Full Sail Top Sail Imperial Porter

Brewed by Full Sail Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Hood River, Oregon USA

On tap at Toronado in San Francisco. Pours a deep brown, almost black body with a finger-width, brown head that dissipates slowly and leaves lots of lacing. Aroma is sweet, but bold and roasty. Sweet chocolate malts and rich molasses. Not excessively big, but bold roasts that give off a hint of bittersweet coffee. Some nuts and a lot of fruit. Oranges and fruitcake ingredients with a bit of sharper licorice. Flavor is more towards the orange citrus and licorice with the coffee and roasts staying moderate in strength. Still remains very balanced with lots of chocolate, molasses, nuts, and a somewhat toasted bread. Finishes dry and woody with a chocolate covered orange/moderate roast and coffee aftertaste. Palate is medium to full and smooth. Overall, this was a really nice Imp Porter. I liked the aroma just a tad better than the flavor, but nonetheless, this was my kind of bold porter.

Lovely dark color and brown head. Nice flavor, not too strong on the coffee notes.

Good head . Dark brown body. Roasted hoppy aroma. Thin body. Burnt flavor more along the lines of a stout than a porter. Underwelmed. Not finding anything "hearty" as they describe it.

Bomber [without ’Top Sail’, but same description and ABV] from Monument in Concord, CA. Pours dark and opaque with a large tan head. Aromas of coffee, dark roasted malt and dark chocolate. Flavor is about the same, but the chocolate and coffee match the malt. Finishes rather dry and bitter.

On tap at the Downtown "Brew Pub" poured into Pint glass. Pours dark as night with a great one-inch mocha colored head that lasts and leaves lacing as you drink. Aroma is heavy on coffee, roasted malts, and dark chocolate. Flavor has much of the same flavors as the aroma had with a nice lingering bitterness. Almost like drinking an extremely complex dark roasted cup of coffee with a heavy body.

22 oz bottle. Pours a dark black body with a nice creamy tight bubbled brown head that had nice retention. The nose is big, full of roast, burnt caramel, licorice, cocoa powder, and dark-brewed coffee. The flavor is just as rich and intense as the nose was. The roast, burnt caramel, and licorice really meld well together to give it a hearty and beefy depth of flavor. Incredibly clean with zero off flavors. The finish shows a bit of hops, nicely balancing out all the malt sweetness. Full and thick in texture, with nice soft gentle carbonation. This beer just hit the sweet spot of my love for strong Porters.

Bottle. Aromas of roasted malt, coco powder. Pours a deep chocolate brown with a nice med brown head. Rich unsweeted chocolate, nicely roasted malt w/ a pleasent hop note to it. A slight licorice note as well. Mouth is dry with a bitter finish, effervescent. As the beer warms the alcohol begins to over power, still very good.

Morgan’s tasting, 07MAR09. Bomber, I wish I could remember who sent me this. Near black with a big brown head. Lots of milk chocolate, some toffee and sweet roasty malt. Awesome silky smooth body, excellent lace. Complex flavors, chocolate, nuts, roasty malt and dark fruits. Awesome!