavor is a big shot of cofffee, slight chocolate. Again, a very faint floral note shows up on the finish. Blue Mountain is quite adroit at getting faint traces of hops into brews that typically aren’t known for having a hop profile (this beer, the dubbel, etc.). Very good beer. Would have been my favorite at the festival if there hadn’t been a 3 year old keg of Millenium around.

Served on nitro at the brewery. Opaque brown color with cascading bubbles ot the bottom of the glass, leading to a 3-finger thick and creamy head. Rich roasted malt aroma. Chocolate and nuts. Taste is pleasantly bitter. Grain, chocolate, nuts caramel and an interesting faint minty tea aftertaste. Hops make themselves known in a nice way. Slightly watery feel right at the beginning that quickly gives way to that nice nitro creaminess. Almost makes me wonder if they’re trying to hide something.

On tap at the brewery, part of a sampler. Wasn’t able to judge the head, but a smooth and delicious porter, roasty, chocolaty and with a nice lingering bitter finish.