Lovibonds Henley Dark

Brewed by Lovibonds
Style: Porter
Henley-on-Thames, England

Bottle: A bit hazy, chestnut-amber coloured, big rocky persistent beige head; dark-malty and roasty nose with a solid fruity background; moderate dry bitter and light sweet flavour, astonishingly light bodied for a beer of 4.8% ABV; traces of chocolate and toasted malt in the long bitter-sweet finish. A goody........

330ml bottle from Waitrose, Wokingham. Chestnut with a ruby glow and a billowing caramel coloured head; intense aroma of treacle, caramel, burnt sugar and spice, rich and appealing. Syrupy in the mouth, but not as sweet as expected, lots of smoke and peat from the roasted malt giving balance and a slight sourness; the finish is long and lingering, starting with a espresso coffee and then developing a velvet chocolate fullness, and leaving a touch of sweet cherries on the lips, and a warming feeling suggesting a much higher ABV. An excellent porter, the best beer of the Lovibond range I’ve tasted so far.

[330ml bottle from Waitrose, Marlow] Over-priced at £2.09 for a small bottle of average ABV (and comparing with other beers in Waitrose and the brewery’s own website, this is definitely profiteering by the brewer rather than the retailer). Pours a deep reddish brown with a tiny yet surprisingly tenacious head. Some carbonation. Smells deeply vinous and a little smokey, and sniffing it made me feel oddly hungry. Initial taste is quite smokey, very dry, with some sourness behind. A little chocolate and caramel comes through, but is rather hidden by the other flavours. Not much change into the afterness - a dry, smokey sourness is the dominant flavour. Has the feel of a poor quality mild rather than a porter. It’s all a bit disappointing after the rather good Lovibonds Gold & Amber - the dark is definitely the worst of the bunch.

Bottled, 330ml, from Westholme Stores, Goring on Thames, Oxon. Brown red with cream head. Promising start with a slightly sweetish but deep roasted flavour, some soft fruitiness, but this was quite thin on the palate. Chocolate and nuts in the flavour and a touch of butterscotch, but in the end just not quite there.