Cambridge Charles River Porter

A Mes rate. Cask at GBBF.
Almost black with a decent tan head. Fairly standard chocolate drive porter. Nicely roasted malt, some caramel, plenty of dark fruit. Straight down the line. Standard but decent.

Cask at GBBF 2009. Black, dark brown edges, thin lasting dark beige head. Good choc aroma, very dry bitter dark choc in mouth. Quite fruity in swallow, some raison and dark cherry, bit of ginger. Good/solid.

Gravity cask, one-third pint from the USA bar, GBBF 09. Black as pitch, possible a bit cloudy. Bubbly low beige head. Sweet smell of lacteal malts and hoppy fruits. Comprehensive flavour of dark caramel, slightly roasted, nicely followed by a good amount dark fruits. Sophisticated porter, very pleasing (Earls Court, 06.08.2009).

(Gravicask at GBBF, London Earl’s Court, 6 Aug 2009) Dark brown colour, almost black. Brief, beige head. Roasted, malty nose with notes of coffee and chocolate. Roasted, malty taste with coffee, dark chocolate, toffee, a touch of liquorice and citrussy hops in the finish. More than medium body, fairly sweet. Very nice and tasty porter.

Cask (GBBF 2009) Black in colour. Coffee aroma with a hint of alcohol. Coffee in the taste with a slightly sour hint. Tasty, but a bit thin.

Cask@GBBF2009. Pitch black colour, small brown head. Aroma is wooden, nutty, roasted malts, some smoked notes as well as coffee. Flavour is roasted malts, some smoked wood as well as quite ashy finish. Also a lot of liquorice.

Cask@GBBF 2009. Dark, almost opaque brown color, small steady tan head. Black coffee and licorice in the nose. Lots of black coffee, licorice and dark malts. Very enjoyable with long lingering roastyness in the aftertaste. Dry and balanced.

Included in sampler flight. Sitting at the brewpub with a sampler flight in front of me as I type. A very well done porter this is. Pretty much dead on with what the commercial description reads. These guys know what they are doing.