Thomas Hooker Imperial Porter

Brewed by Thomas Hooker Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Bloomfield, Connecticut USA

2005 bottling. Deep red-brown body with reddish highlights. Aroma of chocolate, bitter, piney hops, licorice, and coffee grinds. Bitter coffee body, charred malts, with a long, bitter roasty and hoppy finish. Hints of licorice and touches of caramel. Rich palate, dense flavor profile, reminding me a bit of Great Divide Yeti. One of those beers that wasn’t love at first sip, but improved in my mind dramatically after enjoying several ounces. A winner.

Thanks to jjpm74 for the trade (1 L bottle). Nose is chocolate, coffee, with a little plum aroma; Very bark brown with a small tan head; flavor of slightly smoky malts, coffee, and quite a little hop bitterness; the hops linger into the finish along with a little alcohol.

thanks to silphium for sharing this bottle...jet black appearance with small brown head...aroma is huge in coffee, cream, hazelnut, and cocoa...huge roasted and bitter bckbone to the chocolate, coffee, and burnt toast flavors.....creamy palate and sits heavy on the stomach (could be substitued for food perhaps!); not typical of a baltic porter IMO, but it is a beautifully crafted porter

Post-mondial Tasting. Brun super foncé, pas de collet. Arome de café et petit fruit. Goût de café ordinaire et sec.

thanks to CaptainCougar for the 1L bottle. I wanted to like this one more, but found it rather one dimensional. coffee was the over-riding aroma, flavor and finishing taste. granted there was some chocolate and hops, but everything about this was dominated by the coffee. after all of the stouts and porters I’ve had over the last two years, I found this one just so-so.

Big thanks to jjpm74 for this one. jjpm hooked me up with a shitload of brews from this elite brewer. First of all, i must say that this bottle is the biggest I have ever seen! A full 32 ounces of black liquid love, and I’m not talking about Lexington Steele. The beer exploded as I opened it, dousing the side with froth. I quickly regained my composure, seeing the beer in its deep brown (ruby through light) appearance, with small khaki head. The aroma was dark malty and chocoffy, with a fruity and roasty undernote, and some hops and cherries. The palate was medium and semi-dry, with caramel malty hoppy flavors coupled with roasty chocoff, some kriekiness, and some mushroomy dark fruits. Not super dense, but very quaffable.

(1L bottle, 2004 Vintage) Like the Doppelbock, this one was a gusher -- at least that one offered a warning against opening this one outside of the sink. Unlike the Doppelbock, however, infection is evident. Black body topped by a large tan head. Aroma is Flemish sour -- sour cherry, yeast. Taste is medium sweet, chocolate, sour cherry, some roast, earthy, light wood. Medium body, alcohol well hidden. Very enjoyable, but not what the brewer intends.

1 qt. 1.8 oz bottle (1 liter) flip top bottle. I bought this as much for the bottle as for the beer. I poured this into a snifter. What a gorgeous beer. Absolutely black with about a ¾ inch tan head. Lacing is left in rings and spots on the glass. The aroma is of roasted malts, coffee, and chocolate. The taste gives much of the same with a bitterness on the palate after swallowing. The glass gets a little sticky as this warms, but the taste never goes sweet. This is a well balanced beer and the ABV will sneak up on you if you are not careful. And do let it warm up!