McKenzie Raven Baltic Porter

Formerly brewed at McKenzie Brew House
Style: Baltic Porter
Glen Mills, Pennsylvania USA

Courtesy Degarth. Black. Just a little bit of tan foam disappears quickly. Aroma of dark chocolate, milk chocolate, lactose, nuts and light roastiness. Flavor adds more roast and graham crackers. Finish is smores. Medium to medium/full body, balanced, very drinkable- great palate. Excellent baltic.

Hand-bottle courtesy of Degarth. He warned me that this may be flat or no good, but it doesn’t seem too bad to me. Perhaps not its best, but since this beer is/will be retired (right?) and I will likely never have it again, I want the rating for my records.

Aroma of pipe-tobacco, chocolate, hazelnut, more tobacco. Flavor is chewy oats, peanut brittle, a round milky edge, with chocolate and vanilla notes. Very different from the dry, smoky aroma. Fairly thick, with good drinkability. This may have lost something in the hand-bottling and weeks sittin’ around, but its still a very tasty beer. I’d love to experience this in its best state.

750ml bottle. 2003 vintage. Poured a dark, dark brown (almost black) color wtih a huge sized tan head. Lots of chunky lacing left on my glass (I haven’t seen ’chunks’ like this in a while). Aromas of roast, chocolate, dark fruits, and as I was getting towards the end I sweat there was lactose and a little smokey. Tastes of roast, chocolate, dark fruits, caramel, and vanilla. This one just got better and better as I drank it. The huge head and louder psst, lead me to believe this would be over carbonated, but it wasn’t. This bottle aged very well and I wish this wasn’t my only one.

Growler courtesy of boboski. Huge thanks for getting this smuggled out for me. <P> The aroma is pumpernickel, dark fruits, raisin, mild chocolate and anise. Fairly authentic smelling unlike most American made "Baltic" Porters. The body is a ruddy brown/black and the head is a thumb thick, mocha colored and stayed full and fluffy several minutes while I let it warm. Laces clings tightly from the lip to the base of the glass. <P> Fore is toasted malts, mild bitterness, dark chocolate and sweet cream. This segues into raisin, anise, roasted pumpernickel, dark fruits, peanut dust and mild vanilla notes. This is farking tasty. Very creamy mouthfeel, but with a clean defined finish that leaves stewed raisin and toasted dark bread notes. It is almost dunkel like at times. Very nice, exceptionally creamy and satisfying to drink.

Tap at McKenzie, October 2005. Served far too cold, plenty of time to rate the appearance, but at this temperature aroma is hard to grasp. I was served this beer before my lunch arrived, but it was so cold I drank it after I ate. Five for appearance because I believe this is the blackest, meanest pint I’ve ever had in front of me, very bold and oily looking. Aroma is so very European, so captivating: chocolate cream, black cherry and blackberry, lightly roasted malt and tinge of vanilla. Taste is more of the same, very focused yet light on the tongue. Less body than I was expecting from the appearance, but very rich. Well done. Glad I got to try this.

Deep black color with apparent toasted chocolate notes. Good beer and very drinkable. Major problem was lack of head retention. Unable to hold a head for more than 10 seconds. Could be due to dirty glassware.

Deep reddish black ale with thick moka head. Sweet chocolate aroma with fruity pears. Good clean chocolate malt with nutty notes, roasted coffee and light alcohol. Rich and smooth. May 2005.