Port Brewing Old Viscosity

Brewed by Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: American Strong Ale
San Marcos, California USA

22 oz. bomber courtesy of Naka. Pours black wit ha touch of red. Small, chaki/brown head, quickly dissipating. Wow. Huge roasty nose with a touch of ruit, raisin and plum. Slight chocolate. Taste is a lot of roast with prominent chocolate. Smooth, reamy mouthfeel, good carb. It’s like chocolate milk. Slight fruit. Thick, viscous, creamy, roasty, fruity, chocolatey goodness.

From bottle courtesy of Naka. Sweet and chocolately, smoky and rich with a bit of broth - smells like a stout or smoky porter. Light bitter hoppiness. Dark, dark brown-black clear, with a thin lacing light-tan head. Heavy body, almost oily, with a medium carbonation. Starts with sweet malty coffee taste, brown sugar, smoke and molasses. Medium alcohol warming with decent acidity. Dry nutty bitter finish and after with some coffee-chocolatey finish. Nice ale, warming.

Dark malts, bourbon, chocolate sweetness and a pleasing light spiciness in the nose. Opaque, dark brown body is topped by a low tan head that recedes rapidly to a slight ring. Strong chocolate flavour with plenty of alcohol and strong dark fruits. Alcohol is unfortunately quite dominant. Somewhat watery in texture due to low carbonation. Very strong alcohol warming. Bottle sampled at Oakes’ Xmas tasting 2007.

Announcing itself with machismo – “Definitely not your dad’s wimpy 30 weight” – Old Viscosity lives up to the preamble oozing like crude oil out of the bottle. A thin tan ring is all I can muster out of this brute. The nose incongruously breathes of light spices and shockingly subtle tonalities. Hints of armagnac, mint, ginger, and root beer extract are apparent while toffee and maple syrup add a raw malty sweetness. Plums and prunes also lend depth to the aroma but aren’t quite balanced. Though certainly viscous, the mouthfeel isn’t as dense as the color suggests. Dark chocolate and coffee, the habitual Imperial Stout duo, here combine with fruity undertones. Banana, blackcurrant, raisin and grape are particularly noticeable. The root beer aroma turns to cola on the tongue and walnuts are a welcome treat. The carbonation is hesitant, unable to overcome its tenacious milieu. Finally, the thick texture itself concedes to alcoholic heat in the aftertaste, though almondy flavors sweeten the compromise. Despite obvious potential, the complexities of this brew remain muted throughout the experience. Where they could have been emphasized, these subtle flavors disappear capitulating perhaps to the virile intentions of the brewers.

Pours pitch black with foamy brown head. Aromas of chocolate, roasted malt, alcohol, and liqorice. Flavors of malt, alcohol,and chocolate. Thick as all hell and a nice finish. A little too much alcohol presence in the finish. I thought I was drinking a stout for a little while there.

750 bottle. Original release. Pours pitch black with a small micro bubble tan head. Smell is of oxidation and dark fruits. Taste is chocolate, figs, wet cardboard and candy sugar. Mouth feel is smooth with a cask like carbonation. Original recipe is much better. Glad to have another bottle of the original 750’s.

Blind tasting at Papsoe. Black colour with a light brown head. Great aroma of vanilla, roastedness, chocolate, oak and alcohol. Great taste of chocolate, roastedness, alcohol and liquorice. ends up with a warm feeling from the alcohol, but maybee too dominated by the alcohol.

Bottle - Black body, thick light brown head; What an amazing nose, layer upon layer of perfect fine aromas emerge from the black deep, this is so amazing, sweet parts, dry parts, fruity parts and amazingly for its complexity it is perfectly balanced; The body is great too, soft, sharp, thin, full, big, elegant, salty, bitter, sweet and perfectly balanced; This is a black beer and it finishes perfectly black with big black aromas, smoothening out over a long long time. I dont know what more to say about this beer, I is incredibly good. Oh, if there is one very small flaw, the carbonation seems a very little to sharp or maybe it is the bitterness in the late finish that has the sharpness.