Harveys Porter (Bottle)

Brewed by Harveys
Style: Porter
Lewes, England

500ml bottle, probably a few years old: Pours a nearly opaque with dark brown edges and a thin, creamy tan head. Aroma of sweet toasty dark caramel malts with some aged dark fruitiness and a touch of nutty character and some cardboard. Body starts lightly sweet with some cookie dough and mild brown sugar along with some earthy hoppy bitterness. Finishes drier and slightly chalky with some sherry-like qualities. Probably pretty good if it were fresher.

Bouteille de 500 ml achetée chez LCBO (Ottawa, ONT). Arôme: Odeur de torréfaction et de chocolat avec une pointe de mélasse. Apparence: La couleur est noire opaque. Présence d’un mince col beige mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de café et de chocolat noir. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement crémeuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Présence de chocolat amer en arrière goût. (Rating #1379)

Bottled at the Royal Oak, Borough, June 2006. If you like your porters to be pseudo-stouts, as they often are these days, you probably won’t like this. If you prefer a more traditional old English style of porter this may be more your cup of tea. Very dark red/brown, with not much head. Intensely woody, with a touch more oxidation than I’d like, which may be down to the age of the bottle or the pasteurisation process. Some deep malt and soy sauce touches in the aroma. Light, dry and distinctly bitter on the palate with licorice and touches of powdery chocolate. Woody character persists in the mouthfeel. Authentic sour edge on the finish. "Old" tasting, but very interesting. However, the woodiness is just a touch overdone for my taste.

Bottle courtesy of Jerc: Poured a deep black color porter with a small foamy head with limited retention and no lacing. Aroma of roasted bitter malt with some light dry coffee notes. Taste is also dominated by some roasted coffee notes with some light sweet notes. Body is very average with some medium to low carbonation. No a lot of complexity in this beer but very enjoyable nonetheless.

Fully dark brown color, with slight reddish tints, under a thin tan head. Aroma, nice and creamy, light, bit of cocoa, but perhaps a bit too less? Taste: smoothness incarnate, light and breezy, for a dark ale. Flavors of cocoa and coffee reside on the palate, but don’t trouble the tongue too much. Decent porter, I guess, but I was hoping for more, much more, and I have to be disappointed, especially considering the price of the bottle. Not going to return to this one, sad to say...

Bottle pours black with no head, but lace sheets that cling to the sides of my nonic. The aroma is roasted, malty, and chocolate like. The flavor starts out sweet and caramel like, with a roasted malt middle, and a bitter and slightly sour finish. The palate is very smooth and fairly rich. Overall, this is pretty good. I wish I had a nice steak to go with this.

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.

Bottle at home. Really dark, tar like. Grassy, funky. Raisins and sweet. Dry finish. Prunish flavour. Woody flavours. Nice.