PJClarke (609), London, Greater London, England Nov 8, 2009 Thick syrupy and opaque. Mainly sweet malt on the nose. Loads of branflake style fudd and a little boozy burn. Lightly petrolly but full of that dusty malt sweetness from the nose. Plenty of raisins and dark pruney fruit. Gotta love that date. In all honesty it is pretty nothingy for its ABV and weight. Drinkable though yeah? RHeastings (377), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA Nov 7, 2009 Enjoyed from a 25.4oz bottle in a pub glass. The label explained that this sample should have been consumed by 12/08. Oh well. The beer pours a deep and very dark brown that borders on being black with a very slight head that quickly fades away. The aroma kicks up strong notes of Germanic malts, with an especially prevalent nod to Munich. Additionally, there is just the slightest note of roasted barely in the front end of the nose; far less than one would expect, initially. The palate is surprisingly malty rather than being roasty, as one would normally expect from the style and strength of the beer. It tastes more of an Oktoberfest or Vienna lager than a strong porter. Indeed, roasty notes are precipitously lacking. They are replaced by a very pleasing note of Munich/Vienna malts that give a warming, toffee-like character. Hops do not play a major role, other than to serve the duty of basic balancing bitterness. Alcohol is undetectable. Overall, an excellent intrepretatio of the style. Elwood (654), Leesburg, Virginia, USA Nov 6, 2009 Serving: 22 oz. bottle.
Appearance: Black with slight garnet highlights and a small, very active and foamy, light tan head.
Aroma: Very fruity with roasted malt and clover honey notes. Great nose but a bit light.
Flavor: Very tart with dark cherry notes, some licorice, and an odd back bitterness. I don’t get any coffee or toffee notes. I have a feeling this one has gone bad. Off hand it wouldn’t make a half bad sour though.
Palate: Medium-high carbonation with a medium-light mouthfeel and a long, tart finish. The tartness lingers on the tongue and not in a good way.
Overall: I am not impressed and think this one may have gone bad. A re-rate is in order. hellomisterp (32), Pennsylvania, USA Nov 1, 2009 22oz bottle. the creamy semi sweet chocolate taste coats your mouth well. ABV is well hidden and only shows up to warm your chest at the end.Above average porter. WLG423 (43), Connecticut, USA Nov 1, 2009 Pours out a nice dark brown with a toffee colored head. Aroma has tons of roasted malt with notes of caramel, coffee, chocolate and very slight dark fruit. A medium body with a good malty and dark fruit flavor. Finish is light with a slight bitter notes. smcolw (314), Wayland, Massachusetts, USA Oct 31, 2009 Dark brown color where light shines through...barely. Solid two-finger finger that dissipates slowly and leaves nearly no lace
Mild aroma of soft semi-sweet chocolate; reminds me of fudgesickle.
Smooth, nearly perfect body. The carbonation is spot on and the brew is creamy. The flavor has all of the classic porter flavors--coffee, cream, dark chocolate. Great aftertaste of unsweetened espresso. Despite the abv, this has no alcohol warmth in the taste. That might give you an idea of the level of flavoring.
This is another great offering from Victory. KnN (712), Greenbelt, Maryland, USA Oct 31, 2009 Pours a nice deep brown/black color with a thin tan head. Aroma is chocolate, coffee, some nice roasted malt, a bit of toffee. Flavor is similar. Some chocolate notes and a good bit of roasted malt character. Very nice porter. skmikeg (70), Poway, California, USA Oct 30, 2009 Pour s dark brown with a tan, foamy head with nice lacing. aroma is of roasted malt, coffee, chocolate, licorise, and some alchool. flavor is of bitter coffee, roasted malt and carmel, licorce, dark fruits, and chocolate. finnish is bitter, thick, and alchoolic. overall, a good baltic porter.
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