BridgePort Raven Mad Imperial Porter

Formerly brewed at BridgePort Brewing (Gambrinus Company)
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Portland, Oregon USA

bottle. thanks glk. nice looking beer. pours black with a rih frothy tan head. aroma is fig and raison, burnt smokey wood,vanilla aroma. flavor folls aroma pretty well. medium body. some chocolate and a fairly lively mouth. light richness in finish.

Dark brown in color with a medium off-white head. Yeasty aroma of bananas and some chocolate. Is this from Belgium? No? Okay. Sweet chocolate flavor with some fruit and a nice coffee finish. Not getting the yeasty banana character I got in the aroma. Pretty good.

Dark brown pour. Aroma is Belgian banana yeast, chocolate, and chocolate malt. Flavor is of roasted cocoa, and has a maltiness that sort of reminded me of a beer version of cocoa krispies. Airy kind of finish, carbonation was a little off, but I enjoyed the flavor.

In short: A very simple basic roasted stout/porter with too much carbonation
How: Bottle 22oz. Consumed soon after purchase. Tasting session with Montreal crew
The look: Very dark brown body topped by a little beige ring of foam
In long: So-so nose of burnt raisins. Taste improves a bit on the nose but not much. Basic highly roasted malts and dark hard-candies combined with the soda-pop-like carbonation make the beer feels like a roasted Coca-cola. The aggressive carbonation really kills any subtleties (if there was any). Lack of complexity but very drinkable. It should be noted that this beer sells with cardboard 3D glasses and its label can be viewed in 3D. I’m not kidding!!! Ironic for a beer that has no depth.

Firkin at Belmont Station in Portland, OR A great Porter, nice aroma of roasted malts, black as night with dark brown edges and a nice head, that sticks around. Unidimensional, though the hops try to make an appearance, but at the moderate IBU level they don’t make much of an impression. The oak is well hidden which is great.

Bourbon roasted coffee roasted malt, maybe even a touch of sarsaparilla . All the flavors you’d expect from a porter but with a nice malty thickness.

My Bottom Line:
This well-rounded Imperial Porter pleases with its vanilla-laced molasses, plum-like fruitiness and roasted dryness, ably merging barrel flavors to the actual brew.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A ring of foam circles the brown-lined blackness.
-Carbonation is effervescent, making this strong ale quite drinkable.
-The roasted malts benefit from spruce-like hops to build a complex bitterness.
-The barrels are well levelled.
-The 3-D label with glasses is really not necessary.
-I found there was a lot to be enjoyed in this Imperial Porter, but somehow I can’t say it was riveting enough to stand out amongst the masses in its style family.

Bottle.

22oz bottle, courtesy of my boy Josh. Very dark pour, very little light at the bottom of the glass. Nice dark fruity, sweet aroma, some vanilla as well. Pretty smooth, a little bitterness as well, but nothing to detract from the overall flavor. Pretty good beer.