Port Brewing Old Viscosity

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

22oz. Bottle: Aroma is medium sweet. Smells of chocolate, coffee, malts, cream, roasting, and vanilla. Poured black in color with a small brow head that diminished. Opaque. Good lacing. Flavor is lightly sweet and lightly bitter. Tastes mainly of chocolate malts, with roasting, coffee, alcohol, and a hit of cream. Medium to full body. Thick texture. Average carbonation. Long, malty, chocolate finish. Overall good, but a little boring.

(750 ml bottle: Shared by cquiroga at O’Brien’s) What a special treat to get to try this rarity. I have no idea how old the bottle is, but the label design was copyrighted by Jeff Bagby in 2001. Earthy, dark malts, some roast, moderately bitter. Sticky palate and full bodied. Moderately fruity and sweet nose, with some earthy and malty notes. Nearly black in color, so not your dad’s wimpy 30 weight indeed! Small light tan head that fades away to a small ring. Possibly past it’s peak, but still damn good. I just wish I had this beer first and not at the end of a long tasting session at O’Brien’s with the Ratebeer guys.

Bomber, labeled as 10% ABV, from trade with realale420 (thanks, man!) - shared this at beastiefan2k’s place - not sure if anyone else from that party will rate this, but the consensus seemed to be pretty much against the grain for this beer so far (I think one person in attendance likened drinking this to drinking gasoline, or some other petrolium-based product) - dark, stout-looking pour, with small ring of tan lace - lots of alcohol wafting up from the glass, nearly overpowering the coffee and dark chocolate notes in the aroma (hints of black cherry as well) - oily mouthfeel - quite roasty, with espresso and cocoa being pretty dominant, with some dates/raisins, other dark-ish fruits - but the alcohol is much too dominant - it burns, man! - a phenolic, wood alcohol kind of burn, crowding out the other (otherwise pleasant) flavors - finish? - more burning, with some vanilla/nutty/rum stuff going on - on the up side, it probably killed so much of the bacteria in my mouth that I won’t have to brush my teeth for the next week - I can’t bring myself to give it lower then a 3, though, because it really has potential - maybe if some age mellows the alcohol.

The beer pours from the 22 ounce bottle a deep brown with some ruby highlights, the dark tan head stacks three or so fingers upon the body, it decomposes quickly leaving a consolidated sheet of lace to cover the glass. “WOW”! what a nose, its chock full of malt, sweet and mouth watering, hints of chocolate, coffee, Port wine, just wish I had some incense or potpourri with this fragrance. Start is thick with sweet malt, and a bitter bite from the 10 percent ABV, top is definitively full and rich. Finish has delightful hop presence, the acidy masterful, and a dry aftertaste that coats the palate, the alcohol warms the tummy, A real “Hoot” this masterpiece of the brewers art.

Bomber from Bu11zeye. Very interesting beer. Pours with almost zero head, not quite totally black. Aroma is very molassesy, subtle spice, red pepper and beets, very wet. Taste has lots of hops, a lot drier, bitterness and beets. 12% alcohol is hardly noticed. Certainly not the thickest beer I’ve ever had, hardly holding a candle to Expedition or 7k, but still comes across as thick from the near flatness and molasessy feel. Pretty nice. Adds up to a lot more than its initial numbers reveal.

(Bottle, Monk’s Café, Wallingatan, Stockholm, 10 Sep 2009) Dark brown colour, almost black. Brief, brown head. Roasted, malty nose with notes of dark chocolate, black coffee and a touch of juniper berries. Roasted, malty taste with dark fruit, chocolate, black coffee, liquorice, dark cherries and a long, slightly vinous finish with juniper berries and warming alcohol. Full body with a smooth mouthfeel and a slightly oily texture. Some sweetness throughout and a balanced but ever present cocoa/coffee bitterness lurking in the darkness. Very complex beer with lots of different flavours, but all kept in harmony and brilliant balance. Lovely beer!

Talk about a disappointment. I ordered this through hitimewine.net to get shipped to New York, and it was my first Pizza Port experience. Pours near black with fading light brown head. Aroma is decent with a chocolate liquer aspect, and apparent alcohol. Very roasted flavor, and huge alcohol; and that is what predominates. There are early subtle suggestions of chocolate or roasty espresso, but any type of flavor, character or level of complexiy is masked by a harsh, almost vodka like alcohol dominance. If there was less of a bombardment of alcohol it’d be great. Oh well.

Bottle shared with Blankboy, Hogtown Harry, Jerc, Mds, and Mabel, Harry’s bottle. Nice roast aroma. Pitch black, small tan head. Great taste - rich, full flavoured sweetness, lots of roast, nutty, some hops. I kept repeating rich and roasty. Great stuff.