Smuttynose Baltic Porter

Brewed by Smuttynose Brewing Company
Style: Baltic Porter
Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA

I drank this beer while watching my beloved alma mater Oregon lose to Boise State in the infamous game where LeGarette Blount punched a guy in the face during post-game. Oregon coach Chip Kelly is a New Hampshire native, so I figured it would be a tribute. Despite all that, this beer was still tasty as hell, very roasty with some oat, chocolate and coffee. Nice deep brown color as well. Tasty damn beer, too bad it couldn’t bring a victory.

Bomber. Black, nice tan head. Big bold nose of roast, charred malts, coffee, chocolate, raisons and others. Full bodied, smooth, burnt malts, hint of smoke, expresso, lingering bitterness, dry. Damn, just a big ballsy in your face porter. Really nice as it warms past cellar.

My Bottom Line:
This Baltic Porter’s complex malt display showcases biscuits, coffee beans, crunchy dark chocolate and roastiness in an elegant mouthfeel.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A ring of foam surrounds the brown-lined blackness.
-This is yet another Smuttynose brew in which malt flavors are superbly extracted.
-This is very drinkable for its size; the dextrins are kept in check while still displaying enough of their sweetness to be pleasurable.
-I honestly didn’t expect anything less from this, one of the best breweries in northeastern America.

Bottle.

Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color porter with a large dark brown foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of aromatic coffee with notes of creamy black chocolate. Taste is very well balance between aromatic coffee without any dryness with some great creamy black chocolate notes with some subtle dry raisins in the finish. Body is quite full with a creamy texture and no apparent alcohol. Another very nice beer from a great brewer.

Bottle:   Dark chocolate in color, large frothy brown head, falls quickly, virtually no lacing.   Mild roasted malt nose, lots of lactose sweetness.   Good combination of roasted malts, hop bite, and lactose like sweetness on the tongue.   Fairly solid example of a big Porter.   Not as much dark pitted fruit as others tend to have, but instead it is a ashy and roasty.   Body and mouthfeel are fairly full.   Roasty finish, remains fairly sweet.   This one was one kick ass Porter.   Thanks Brian!

2008-09-28. Pitch black body with a modest dark tan head. (4+) Aroma is big up front and gets shy later, has a lightly acidic note to dark malts, touch of mocha. Flavour is rather nice, rich sweet malt base with accents of acidity and hoppy bitterness, notes of herbal or anise in the back. Smooth medium body. Rather nice. Bottle from Premier Gourmet, Buffalo

Draught@The Ginger Man, NYC
Opaque black color, beautiful creamy expresso head, lace. Chocolaty, a bit milky aroma. Very liquerish palate. Roasted, burnt malty flavors. Milky flavors like in some sweet stouts. A bit sticky finish. Smooth and balanced, although not very complex.

22 oz. bottle via trade with smith4498 - Pours a dark brown color with a one and a half finger thick tan head. Light lacing. Has a dusty doughy chocolate, roasted malt, and ester aroma. The flavor is where this beer shines. Flavor is dark esters, chocolate, and lightly roasted malt. Very Imperial Stout like. There’s a good bit of bitterness in the finish. The flavor really lingers. Medium to full body. A really nice beer. Thanks Jason.