Okocim Porter

Brewed by Carlsberg Polska
Style: Baltic Porter
Warszawa, Poland

A rather dark brown with little light seeping through around the edges of the glass. Thin off-white head. Some molasses, caramel, and brown sugar in the aroma. Lightly chocolate in the flavor and a sort of sugary sweetness and a molasses finish. Not a bad deal.

Pours from the bottle a dark, opaque and muddy brown/black color. Forms an initial nice thick 1" beige head. Retention wasn’t impressive with only small islands of isolated foam floating on the surface. Moderately assertive aromas of roasted malt, dark chocolate, mince meat pie, anise, black licorice, molasses, raisins and port wine pleasantly greet the nose. Mouthfeel was fairly full, round and slick with a fine and subdued carbonation level. Rich and complex flavor profile is enjoyed starting off with sweet roasted malts, molasses, toffee, semi-sweet chocolate and dark rum soaked angel cake. Subtler notes of anise, black licorice candy, espresso and port wine fill in the background. Finishes with a touch of alcohol warmth. A well done Baltic porter for sure.

Very little head in this bottle, but perhaps that’s because I waited too long to drink it. The aroma is rather astringent, like raw eggs, but with some nice sweet molasses to it. The flavor is that of a classic baltic porter. Very sweet, strong, with heavy molasses. Very good stuff.

Bottle (500ml). Pours dark brown/black with a large fluffy brown head. Aroma is sweet malt, with some molasses, prunes/raisins, and bit of alcohol. Flavor is quite sweet, dominated by malt with prunes/raisins and molasses, cut by some roastiness and licorice. On the very sweet and pruney/raisiny side of baltic porterdom, and just a /hint/ cloying at times, or it’d get top marks. But, while it’s it’s no Zywiec, the licorice is a nice touch, and I seem to have more liking than most for sweet big beers, so still a thumbs up.

Bottle. Pours deep black. A nice fluffy tan head is present. About a half-inch. Lots of lacing stays on the glass. Aroma is licorice, chocolate, creamy espresso, raisins. Flavor is light licorice, chocolate, plums, vanilla. Warming beer. Feels chewable and sticky. Unique mouthfeel. Quite good.

Pours dark brown with medium sized head, tannish in color. Not extremely tight, but lots of bubbles. Flavors of chocolate and a little bit of alcohol in there too, but not too alcoholy to make it unpleasant. Smooth flavor. Though having no bearing on the review I thought it was cute they had a picture of a goat on the label drinking a beer!! Who says the Polish don’t have a bit of a sense of humor. I could drink this fairly frequently, and even as a "lawnmower" beer because the body is on the thin side. While I won’t call this a "one for the ages" beer, its still pleasant enough to keep in the cabinet for a rainy day.

Bottle. Poured black with thin, fast dissipating tan head. When it’s gone, it looks rather like a cola drink. Strong aroma of raisins and alcohol. Date, prune and raisin notes in flavour, also some alcohol. Lingering middle of the tongue sweetish finish.

500 ml bottle from Bevmo. Pours a jet black color with a small tan head. The aroma is a moderate in strength for a porter with molasses, dates and a bit of alcohol showing-thru. The flavor showcases a big black licorice presence with more molasses, dates and raisins filling in the sides. The mouthfeel is creamy and smooth. The finish is short with a bit of a distracting alcohol taste lingering. Overall: this is an above average porter. Recommended.