Koff Porter

Brewed by Sinebrychoff (Carlsberg)
Style: Baltic Porter
Kerava, Finland

330 ml bottle. Black body with a nice beige head. Aroma has roasted malt and coffee. Flavor is Mild burnt malt, roasted coffee and a hint of chocolate. Nice, balanced and rather pleasant without being to sharp in any directions.

TAP: thick black pour, minimal head. Mild nose with some roasted malts, taste of dark fruit, coffee, and easy drinking. Awesome stuff.

Bottle. Very dark brown / black beer with a beautiful beige head. Aroma is roasted malts and dark chocolate. Flavor has got the same with a nice bitter end. This is a true Finnish classic and costs under 2e bottle. Better not drink this too cold!

Bottle at K&L. Black with a frothy tan head. The aroma was strongly evocative of dried fruits such as dates and prunes, with a leathery aspect as well. Sweet flavor with low bitterness. Relatively clean in the finish from a malt or hop perspective, but there was a mild metallic note that sat uneasily with me. Full bodied and rich. Decent, but I just wasn’t too into this.

Bottle from Crown #6. Pours Black with brown edge and quick fading brown head. Nose is faint chocolate and dark malt. Taste is....a mess. The chocolate and dark malt is still there, but it’s sour in a not-so-good way. Slight carbonation that doesn’t help either. Just an all around odd taste that distracts from a beer that had a chance till I swallowed. Felt obligated to re-rate from my Draft serving at FFF (bumped it from a 2.6 to a 4.1) Poured pitch black with 1 finger tan head. Smooth and creamy dark malt and chocolate with a persistent black licorice taste that compliments nicely. Very good this time, I think I must have had a bad bottle.

Intensely dark in color with minimal, ’leggy’ head. Aroma is fantastic with bits of smoke, coffee, licorice, and brown sugar. Much less sweet than some other highly-regarded baltic porters. Layers of peat, smoke, and roasted malt veil the slightest nuance of green olive. Mouthfeel is smooth, alcohol is supremely hidden, and my only complaint is that the body is a tad thin for the richness of the flavors and aromas. Without a doubt, this is one of the kings of the style. Hail Finland!

24oz stein. Pours black with a nice size tan head. Long lasting lace. Aroma was rich roasted malt, brown sugar, dark fruit and chocolate. The flavor is just as rich. Roasted malt, chocolate, dark fruit, earthy flavors. A light smoked flavor to the whole thing as well. Has a good mouth feel, some light carbonation and a clean dry finish. I liked this beer. Doesn’t have that metallic after taste like a lot of American Porters.

This Baltic poter is outstanding, with rich, complex flavour and texture, yet high drinkability. Basically black, it has a very large, rich, frothy light brown head that shrinks only slowly to a permanent, thin, foamy top and rich, frothy lace. The aroma is mild wine, chocolate, prunes, toast. Although with firm, complex elements, it’s somewhat subdued. The taste is rich, complex, smooth and clean. All flavours, sweetness and bitterness are beautifully balanced with complex taste of leaves, chocolate, dark toasted brown bread, prunes, a hint of port, some raisin, black pepper, the latter stronger in the finish, with an increasing taste of black coffee condensed with brown sugar that is stronger by the end. It is rather dry throughout, not too bitter or sweet. In the middle, it has a definite but light sweetness and light but slightly stronger bitterness right at the finish, but for most of the time, up front and in the final finish and aftertaste, it is mostly dry, clean, and leafy.