Marin Pinot Noir Barrel-Aged Pandoras Chocolate Porter

Bomber, WBC 06 sample, courtesy BitBucket. With all due respect to the many amazing beers that have come from Marin, they walked right off a cliff when they made this one. Waaaay too long in the barrel. You can’t say it any better than Oakes and BitBucket have already said it; nothing about this beer makes any sense. The pinot just erupts from the heavily phenolic nose through the heavily astringent palate.

Bottled sample from WBC 2006. THE GOOD: Pours an opaque black with a chocolate brown head. A bit of pinot and chocolate in the nose. Full body with light carbonation. THE BAD: Tastes begin to collide as soon as this beer hits my tongue. THE UGLY: The dry, oaky pinot juggernaut slams head on into the wall of sweet porter chocolate. The pinot finally breaks through in the finish, but by this time I no longer care about the victor. This may have seemed like a good idea at some theoretical level, but the reality not so pleasant. Drain pour.

Jet black with creamy foam. A really unequivocal colour - this is a burly brew, lads. The aroma shows light pinot with a chocolate background. Yeah, they served it a bit too cold. I didn’t tell them to do it and they didn’t have to. Big oaky pinot noir flavour with an alcohol backdrop. This intensity clashes with what little sweet chocolatey flavour can still show through. Precisely what I was afraid of - this is a trainwreck. The flavours clash and in the ensuing battle the pinot rises to the fore and makes a rather uncomfortable statement. It’s like you’re the porter, the chocolate is your wife and the pinot is your 15-year-old daughter announcing that she’s marrying your best friend, whose baby she’s carrying. That kind of uncomfortable. This beer makes me want to punch someone. Seriously. I must leave now.