Harveys Porter (Bottle)

Bottle (500ml). Near opaque black pour with ruby around the edges, large fluffy tan head with lovely thick lacing left on the glass. Lovely aroma, milky roast chocolate malt, herbal, minty hops, nice acidity. Taste follows, not very sweet at all, dry, almost burnt roast coffee/chocolate malt, dry hops, light lactose. Average, silky/sticky body, quite astringent, quick malt finish, burnt linger. Solid - must get more!

500 mL bottle from LCBO, served at room temp. in a tulip glass.

App.: Deep ruby-black, presumably clear, smallish mocha head. Aroma: Quite fruity – lots of dates and prunes, some cherries and tree fruits, green notes (hops?), slightly smoky, flinty dark malts, a bit of molasses, Palate: Medium body, barely a hint of carbonation. Flav.: Still lots of prunes and dark fruits but more malty, a bit of dark bread crust, some ashen dark malts a bit of strong black coffee, hints of leafy hops; dry, a slight hint of tartness, moderately bitter with a strong aftertaste of dark-roasted malts.

Good job, Mr. Harvey.

500ml bottle - pours very dark, with ruby highlights and with a very small tan head on top but with tonnes of lacing in the glass. Aroma is of dark fruit, coffee, dark malt, and light chocolate. The flavour is quite robust - lots of bitter chocolate, coffee, sweet malt, some fruit. Finishes lightly bitter. Mouthfeel is average, a bit light on the palette, but smooth. Nice porter. Not as rich and creamy as say, the Fuller’s porter, but the bitter hit at the end makes up for it. Very good.

Dark brown can’t see through it at all. Small tan head. Roasted malts and bitter dark chocolate. Roasted malt flavour, with hints of smoke and a mute dry bitter dark chocolate aftertaste, lingerings of bitter blackberries off in the distance. Chewy watery body. Delicious.

500ml bottle. Pours a nice deep brown colour with a tiny tan head, that actually does leave a lacing. The aroma is mostly of chocolate and roasted malts, not very distinguishable from a dry stout, nothing outstanding. But the taste! Oh man, the taste is good. Oats, smoke, robust roasted malts, chocolate, cocoa and even some rye. This is fairly complex actually. The finish is bitter and dry, again, like a dry stout, but with a dark roasted barley and cocoa aftertaste. Carbonation is low, with an oily mouth-feel and fuller body, but a tad watery, although porters can have that. I’m really starting to enjoy porters a lot, it’s fast becoming one of my favourite ale-styles.

Wonderful dark pour, with a tan colored head, which slowly diminishes, with attractive lacing. The aroma is not overly strong, but suggests caramel malts. Flavour has a nice bitter chocolate hit, swiftly followed by smooth caramel. The finish is heavy on roasted malt. A well-balanced job in the taste department. At first a little watery on the palate, but a muted carbonation stirs up some creaminess, and actually becomes quite pleasant. Overall, a solid, but not spectacular, porter. Rerated after drinking a bottle that had been sitting for a few months. Vinous notes are beginning to appear in the flavour, and the texture seems even smoother. Its aging well.

Pours as black as motor oil with a thin spotty beige head that leaves behind some nice lacing. Aroma and flavours are very thin, just roasted malts, but I think that may change as the beer warms up....Well, I let this beer sit for about half and hour and it seems I was right, BIG Chocolatey notes, with strong caramel undertones, very heavey and satisfying aroma. Flavours start out with a touch of cocoa, and wich leads to a sweet caramel flavour in the middle, then some roasted malt bitterness that quickley gives way to the cocoa again which sticks around through to finish, a couple flavours in there I couldn’t quite pin, especially near the end. A touch watery for a porter, but still pretty damn good, very enjoyable.

500 mL bottle. Deep, almost opaque, mahogany brown. A vigorous pour resulted in very little head. The aroma is quite sweet, but with a slight underlying astringency. There is some burnt caramel and some hazelnut in there. The taste is quite interesting, with different flavours trading dominance. There is a sweetness which I cannot ascribe to anything but . . . sugar??? Also making appearances are dark fruit, roasted coffee beans, liquorice, and maybe a little chocolate. Some roast bitterness at the end. It actually seems to taste stale, but perhaps that’s what they’re after. Mouthfeel is a little oily, but quite full. Light carbonation. Interesting beer.