Alaskan Baltic Porter

Beer: Alaskan Baltic Porter
Brewing Location: Juneau, AK
Beer Style: Baltic Porter
ABV: 9.8%


One of my favorite styles that I've only really began to love over the past year is the Baltic porter. It gets its influence from English porters and Russian imperial stouts. What is unique about a Baltic porter is that it can be made using either cold fermenting lager yeast or warmer ale yeast and still fit BJCP guidelines. I am not really sure what brewers are and are not using lager yeast, but I am going to assume that this one was made using an ale yeast.

I got this beer in trade recently, but you can order it from Liquid Solutions as well right now.

Appearance: Pours an obsidian black color, but when held up to the light pecan shell highlights show themselves around the edges. There wasn't much of a head on this beer, and it left minimal lacing on my glass.
Smell: There is plenty of molasses, vanilla, oak, dark cherries, and other dark fruit coming to life. As the beer warms I get port wine and chocolate as well.
Taste: The chocolate comes to life upfront with the dark fruits (dominated by cherry) round initial flavors out. In mid-drink I get more grassy hops and vanilla finished by a dry roasted malt flavor.
Mouthfeel: This beer is thick and smooth with a decent amount of carbonation, and the alcohol was well hidden.
Drinkability: This beer is quite delicious, but is quite heavy and is really only a sipper. I would certainly buy this beer again.

I enjoyed this beer quite a bit. It isn't the best of the style that I've had, but is a very solid offering from Alaskan Brewing. I've got another bottle to age, and I am curious about the cherry and vanilla flavors that this beer has fresh, and I hope with some age the malt will come out a bit more. Either way I think this was damn good fresh, and could be even better with a bit of age on it.

Cheers!
Matt

Ølfabrikken Porter

Beer: Ølfabrikken Porter
Brewery Location: Denmark
Beer Style: Baltic Porter
ABV: 8.0%


I was looking for something a little different to hopefully watch my Ball State Cardinals go undefeated last night, and I reach for this beer that I've had in the cellar for several months.

I really like the Baltic porter style. It is stronger than a regular porter, but not quite a robust as a Russian Imperial Stout. It is a good go-between those styles. We just started getting this beer in Indiana in 22 oz bombers, but this bottle is from Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati. I haven't seen this sized bottle in Indiana yet, but perhaps we will get two sizes of it eventually. I've been looking forward to trying this beer after hearing a great deal of hype over it.
Appearance: Pours an obsidian black color with a decent sized light tan colored head with very good staying power for the entire beer.
Smell: Impressive scents of roasted grain, coffee, caramel, milk chocolate, and a hint of vanilla in the nose.
Taste: The flavor profile is the perfect continuation of the nose with base flavors of milk chocolate, coffee, caramel, licorice, and plums. The flavors combine brilliantly with no harsh alcohol burn as well.
Mouthfeel: This beer is full bodied and very smooth with the warming alcohol coming in at the back of the palate with moderate carbonation.
Drinkability: This was an awesome Baltic porter, I will be stocking the cellar with a few bottles of this tasty beer.

As you can tell I was quite impressed with this beer. I loved everything about this beer, and wished I had another bottled of it after I was through with this one. If you are a fan of big stouts and porters you should grab a bottle of this and give it a try. This was my first beer from Ølfabrikken, and they knocked it out of the park on this beer.

Cheers!
Matt

Duck-Rabbit Baltic Porter

Beer: Duck-Rabbit Baltic Porter
Brewery Location: Farmville, NC
Beer Style: Baltic Porter
Serving Style: Bottle
ABV: 9.0%


I've written about this beer a couple of times, but I have never actually reviewed it. I reviewed another offering from Duck-Rabbit a few months back, and this is the beer that I recommended for Winston Churchill in a dinner and beer pairing.

I enjoyed this so much the last time that I had it I wanted to trade for some. The great thing about being in Indiana is that there are many local breweries that people from around the country want and are ready to trade for them.

Despite being called a Baltic porter this beer style is an English creation. It was originally an ale, but the Baltic states and Scandinavian countries that brewed this started using lager yeast, and from what I understand most Baltic porters are brewed using bottom fermenting lager yeast.

This beer pours a nearly black hue with brown highlights when held up to the light. A very small light mocha head quickly dissipated and left a small blanket of head. The scent is big and malty with highlights of brown sugar, dark chocolate, and rum soaked dark fruits (plums and raisins). I think this smells more like a Russian Imperial stout than a porter, but that doesn't bother me at all. The taste is heavy on roasted grain and bitter chocolate. Secondary in the flavor profile are tastes of coffee, toffee, and dark fruits. This is a damn well crafted beer. The mouthfeel is so very smooth and full bodied with the alcohol very well hidden. The drink ability is very good on this for several beers.

This is one of my favorite Baltic porters. I wish I had more access to this beer instead of always trading for it, but I will take what I can get. There is a big influence from Russian Imperial stouts on this beer, but it comes in a little smoother and a little less heavy than its big brother. Fantastic beer if you get your hands on this one.

Cheers!
Matt