Ølfabrikken Winter Porter

Formerly brewed at Bryggeriet Ølfabrikken (Gourmetbryggeriet)
Style: Baltic Porter
Roskilde, Denmark

$10.99 wasn’t too steep, so I got this at Discount Liquors. 2005 vintage. The beer pours to a black body with a dense tan head. The aroma is chocolate and tons of honey. Dark chocolate. The flavor is nicely chocolatey with a tangy back end. Medium full body. Tangy quality kind of reminded me of the New Glarus Olde English Porter (but not as sour)

750 ml bottle stored for 15 months prior to serving. Deep dark maroon with medium beige head that settles to a thin layer and nice lacing. Dark chocolate aroma with berries and light spice, possibly cinnamon. Flavor begins with sweet chocolate with a bitter cocoa edge, dark fruit, and vanilla. Nicely complex. Great body, exactly as expected for a winter brew. Worth seeking out. Laying it down for a season mellows it quite a bit.

Bottle from my brother as a gift shared with a friend what a dumb ass I was,2005 vintage so I really didn’t know how this one was going to be,well to my surprize this one aged into a gem poured dark brown thick tan head with a nose of vanilla,honey,cofee and chocolate taste was of a sweet vanilla honey with coffee and chocolates coming to the party in my mouth late this one was a very big surprize I thought it could have been past its prime but it just stood up to time and shined like a rock star I am reccomending this one very strongly

This bottled brew from a bottle shop poured a medium sized head of foamy fine to medium sized light brown colored bubbles that were and left behind a opaque no visible carbonation dark brown colored body and a fair lacing. The mild aroma was dark malt. The flavor contained notes of vinous dark malt and mildly medicinal. A decent one that I would consider buying again.

In an effort to knock out the rest of my backlog, my ratings will be fairly generic and sparse. If the beer had anything special to offer, it will be noted following this disclaimer. The number ratings above are accurate based on my tasting notes. Following the elimination of my backlog, all beers will be entered in real time and will be more useful. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Dark brown with dark roasted malts, coffee and chocolate. Not sure what makes this a winter porter versus a normal porter, but it is a great porter during any season.

Dark brown with a small brown head. Coffee and chocolate tones. Roasted, bitter and coffee. Full body with a bitter finish.

Olfabrikken is a small yet very skilled craft brewery out of Roskilde, Denmark. Along with a handful of other craft breweries, they are brewing life into a once dull, lifeless beer scene that consisted of clear, fizzy, golden lagers of lackluster value. Much like the craft brewing rise and revolution of the mid 70s, Olfabrikken has risen up against mass-market sameness and the quashing of originality to present me with one of their weapons-in-arms, the Winter Porter, a porter brewed with honey. I was less than impressed with the Samuel Adams Honey Porter, so I hope she fairs better.

She poured rich browns and blacks with a low-hanging haze of fog while lacy bubbles decorate the sides of my glass. Gentle waves of warm, cooked honeycomb drift upon a sea of maple syrup sprinkled with brown spices and soothing alcohol warmth. The Olfabrikken Winter Porter is 11% ABV so that is not too surprising. Her nose is delightfully seductive, and I dilly-dally not as I delve deep into her sweet depths. Warm honey and essence of porter are my very first impressions. To break it down, an undercurrent of dry dark chocolates carries atop dry, bitter roasted coffee with burnt sugar crystals coming in the finish. She starts off honeycomb suckling sweet, leading into burgeoning warmth in my chest and finishing with brown spices in my breath. Her sweet honey character is definitely predominant, but rich dry dark chocolates and roasted coffee beans act as a stabilizing ballast. An intriguing interplay of sweet and roasty. Just when I think she is too cloying, her partners in crime appear to save the day. As we part ways, my only nick-pick is I would have enjoyed a bit more influential porter character.

Not bad for what I believe is my first foray into Olfabrikken territory. Ironically enough, I am more familiar with their brothers-in-arms, Mikkeller. That being said, I enjoyed their Winter Porter, even though she was a tad on the sweet side. I would still recommend the Winter Porter brewed with honey for anyone looking for an enjoyably different quaffing experience.