Crouch Vale Anchor Street Porter

Brewed by Crouch Vale
Style: Porter
South Woodham Ferrers, England

Cask @ London Drinker 25: A deep, ruddy brown with a swirling head. Barnyard aromas are joined by damp soil and light coffee aromas. Sweet but floury in the mouth. Savoury white bread. Whole-mouthed and airy. Smooth but it leaves an odd feel on the teeth. An interestingly light beer with delicious woody flavours. Dark brown with frog spawn style bubbles. Sweet coffee aromas paired with weak cereals. Quite delicately woody and smoky. Milky and sweet like cow & gate baby formula. Smooth and milky textured. A nice, drinkable and sweet porter.

Cask at The Market Porter, Borough. Very dark brown with a creamy tan head. Good chocolate and roast aroma. Hints of fruit amid chocolate and roasted coffee flavours. Good bitterness. A great porter.

A Mes rate: Gravicask at Pigs Ear.
No head but a lovely rich mahogany colour. Pleasant malt and chocolate aroma with light fruity notes and some slight sulphur. Flavour is equally pleasing with liquorice, lots of fruity malt and a light sourness giving way to a bitter chocolate finish. Innocent and endearing.

Cask at Pig’s Ear BF 2007. Some smokiness here, as in most of the porters at the festival. But it is a bit rough at the edges, there is a more subtle flavour that does not quite manage to come out.

Cask conditioned gravity dispense at Merton Winter Beer Festival 16-02-07. This beer poured a dark brown colour with a small tan head. Aroma was coffee and some dark fruit, flavour also fruity, roasty, coffee and with some reasonable bitterness and a drying finish. I quite enjoyed this but rather hoped it would be a little better than it was.

Cask conditioned at Merton Beer Fest 07. Dark brown with tan head. I like the way that Crouch Vale make their speciality beers at higher strengths (for the UK), it shows a confidence in what they are trying to do. Rating this as a porter, it is a decent example, fruity with touches of sweet and tart at the same time, there are strongly roasted nutty qualities and quite a winey type finish. Good stuff.

Far From The Madding Crowd winter fest. Pours a medium/dark caramel with a small layer of soapy tan. Soft roast aroma, coffee, milk chocolate. Soft caramel malt and modest roast. A pleasant beer, but very restrained and low key for a porter. Call this a mild and I’d be much happier with it.

Dark black with a tan head. Mild malt aroma, bit chocolately. Flavour is medium roast and choc. Almost a touch of hoppy flavour there too. Nice body, ok.