Middle Ages 12th Anniversary Imperial Porter

Brewed by Middle Ages Brewing
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Syracuse, New York USA

Pours dark brown with a light brown head that sticks around. Smells of sweet caramel, toffee, some licorice, peppery, earthy, some chocolate. Tastes of chocolate, caramel, some molasses, licorice, sugary, earthy, peppery, spicy. Nice.

Tap at Ginger Man. Black beer with a thick dark brown head. Aroma shows a bit of soft leather, heavy blackberry fruitiness and a soft sweet dried fruitiness as well. Some raisin and licorice. Heavy roast on the back. Sweet throughout with a rich sticky palate. A bit fruitier than I’d like, but it’s pretty damn tasty.

20 ounce Imperial pint on draught at the Blue Tusk, Syracuse, June 27 2007. Jet black with very little head, just a touch of dark cream....grapy, raisiny tones color the nose at first, but dry roasty chocolate grows and over the next 15 minues complex hints of smoke and brandy are added....rich, nutty-chocolaty flavors abound on the tongue, licorice and tart blueberry skins....the cocoa is quite bitter, dark-roast and somewhat burnt; the finish is slightly earthy-mineralic....good moderate level of carbonation fools you into thinking the body is fuller than it is; very little noticeable alcohol. I continually revised my numbers upwards as I went through this pint; definitely something to spend time on and drink fairly warm. Nicely done.

On tap at the brewery. Middle Ages is not as of yet lacking by the departure of Tim Burton the number 2 brewmaster. This is a great porter. Full mouthfeel, with a porter taste, followed in the finish of coffee and choclate. Smooth. The aroma is mollasses licorice. Dark with some white head.

Draft. Pours a dark brown body with a big coffee alcohol nose. Caulk and vanilla, sweet and malty. Nice fruity esters embedded in the alcohol sweetness.

On tap at Blue Tusk in Syracuse. Pours a dark almost black but has some reddish glowing highlights and a frothy tight beige head. Aroma is light fruity esters like raisin, goood chocolate and nutty nitns, and some licorice root. Sweet caramel and nutty toasted malts, chocolate, hints of roast, a bit of tar and oily licorice. Smooth big body and mouthfeel. Easy drinking for 9%.

Draft at HDG. Some chalkiness to go along with a cheap bittersweet chocolate flavor. Medium bodied with a somewhat sour cherry flavor.

Tap at Hop Devil. Seems kind of baltic porter like to me (rather than IP), with some definite vegetal lagery notes. Almost a touch sour, with pumpernickel and roasty notes. Not very stout/porter like. Very drinkable.