Epic Porter

Brewed by Epic Brewing Company
Style: Porter
Auckland, New Zealand

Coffee aromas and caramalt. Scents of allspice, crystalised fruit and pepper. First flavour brings coffee astringency and then back to allspice and a touch of ginger. Good mouthfeel and a lingering bitterness. The second tasting revealed stonefruit (nectarines and cherries) and even the signature tangerine and candied citrus peel. This beer is lush and full of character. The maturity of this beer does it plenty of favours as the huge hoppiness it started out with has subsided somewhat. I am genuinely surprised that this beer has kept as well as it has with only 5% abv. This beer is creamy, inviting and a priviledge to drink. Next Epic Porter comes is released in May 2010.

I realised there was an Epic beer I hadn’t rated. This rating is an amalgamation of tasting it fresh and recently, the aged version. Both were great in different ways (try telling one girlfriend that about another - you’ll need more than a porter to help you). The flavours were markedly different - the young beer was chocolatey, with notes of burnt toast, and quite plummy fruitiness. The aged beer was like taking that beer and mixing it with some Bovril. But honestly, that wasn’t a bad thing!

Pours a deep black with a caramel head, smells lovely, toasty coffee with hints of grassy hop. Disappointing body, slightly metallic flavour but full of good robust roasty flavours, possibly a little acrid like spent coffee grains, has a good dry finish.

Tasted 15/12/2007. 330ml ’white label’ bottle from Regional Wines, Wellington. Black with a disappearing pale tan head. Toasty dark malts with muted fruit and grassy hops. Bolshy flavour - toasty, dry, a little ash and a hint of hop fruit and resin. Medium bitterness. Fades a little quickly. This hop character, which was ’comfortable old sock’ a few months back, has subsided and sits nicely in this beer now. Didn’t quite live up to the previous beer - Sierra Nevada Porter - but is a good drop nonetheless.

Dark black in colour with big tffee coloured head. Bitter coffee flavours with big hop follow through. Dry finish.