4.2 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20
Poured from bottle into a tulip glass. Opaque, dark reddish-brown. Thick, creamy, rich and delicious. All-malt recipe but brewed in such a way to suggest dark chocolate, toffee, raisins, black currants, plums and just a hint of black licorice. Roasted but not burnt. Balanced but not bitter. Very complex aroma, flavor and lingering aftertaste. High alcohol but extremely well-hidden. A perfect winter warmer. Imperial stout-like, but more "digestive" and a cleaner finish due to lager yeast. A gold standard of the Baltic Porter style. I’m still amazed this masterpiece costs around $2/bottle.
2.8 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 11/20
Serving: 500 ml. bottle from State Line Liquors. It pours a nice cola color with a thick head of tan foam. The nose has a touch of plastic, wood, and vegetal note. Light overall and a bit difficult to figure out. It’s rather sweet and all malt with notes of plastic and paper. Some light tobacco, tea, and molasses notes. Almost in some ways like a cheap alcoholic cola. Lacks depth, complexity, and attenuation. I have to say, not my favorite. Pass on this one.
2.8 AROMA 1/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 15/20
Bottle at The Black Magic Bar in Riga. A black beer with a thick, light tan head. Aroma of chocolate, coffee, caramel and yeast. Similar flavours with caramel and burnt toast flavours lingering. A little bitter but a bit too sweet for me. Moderate carbonation and CO2 prickle and a foamy mouth-feel.
2.2 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 4/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 8/20
Sweet aroma of roasted malt, brown sugar and figs. The taste is sweet but also quite bitter with notes of roasted malt, brown sugar and figs. Not a particularly good beer!
3.5 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
Bottle 50 cl, Alko Loimaa. Pours pitch black with a great bubbly creamy tanned head leaving lace. Aroma is roasted, malty, hoppy, floral and dark rye bread. Flavor is sweet, roasted malty in front, bitter, floral, bready with tones of syrup and licorice. Very nice. Finishes sweet, malty and bitter.
3.7 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
50 cl bottle. Rated on 19.9.2008
Really roasted aroma with raisins and hints of liquorice. Flavour is rather sweet and roasted with caramel and liquorice. Good porter, but could be a bit more rich and thick.
2.9 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 11/20
UPDATED: DEC 21, 2011 Clear, dark red-brown pour with a short beige head and a cascade that settles quickly. Sweet chocolate, licorice and banana nose. Sweet throughout with roast malt, brown sugar, maraschino cherries and more sucrose at finish. Medium body, little bitterness, the sucrose sweetness gets cloying by the end of the bottle.
3.3 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Chevy Chase Wine and Liquors, DC 500ml ($3.19): Pours a dark brown with a beige head and leaves absolutely no lacing. Aroma of molasses, toffee, sugar, and a little bit of chocolate. Taste is sweet, but in moderation. Mouthfeel is rather creamy and it feels like you are drinking some sugared beverage. Roasted malts are obviously there, but in a limited capacity. Also, there was something there that let me know that this was definitely a lager. My first beer from Latvia!
|
