Port Brewing Old Viscosity

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

Sampled at Springslicker’s Fish Fry ’09. First Batch. Very dark brown with a tan head. Roasty, with pine hop bitterness. Resiney. Slight chocolate, smoke. It was good, but overrated IMO. Or maybe this first run just had too much age on it.

Bottle sampled with the fine gentlemen at the Knoxville Spring(ish) tasting. Pours very thick and muddy with a solid beige head. This has a rich nose of plums, hickory, slight alcohol, vanilla, and oak. This has very well conveyed flavors of bourbon which blends with molasses,raisins, caramel, tobacco. The finish is just slightly smoky with a bit of dark chocolate. Mouthfeel is slick. I’m very surprised to see this isn’t barrel aged, given the striking similarities.
[Feb 21, 2009]
Bottle from Mondo Vino, Denver. Pours near black. Aroma is vanilla, erath, dark chocolate, raisins. The palate is medium heavy and malty. Lots of wood character is on this one. I’d like to note that this is in fact barrel aged as the label clearly displays. I don’t know why I was under the impression before that it was not. Maybe because I’m dumb. Anyway. The finish is almost bittersweet, sharp, but heavy on bourbon complexities. Not a lot of hops are found anywhere. This is a very nice beer. I’d lean more towards barley wine than American Strong Ale, but that’s just me.

4/10/07: Dark, unlying sweetness, hidden alcohol, strong roasted malts..great with cheese. Tried this beer cold, and then waited 30 minutes warming to room temperature and it became much better. I think sharp beers are much better served on tap or after warming up, letting some of the carbonation burn off. The bite of carbonation and dark roasted grains is just too much, and needs either aging and sitting. My opinion of old viscosity changes from "love it" to eh, to eh, to like it. Wonderful underlying sweetness that is hard to notice at first. It’s also much better half way through the glass as your taste buds get used to it. Drink later in a group of tastings. I’ve tried on tap, in the bottle, but this rating is from a growler I bought at the brewery.8/5/7/4/16:4 10/10/07: 2001 bottle generously shared by defTim13. Bottle #448. Nice pop on bottle open. Mixed bubble head. Jeff Bagby’s dad did the artwork. Flavor rises sharply off the tongue. Pitch black color. Earthy aroma. microbubble head. Pretty nice. Almost a raspberry bitter finish. Nice level of oxidation. A bit of melanoidal malty aroma. 9/4/7/4/16:4 (same)

75cl bottle from Charles Street Liquors (Boston, MA). Pours a murky black color with thick and creamy dark brown head that settles quickly. Likening this beer to dirty oil is an apt description of the color and texture. Aroma is fresh dark chocolate, dark ripe fruit, some syrupy malt, maybe some hints of molasses. Flavor is very similar to the nose we experienced but with stronger coffee and toffee notes. However, the bitter coffee notes are more muted than in a typical beer of this style, and the texture is velvety and creamy. Full-bodied ale with a slightly bitter, slightly alcohol finish.

Bottle. Pours a thick black body with thin head. Aroma is of chocolate, roasted malt, slight yeast. Flavor has roasted malt, chocolate, dusty cocoa, and some smokyness. Very hot! Alcohol is present in almost every sip. This is a big beer and needs to be layed down for awhile. Good beer!

Bomber. Pours pitch black with a 2 finger brown head that fades into a constant 2cm top. Nose is roasted coffee beans, cocoa and dark fruit. Palate is black coffee, roasted malt, dark chocolate, plums, cocoa and a touch of alcohol with a dry bitter hop finish. Creamy mouth feel with nice lacing. Very warming but hides the alcohol fairly well at 10%.

Rating # 300. Bottle from Ty5592. Thanks Ty! Pours a dark dark brown with an off white head. Nose is very roasty-chocolate, coffee, sweet malts, wood, nutty. Flavors are similar to aroma, much roastier than expected with notes of cofee and chocolate that were unexpected. Very full bodied, yet a very nice and full balanced american strong ale. A nice beer that I would love to try again. Shared this one with some family friends. Someone remarked that this tasted a lot like Newcastle Brown. Ugh...well atleast he’s trying.

From a 22 oz. bomber bottle with no bottled/freshness date, a short blurb along the left side of label, sampled at a cool cellar temperature in a chalice. Poured a dark, yes, oily, blackish brown with a foamy head that settled into a thin bubbly lacing, minimal amount of laced sticking. Aromas of toasted nutty grain, raisins, molasses, licorice and burnt chocolate, oaky, and floral hops that mingles with the alcohol. Good, moderate carbonation and a crisp, alcohol laced, creamy smooth fullish-medium bodied mouthfeel, a definite sipper. Delicious tasting and dangerously quaffable, raisins, nutty and grainy, a roasted, burnt chocolate malty bitterness, a touch of molasses, floral, spicy hops, a nice vanilla barrelness, the alcohol is there, but blends with the other flavors, warming in the palate and a dryish, roasted malty finish with a little sweet fruity alcohol lingering in the palate. This is a very enjoyable brew on any level, tasty and balanced, a wonderful strong ale, well worth seeking out and trying.