Harveys Porter (Bottle)

Brewed by Harveys
Style: Porter
Lewes, England

Courtesy of OhioDad. I’ve long wanted to try this brew as English Porters are much harder to come by here and I generally find Harvey’s to be a great brewery from what I have been able to sample. <P> Aroma is sweet malt, cereal and LOTS of raisin but with that melange of cereal in the background the end result is that it smells like a freshly opened box of Raisin bran. Licorice notes are also a large component of the aroma. There is a dry woody smelling aroma as well. Noticeably absent...much on the way of roast or bitterness. <P> The body is a dark brown with deep garnet hints and a dimisnishing tan head that is initially a thumb thick. The first sip is massively of black licorice and has a creamy frothed milk feel to it. Black molasses, treacle, raisins....low bitterness. Some mild toasty notes that stop well short of roasted. Mouthfeel is thinnish by American standards...but is really maybe a bit thick compared to most English originating porters I have had. I’d like some more hops for it to be perfect in my eyes (or mouth really) but this is a great tasting brew and the smooth creamy licorice notes remind me of Baltic Porter. It’s very nice.

(This is with Tom Paine on the label.) Scored this 7/10 = 3.5/5 before logging in here. RateBeer average is again respectable. Not much head to speak of. Pretty much just like in the RateBeer profile photo, in fact. Diminishes faster than the Indy 500. Thin body, mellow sweet flavor, nice aroma in the bottle. Dry finish. Basically what you’d expect in an English Porter.

Rating for <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/beerimages/full_size/ Tom Paine Original Old Porter

Pours a deep garnet/black with a short, wet, khaki head. Peaty aroma with an excess of prune and wee touches of wine and cherries. A thin, wet mouthfeel finishes dry with mild astringence. Flavor suggests mild oxidation, but there is no "best by" date on my bottle to reference. Mostly wooden and pruney flavour with some dark chocolate, port wine and small-brewed coffee. Nice, but definitely an acquired taste.

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Beverage Depot, Orland Park, IL 60462</font>

16.9 oz. bottle, labeled "Harvey’s Tom Paine Original Old Porter." Aroma of licorice (I’m not a fan), dark malts, and chocolate; more like that of a brown ale than a typical porter. Pours a very dark brown color with a red hue and a small amount of beige head. Metallic, sour, burnt flavor with elements of chalk, coal, and dirt. Rust-like burning aftertaste. Sharply fizzy carbonation. Light to medium body. Yuck! To its credit, the beer starts out terrible but ends up merely very bad. I sure hope I had a bad bottle, because if that’s what this is supposed to taste like, and it scores in the 79th percentile overall, I might as well just stop drinking beer completely.

Bottle (From Middle Farm, Nr Lewes, BB Dec 07). Deep oily brown with quite a dark head. Roasty malts liquorice and lots of smoky wood to start. Fairly dry with some roasty bitterness and lots of woodyness on the finish. Pretty good with the slightly OTT woody flavours being quite tasty.

Nice dark heavy porter. Almost black poor, heavy malt flavors. Rich but not overly syrpy. A nice full-bodied porter

Eh. Pasteurised. Solid aroma. A bit sour and too much molasses. Finishes with a wierd twang.

Bottle. Deep dark brown color, almost black. Grapes and roasted malt in the aroma. Coffee, roasted malt and grapes in the flavor. Just a touch of malty sweetness. Very pleasant beer, although a bit thin.