Baltika 6 Porter

Brewed by Baltika Brewery (Baltic Beverages Holding - Carlsberg)
Style: Baltic Porter
St. Petersburg, Russia

Serve in English pint, Shaker, Snifter

0.5 l bottle. Pours a nice deep brown, tan head. Clear. Aroma is clean with a faint malty roasty note. Flavor is rather shallow, with some maltiness, but not the depth that you would want or expect. Dry finish. OK but I want more.character...

Color pours dark syrupy brown turning blackish as it levels into the glass, head is a supernatural light brown, much like that of parchment paper, so sad to see it go so fast. Leaves huge sheets of lace, nice. Smell is gorgeous with dark fruits, I detect cherry, melon, star fruit, and for sure bananas, hardly anything else, but who cares, this is awesome, its like a frickin fruit salad, super enchanting and pleasing nose. Tastes like no other I've had, mostly up front of banana and light, sweet roasted malt, very unusual and interestingly yummy. A bit like candied fruits but no sugary stuff, just the fruit, dark and rich. The feel is medium and quite full, very smooth and easy - no tricks to this creation. One fine porter with a bit of a different approach then most, and kudos to that.

UPDATED: AUG 30, 2008 Jakebra busted ths one out, cuz he likes the Ruskies. It’s aight. And I need more characters in the description so I’ma write some crap.

She pours a deep rich black, gliding into my glass with soft velveteen precision. Dark clouds rumble up above while amber strokes of lightning crackle along the sides and bottom of her tumultuous depths. Her stormy clouds fade into a thick ominous layer which sticks with beautiful precision. Oozing rich moist dark fruits and dark fruit juices, I’m surrounded by a veritable whirlwind of prunes, dates, raisins, licorice root, black grapes and, surprisingly, red apples for a snappy crunch at the end. A touch of char and bakers chocolate weaves in and out of her dark fruits, earthen roots, and crisp finish. Delving deeper, cinnamon graham crackers and burnt marshmallows flit and float through her nose, leading me into my first creamy quaff of many. Yes, my fellow geeks and geekettes, we have here a genuine Baltic Porter. Smooth and creamy, a solid grounding of char and burnt marshmallow carries upon it a river of burnt cream with vanilla bean and licorice root. Mouthcoating and definitely sporting a sweet side, her burnt lactic nature bespeaks cream and whole milk along with faint chocolate esters. Swimming in her river of lactic sweetness are prunes, dates, raisins, and figs. Graham crackers meld perfectly with her dark fruit nature, bringing to mind instantly the classic cookie treat, fig newton. Burnt marshmallows and char linger long into the finish which is equally smooth and creamy. There is no dryness to her palate whatsoever, and yet the Baltika Porter never steps over that line into cloying. While the Baltic Porter is not my preferred style of porter, I must say that she is one of the best ones I have supped to date. One last sweet creamy embrace and I am left reminiscing about fig newtons, prunes, dates, and raisins while vanilla and licorice root pepper my breath.

Vodka will still be my favorite Russian spirit, but seeing as I am a complete novice in regards to Russian beer, I must correct this terrible imbalance in my life. I can name a dozen vodkas, maybe more, but beer…the Baltika 6 Porter comes to mind... That being said, note the freshness date, pour, smell, sup, and enjoy yet another fine brewing tradition.

(500 ml bottle "best before 20.05.06" via trade with Degarth, thanks Joe!) Pours a very dark birch-beer brown with about 1" of almost perfect-looking, tight tan head that slowly recedes to about 1/4" and stays put. Aroma of rich molasses, raisins and chocolate. Mouthfeel soft and creamy, yet also dry and kind of prickly. Nice rings of lacing. Flavor to me was mostly a dry chocolate, with the moderately sweet molasses and raisins emerging as well. Pretty tasty but was hoping for a bolder, richer flavor. Didn’t really care for the dryishness either. There is a mild alcohol burn as well.

50cl bottle, Alko. Poured dark brown with a nice beige head and nice lacing. Aroma is sweet malty and coffee. Flavour is raisins, burnt malt and caramel. Nice smooth palate. Nice porter.

Earthy malts and a bit of spice in aroma. The flavor is caramel and some sweetness with a lingering thick maltiness to it. Not incredible but decent all around.

Bottle. Pours almost jet black. Off white head fades quickly and leaves no lacing. Chocolate, malt and a hint of dried dark fruit on the nose. Palate is firm with decent carbonation. Roasted malt, oats, figs and raisins, earthy malbec grapes, and dry hops and yeast... I’m a bit surprised. I didn’t expect the flavor complexity. Nice offering.