Port Brewing Old Viscosity

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

Deep pitch black coloured body with a thinnish and fast dying light brown head. Aroma of vanilla, deep roasted malt, coffee, a bit of chocolate and a good amount of oak. Full-bodied; Strong roasty flavours with a splash of strong spices up front with anise, cloves and some licorice in as well. Aftertaste has a bit of vanilla, but the bitterness from the malt really comes out. Overall, the character comes through, but perhaps its a bit too dark and spice and not having enough vanilla, oak and sweetness for me. I still enjoyed the beer, but I definitely prefer other Imperial Stouts - plus I hate the 65 cL bottle for such a ’big’ beer. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased at PlumpJack Wines in San Francisco, California on 31-March-2008, sampled at home in Washington on 14-March-2009.

22 oz bottle, via Dickinsonbeer. Pours an unexpectedly dark brown, almost black colored body under a smallish brown head that left some spotty lacing. Aroma is a mix of dark fruits, roast, slight coffee, a little alcohol, raisins, and a little chocolate. The flavor is pretty eclectic. Roast, chocolate, dark berries, moderate alcohol, some caramel, a little coffee, and a fair amount of hoppiness. The finish shows the alcohol a little more the closer it got to room temperature. Mouthfeel was indeed quite viscous and full bodied with a slight stickiness. The carbonation was maybe a bit too much for this one, but it wasn’t overly distracting. Overall, a pretty darn good beer. Surprisingly drinkable given the heftiness of it.

22oz bottle shared at Columbus tasting 4.0 by bgburdman9 and company - Thanks for giving me the chance to try this one!! - Pours dark brown with a big tan head and lots of lacing. Aromas of roasted malts, caramel, and some dark fruits. Very stoutlike. Flavor is roasted malts, caramel, and a bit of raisin and other dark fruits. Palate is smooth and oily with a slight warm finish. Nice beer... Interesting!

Bomber: Pours black with ruby edges and a very thin tan head, aroma has rich cherries, chocolate, coffee and roasted malts, slick oliy body with soft carbonation, starts and ends sweet with a woody alcohol burn. A bit intense at the end.

750mL bottle courtesy of Naven. Thanks, David! Pours a dark black center with thin translucent edges; medium tan head with decent lacing. Pleasant aroma shows milky coffee and spice. Full, viscous (surprise!) mouthfeel: plenty of roasted coffee (but not green!; well-integrated with cream and sugar; quite tasty), burnt malts, hints of piney hops, vanilla. Dry, roasted finish: lots of coffee and spice. Great rendition of an American Strong Ale, but it reminds me of the time a few of us drunkenly combined Pliny the Elder with an Imperial Stout - i.e., a beautiful beast.

Sampled February 2007
As I pour this brew a mix of rum, molasses, Madeira, rum, and sweetened espresso greets my nose. The beer pours with a thin, light brown head and a pitch black body that shows a clear, deep chocolate brown color when I hold the stream of cascading liquid from the bottle up to the light. The head disappears fairly quickly, which is not unexpected from a brew of this strength. Big aromatic notes of chocolate, roasted malt, coffee beans, malt balls jump out of the glass. I can’t believe how much dark chocolate character is packed into this brew. A nice toasted biscuit character is found here that also tends to accentuate the chocolate character in some way. Alcohol is evident in the aromatic finish, but never really detracts, instead add a bit of almost balancing sharpness and even, dare I think it, a bit of blackened cherry like fruitiness. It has a huge dark malt driven aroma, but without all that harsh, burnt, acrid, astringent, grain husk character that is found in many dark malt character brews. The malt aromatics come across as being so smooth and enticing. The aroma is like an espresso soaked, rich, flourless dark chocolate cake; decadent, rich, satiating and smooth, I can’t wait for my first bite, err, I mean sip.

Nice and creamy feeling up front, yet still not too heavy or sticky on the palate. That huge, smooth, dark chocolate character is certainly found up front, but the roast / burnt grain character really is much more noticeable in the flavor. Black, approaching acrid, dark roasted espresso notes finish this beer off with the corresponding burnt acidity and sharp black coffee notes one would expect of a typical Imperial Stout. While these notes do not go away, they certainly become a bit more smooth and in control after the first bit of palate shock. The flavor of this beer remains so smooth and chocolate-like up front, yet somehow manages to morph by the finish to a dark, concentrated, even almost unsweetened espresso drink by the finish. I can’t help but wonder if this is a good or bad thing. On the one hand the up front, smooth character is so enticing that you want to hang on to it for as long as possible. Too quickly though the rough, burley espresso notes take hold, and in the end beg for you to balance that lingeringly, astringent burnt character out by taking another sip so you can experience that smooth Imperialistic, hearty stout goodness again. Of course the cycle then starts all over again. What a dynamic brew, the dichotomy is such an interesting experience. Is this what I want in a brew? I don’t know, but it is certainly an enjoyable ride.

That fact that this brew can be so easy drinking, yet so (in a balancing way really) sharp and, dare I think it, harsh makes this such an engaging experience. This beer could certainly survive a lot of years in the cellar. There is an ample hop bitterness here, that while secondary to the roast malt character, is no slouch in its own right. Also there is a sharp alcohol note that adds a bit of a "shot of rum" type kick to the finish that can only smooth out a bit with time. In fact the finish at times seems to down-right suck because it can be so harsh.

Ultimately this beer is such the consummate sipping brew. The combination of rich chocolate, creamy malt character up front and the sharp, roast dominated character in the finish makes for a brew that just can’t be quaffed. This is despite the fact that this is certainly not the biggest bodied of Imperial Stouts (though it is certainly no slouch either). I still haven’t quite figured out what to think of this brew. I am only part way through my first glass of this brew. In the end it is so dynamic and engaging that I can’t help but be excited with this brew. There are a lot of things "wrong" with this beer, but they somehow add up to a totality of an experience that I can’t really knock it in the end. The aroma says this brew is magnificent, while the flavors, taken as individual components say this is a train-wreck, but in the end this dichotomous flavor profile just works as a total experience, or better yet it is a roller coaster, which just has to be experienced. Part of the experience of this brew for me is that I can’t quite place this brew; is this brew a jarring train-wreck of flavors, or is it an absolutely stunningly awesome brew because of it flaws? I still can’t quite answer the question, but the experience has been so engaging and thought provoking that I just can’t help but love this beer.

Purchased: Park Lane Liquors, Lancaster CA

Bottle from TexasJeep, sampled at Zinister’s tasting. Thanks!
Pours a put-it-in-your-crankcase black with an aroma of oak aged whiskey chocolate. Flavor is smokey whiskey oak barrel syrup. Thick and satisfying mouthfeel. Fantastic.

Dark Brown Color with Sandy Head. Rich Barley and Chocolate Aroma. Rich Syrupy Dark Malts...Subtle Coffee Roasts...Chocolate and Vanilla Flavors..with a Bitter Dry Ending. Smooth and Thickly Sweet To the Degree That Engine Oil Comes to Mind. Wonderful Warming. Nice Offering from Port Brewing.