BridgePort Raven Mad Imperial Porter

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

(22oz bottle, thanks CaptainCougar) Small beige head atop cola-black body. Aroma is medium sweet, Bourbon, vinous, light roast. Taste is medium sweet, vinous, light Bourbon. Medium body, low carbonation.

Courtesy of After4ever, thanks Tom! It is black with a weak, red hue and a creamy head. The aroma has notes of roasted malt, oak, light rubber, chocolate and ashes. The flavour is dry and roasted with a light bitterness and notes of oak, ashes, hints of smoke, citrus, wine, tannic acid, and the finish has a dry, light bitterness.

(22oz. bottle, courtesy of mar) Pours a dark brown body with a small beige head. Aroma of bourbon, roasted malt, light vinous, and soy. Flavor of roasted malt, bourbon, and chocolate.

22oz bottle acquired in trade with riversideAK (thanks!). Poured a dark black color with a large sized off white head. Aromas of roast (lots of), chocolate, woody, earthy, and grapes. Tastes of roast, chocolate, wood, vanilla, and dark fruits (or could also be some pinot?). Barrel aging definitely on the softer side. The label explains why; 59%-8% aged in oak bourbon barrels & 33% aged in oak wine barrels. I can see the wine (in the tastes), but really didn’t get the bourbon. I found this drinkable and liked it the more I got into the bottle.

Bottle thanks to ditmier: Pours a barely transparent dark mahogany with a thin wispy-lacing light tan head. Aroma of sweet dark caramel and roasted malt with a touch of coffee. Body starts with good fullness and rich caramel malt with some vinous notes and roasty malts with a bittersweet dark chocolatey finish. Pretty smooth and unique.

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, a few months old. Dark brown with a tan head, quickly diminishing. Nose is slightly lactic when cold. When warm there’s a black pepper quality that becomes easier to pick up. The oak is sharp, peppery, a bit charred, a bit tannic. Nice enough smell, nothing spectacular but more than tolerable. Flavor is more black-pepper, smoked malt, charred wood, etc. Slightly astringent, a bit rough, body isn’t all there, it’s a little flabby. But it’s better than your typical robust or imperial porter.

Bottle: Black, nice tan head, nice lacing. Nose of light smoke and pinot infused roast and chocolate. No astringency either which is good. Ample cocoa and oak, light vino notes; maple, honey, tannins, lightly jammy. Nice full roasted balanced stiff porter with a nice hoppy tail and a fun twist of barrel aging for confetti in the flavor. Good.