Port Brewing Old Viscosity

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

2006 Boulder Strong Ale Fest: Deep, dark brown. Hugely aromatic and tasty, with notes of steam room wood, smoke, aged whiskey, bitter chocolate, dark roasted barley, chewy black licorice, charcoal and burnt toast. Strong bitterness definitely cleaned out the sweetness. Very enjoyable beer. RERATE, bomber: Chewy, with lip-smacking sweetness filled with toffee, sugared tar, dark chocolate, toast. Dark fruit and fruity alcohol nips. Chalky texture in the gum-tingling finish, with lingering hop zing and alcohol warmth.

Bottle. Head is initially average sized, frothy, brown, mostly lasting. Body is dark brown to black (almost opaque, flashlight tested), bottle conditioned. Aroma is moderately to heavily malty (roasted grain/nuts, dark chocolate/fudge, coffee, caramel), lightly hoppy (apricot, flowers), with notes of vanilla, alcohol, light notes of cassis/blackberry, wood, and dried mango. Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter. Medium to full body, creamy/velvety texture, lively carbonation, moderately to heavily alcoholic. Had this on draught a few years ago and it wasn’t that great. This bottle-conditioned sample is absolutely lovely...not extremely complex, but really clean and enticing malt character. Very little bourbon, which is a good thing for me. Rich chocolate, coffee, vanilla, and hazelnut dominate the nose. Alcohol is a bit too aggressive, but that’s pretty much my only gripe. Quality stuff.

A very nice beer. Though bourbon aged, the bourbon is only a slight element. Wonderfully viscous and went down nicely.

Loved it. Was more like a wine than a beer, very good. Would drink it again.

Pours a very dark thick hazy brown, close to being motor oil black but has some wierd ornagey/ruby highlights and a deep frothy head that disipates to a coating film. Roasty aroma with lots of burnt malts, but isnt all too stoutish- due to the extra fruity esters, citrusy hops, chocolate nuttiness, and barleywine sharp crystal malts and slight alcohol. Fruity dry fig, and raisin flavor with more dry roastiness and chocolate malts. Finishes syrupy and thick though with lots of residual sugars to coat the mouth. For such a high abv, the thickness is nice in hiding the alcohol. Great strong ale.

Bottle from San Diego. Helped to numb the senses of the Flames-Detroit playoff series start. Aptly named as it does pour like engine oil. Very dark. very good head. Rich aroma. Great body and malty flavours. Everything you could expect. Sweet chocolate and alcohol notes.

Had on tap at City Beer in SF. A really nice, dark, complex brew. Seems like a very strong porter to me. A very roasty flavor but plenty of strength and just a wonderful, fruity flavor overall.

8/28/04. Poured out of 750 mL botlte, sampled at Dr. Bill and Steiny’s 8th Annual 12-Hour Beer Festival in Orange, CA 8/28/04. Oh my god, what a beer. I’m going off of my ratings from yesterday, but I have a hard time saying that I didn’t UNDERrate this beer. Here goes: Pours a deep dark brown-red, very thick. Dense, fluffy tan carbonation that is simply outstanding. Superbly lasting lacing, and the most amazing "reverse lacing" I’ve ever seen on a beer. When you tilt your glass, not only do you see a shimmering cascade of tight carbonation bubbles slowly trickling down the side of the glass, but also a rising sheet of bubbles on the opposite side of the glass, tracing the beer up from beneath the surface. It’s hard to explain. But it’s unbelieveable. If I could give the beer something higher than a 5 for appearance, I’d have no problem giving it a 6, 7, or 8. Aroma of sweet malt and faint dark chocolate. Good round malt flavor, a nice mix of dark and mellow malts, cocoa, and a bit of dark berry, fruity flavors. Very nicely rounded. Hugely viscous, awesomely full body. So the flavor is a bit of a disappointment but still pleasant. When will they brew this again? I just want to LOOK at it.