Hambleton Nightmare (Bottle)

Brewed by Hambleton
Style: Porter
Ripon, England

A lighter colored porter, smallish head with solid lacing and retention. Aroma is dominated by soft chocolate, but has notes of caramel and a hint of roast. Medium to light body, somewhat creamy, lightly acidic mouthfeel. Enjoyable but simple.

500 ml bottle, bought in Scarborough. Dark reddish brown colour, nearly black. Large and creamy tan head. Pleasant vinous aroma, notes of prunes and tobacco, hints of liquorice, chocolate and red wine vinegar. The mouthfeel is rich and creamy. Flavour of roasted malts, coffee and chocolate, a hint of liquorice. Moderate hops in the finish. Good beer!

Pours dark black with relatively small white head. Aroma is soft and nutty with subtle chocolate notes and malty sweetness. Fairly creamy mouthfeel with small fizzy carbonation. Notes of chocolate and coffee complimented by slight hop bitterness. There is a bit of sourness in this one, characteristic of an older style of porter. Not bad, not great.

Bottle and served in a no-nik pint glass: A deep brown with reddish highlights topped by a fading foamy head and okay lace. The aroma has notes of roasted barley, walnut, molasses, caramel, earthy yeast and grassy hops esters. The taste has a kunky lactose sourness over a fruity molasses supported by layers of barley and hints of coffee as well as hop bitterness. Once I adjusted to the lactic twang, this beer was quite enjoyable but it’s heritage stands in the way for it is a thin soft porter and not the bigger versions we see today.

From a 500 ml narrow neck 500 ml. bottle, no freshness date, a blurb in back, sampled at room temperature in a pint glass. Poured a reddish hued dark brown with tight foamy pale tan head that settled into a thin sudsy lacing, very little sticking. A lightly roasted malty nose, powdery chocolate, caramel toffee sweet, traces of coffee, very light hints of vanilla. Good, steady, moderate carbonation and a crisp, dry, creamy smooth medium-light bodied mouthfeel. Lightly roasted malts with a mild bitterness, caramel toffee, some chocolate, coffee bitter towards the end, a mild fruity acidity, a very subtle citric hoppiness, and a dry caramel and coffee malty finish, pleasant tasting with an easy drinkability, very nice.

500 ml bottle, Well’s Discount Liquors. Pours a clear mahogany brown body under a one finger fizzy and foamy light brown head that fell to a thin film. The aroma is a little troubling. I’m getting more buttered popcorn than Porter. Some lightly roasted coffee, chocolate, and a little nuttiness. The flavor is almost Brown Ale like with lots of dry nutty and light coffee notes. The little bit of diacetyl on the finish is sort of acceptable, at least at first. A little light chalk and husky grains linger about. Mouthfeel is slick with moderate soft carbonation. A little buttery stickiness on the finish. I wanted to like this one, but the butter just got to be a little too much by the end of the bottle.

Bottled. Beer is nearly opaque dark brown with a moderate, white, creamy/frothy, mostly and rapidly diminishing head.<P> First impression on the nose promises a lot of strength, character. Malty with heavy notes of roasted grain, blackstrap molasses, lesser notes of chocolate and coffee; Hoppy with a light flicker of herb; Yeasty with a moderate note of dank basement; Moderate notes of dried current, wood, trace of damp top soil goodness. Bit evocative of a Barleywine.<P> Flavor and mouthfeel aren’t as strong as the nose. The flavor is lightly sweet, lightly bitter, trace acidic with a long, moderately bitter, lightly sweet finish. Lightly tangy/smokey aftertaste. The body is medium, the texture is watery and the carbonation is soft.

(Bottle, Monk’s Café, Stockholm) Dark brown colour, not really black, with brief beige head. Roasted nose, slightly fruity with notes of coffee, liquorice, soy sauce, citrus and a hint of smoke. Roasted taste, slightly smoky, with notes of wet ashes, coffee, chocolate, liquorice and citrussy hops in the finish. Rather dry. Body is slightly thinner than the cask version. Still, this is a very nice porter.