Zywiec Porter

Brewed by Bracki Browar Zamkowy (Zywiec Heineken)
Style: Baltic Porter
Cieszyn, Poland

After such an enjoyable experience with their lager, I was very pleased to be able to try the Porter finally. having read about it in at least a couple of my beer magazines and books with such rave reviews and being a fan of porters in general, taking her home was like Christmas come early.
My Zywiec Porter poured a thick, oily dark black with faint tinges of burnt earth peeking through along her sides and the bottom of the glass. A huge 2-3 finger head of soft puffy cappuccino tinged foam sits delicately on top of the liquid depths below. In no apparent rush, she slowly fades into a very nice layer of foam, marking her territory with scattered webs of brussels lace. Her nose greets me with notes of licorice, prunes, roasted malts and grains, sea salt, bitter-sweet chocolate, and a tinge of citric bite in the finish. Unable to wait any longer, I gladly delve into her liquid embrace and am greeted by a seductively smooth, creamy, buttery-soft body with an immediate palate of bitter dark chocolate. Not to be outdone, notes of fresh sticks of vanilla bean, and some milk chocolate for a flourish. A clean and dry finish, the citric notes I got in the back of the nose finish off my Zywiec Porter’s palate with a gentle drying effect, leaving me thirsting for more. As I near the finish, the smooth soft mouthfeel almost reminds me of chocolate covered bananas, and I could swear I taste a hint of said delight. Beautiful.
I enjoyed the Zywiec Lager, but hands down the Porter from Zywiec is their piece-de-resistance. This is easily one of the best if not the best porter I have had to date. Don’t think. Grab a bottle or a 6pack of Zywiec Porter as soon as you can and enjoy.

Bottle courtesy of SoLan – thanks Alan. Pours a clear dark brown with a two finger light tan head and very nice lacing. Nose is caramel malt, roasted nuts and alcohol. Taste is sweet malt, some dark fruit, light roasted coffee beans and mellow cocoa with some bitter hop in the finish. Medium, sticky mouth feel. Pretty good stuff.

Nice porter. Make sure you let the temp rise on this one. If its really cold you’ll find a bit of a metal tinge. Pours jet black. Nose of dark roast, vanilla. Flavors are of chocolate, light roasted malts. Very good porter a frequent purchase.

500ml bottle. Pours Dark brown with thin tan head. Aroma is roasted malt, tons of chocolate, coffee and some alcohol on nose. Flavor is mostly chocolate and roasted malts with coffee, caramel and alcohol. Was a little to boozy for my liking but still a fine porter. A nice sipper for a cool fall evening.

Love this porter. Deep and dark, a creamy head that lasts a long time, smooth flavors and a high ABV made this a great Friday night drink. I’m a porter lover, and this is right up there with my favorites.

Bottle, 9.5%. Sweet and roasted aroma. Black colour. Big stable light brown head. The flavour is quite sweet, has a hint of metal. Roasted liquorice notes and a burning/warming alcohol finish. Why so much alcohol?

<i>Bottle (33 cl), thanks jhagmar</i>. Dark brown, almost black, short beige head. Roasted aroma with chocolate, some coffee, and a touch of alcohol. Well balanced dry finish. Chewy mouthfeel. Quite good, but a bit dull. Overrated.

A sweet malty aroma. Looks good. This is strange. It isn’t bad; it just isn’t that good. A little roasy, way too dry in the finish. Ehh.