Zywiec Porter

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

Black colour and light brown, small size, rapidly almost fully diminishing head with fair lacing. Aromas of alcohol, roasted nuts and brown sugar. Taste is of roasted, bitter coffee with a slightly alcoholic aftertaste. Rich and complex.

For some reason we’ve had the Zywiec lager beer available around here for quite a while, but even after the ABV limit was lifter the Porter was nowhere to be found. But today I found it at Windward Beverage Mart of all places. When poured the body looked dark brown to black in color, and the carbonation did a nice cascading trick until settling into a head that was tw fingers thick. The smell was nice and mellow with mostly a dark fruit character showing up with very little chocolate. The taste followed the lead of the smell with berries, cherries, prunes, and a little hint of chocolate and coffee. Astringency and roast was notable in their absence. Very Baltic in overall presentation, which made it an easy drinking beer. The alcohol was completely hidden, and this drank more like a 5% beer than something nearly twice as strong. Perhaps a little thin in the mouth, but that is forgivable considering all its other virtues. Well done.

50cl bottle. Near black color with an ample tan head that has plenty of life in it. Smooth aroma of cocoa, raisins, and some salty licorice. The flavor is big on roasted malts, lots of chocolate, some oats and vanilla; really smooth with a slight alcohol kick in the bitter chocolate finish that cuts the sweetness and finishes clean. Not too thick or sticky, and has enough carbonation to let it slide over the tongue efficiently. This is really drinkable and damn tasty; so smooth and balanced.

.5L bottle, best before 4/14/08, served in an English pint glass. Pour is very dark brown, nearly black, with one finger of lt. brown head. Very fragrant aroma of cocoa and a bit of diacetyl. Big bitter roasted flavor with a hint of dark fruit. Alcohol isn’t detectable in the flavor but creates a lot of warming. Has a long semi-dry finish. Quite smooth for a beer of this gravity and like noted previously big ups for it only being $2 a bottle.

Bottle. Dark, almost opaque black with a thick foamy off-white head. Dark roasted malts, dark fruit, chocolate. All the hallmarks of a good Baltic Porter. Mouthfeel is a bit oily, body is not overly heavy or syrupy. Great balance and complexity make this one a "Wow". I would buy again.

500ml bottle. Black toffee color. Moderate, lacy head. Mellow dark malty aroma. Big and rich, but not as rounded as an Imperial Stout or Barleywine. Sugary sweet not unlike a Dunkel. A lot of alcohol warming, but it still remains completely drinkable. A great example of the style. Lots of chocolate roastiness. Bonus points for only being two dollars a bottle.

Bottle. Dark brown, almost black, with very little head. Some pleasant metallic edginess. Also bourbon in nose. Coffee, toffee with dry finish. This beer rocks--what a nice surprise!

500. Black. Dense, tall, creamy dark tan head with lots of bubbles and lots of mousse. Gorgeous. Big fat dark-fruit-y liquoricey nose. Creamy medium body. Perfectly placed carb. Chocolate, dark fruit, tiny bit of roast, and some stinging herbaly anise flavors on the mid-palate. Long strong dark finish. Great, great stuff.