Lightning Black Lightning Porter

Brewed by Lightning Brewery
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Poway, California USA

22oz bottle. thanks to andrew for this freebie..... dark brown to black pour with a dense, not so much thick, light tan head. don’t pour this too aggresively..... not much chocolate in the nose but moreso sweet dark fruit and even some lactic sourness. not what i was expecting.... flavors are a bit on par with what i thought it would be like. sweet malt, chocolate, and some roast and bitterness towards the finish. full mouthfeel and moderate carbonation and alcohol in the finish.

Excessively carbonated as a careful pour yields a six finger thick (including a full finger above the rim of my 25cl tulip glass), browned, dark tan colored head that proceeded to over flow the sides. The beer is quite black, but just shows some touches of color when held up to the light. The aroma has quite a pronounced, fruity, burnt prune note to it. As well as some tart smelling burnt grain notes, a slight burnt vegetal note, some campfire smoke and black coffee aromatics are all noticeable in the aroma. The aroma seems a bit disjointed and not very well integrated & it is either starting to show signs of an infection or the recipe really is not very well integrated.

Rich and malty, the beer is quite thick and chewy with a huge palate coating body. Sweet dark malt flavors contribute notes of chocolate and coffee liquor. The beer finishes with a salty, almost peat smoke character to it that mixes in with flavors of burnt grain, charcoal and dark roast coffee. The expressive fruitiness of the aroma is quite a bit more muted in the flavor, but still comes through just a bit as does a slight, burnt cabbage note towards the finish. This really does have a rich mocha quality to it. This richness is tempered just a bit by an up front, slightly astringent, burnt-charcoal sourness that has a fairly soft effect.

The taste is a lot cleaner than the aroma, so this might actually not be infected, but it is still a bit too disjointed, though I should not that all of these flaws are somewhat subtle, for me they just add up to be a bit too un-savory. The recipe for this beer actually seems like it might be ok, it just seems like the fermentation control or sanitation procedures were not quite there. Hopefully the next batch of this will be much better as both of the beers that I have had from this brewery have been misses. I still think they show some promise and will be keeping a look out to try this again as well as their other brews.

Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Bay Drugs Pharmacy, Imperial Beach CA

Bottle. Pours dark brown with thin tan head. A strong hop presence is throughout the porter. Coffee, sweet malt, and dark fruit. decent.

Pours a juicy black with a mountainous mocha foam. Pastry sweet aroma of maple ice cream leaning into some green fruitiness of an underroasted coffee. Kiwi. Lightly floral, with some alcohol punch of a port and scotch quality. Dark fruits, molasses and syrups lingering. Potent and thorough, but silky and understated; fine representation of the smoothness and rich reservations of this style. Chewy graham cracker malts and huge black cherry sweetness, fully swallowed in this gorgeously textured, digestif alcoholic strength. There’s a lot of underextracted coffee bitterness and generic greenness that tends to be quite bothersome and pushy, but this syrupy dark fruitiness consistently, valiantly makes efforts to pull it through the tarry muck, though the struggle is not an easy one. Some vague hint of baked pear and general tone of softened fruitiness. Char, asphalt, and sour coffee with its abrasive bursts of acidity seem to gather strength in plain bitterness and hollow alcohol. Many stages of change evident here, though it seems to evolve and devolve alternately; steadiness and focus severely lacking. Palate is rich and chewy, quite frothy and seeming skittish, though satisfying; finish is a long tangy roast, with some dusty baker’s chocolate and residual honey sugar notable. Fairly solid, altogether, though this aimless intimation persists. Thanks Larry!

22oz from South Bay - thanks, Joey! Very cool label (although, dude, why advertise that you have a PhD? - seems a bit over the top). Huge pour, with one of those beat-it-down heads. Lofty and frothy atop the dank, oily brew. The lagering is intense and it gives the beer a really potent, yeasty quality that - in my opinion - distinguishes it from some of the other Baltics out there. Rich malting and roasts to be sure, but there’s this earthen funk at the foundation that gives this one its distinct quality. Very good.

Bottle. Nearly opaque with a very lasting head. Nose-green bananas, Belgian stout, candy cane, white pepper. Taste-light lactic, low to medium malt, wheaty, flavor hops, alcohol, biscuits, soft CO2.

Bottle courtesy Degarth. Pours black with a large tan head that leaves good lacing. Aroma of roasted malt, coffee, caramel, a hint of dark fruit, and a touch of astringency. Taste is the same as aroma but more prominent. Medium full mouthfeel with a moderate amount of bitterness. Very good.

Thanks to IEBAILI for the bomber. Pours deep brown color with a large head. Aroma of coffee, chocolate, plums, dust and a bit of liquorice. Full body and a good balance between sweet and dry. Chalky finish.