An excellent porter. Compares to Three Floyds Christmas porter. Usually Imperial versions of Stouts or Porters are some of the best beers from a brewery and this is no exception here. Tastes a lot like shinebrychoff’s porter, but with a hint more sweetness, yet still has a dry-like finish. A steller brew indeed!. If you like BIG beers and you see this stuff...buy it! Period.

<i>Draft</i>: Dark crimson. Lush collar of caramel foam. Intriguing nose of mashed currants, cedary alcohol, fir tips, and meaty molasses. Prunes, toffee, and seared cane sugar undertones with a faint roasty twang. Fuzzy, mouth-filling carbonation. Fairly oily body. Toasty, tightly structured flavors with hints of molasses and seared sugar. Alcoholic warmth is present, and dries it out, but the flavor, itself, is masterfully concealed. Sprucelike hops lend juiciness and tightly prickly bitterness, which highlight the burnt malt/alcohol dryness. Rich, yet velvety soft, bed of chocolate malt continues to suppress the alcohol while blanketing the palate. Tongue-tingling black licorice and tannin flavors submit to the firm roasted wood notes. Burnt malts splashed with anise deepen the roast. Leather and dried fruit astringency fuse with the minty alcohol and bitterly salty charred malts to lend a fair amount of dryness. The versatility of beer is befuddling. Such a unique aroma, balanced complexity, and well-hidden alcohol, yet substantially warm and sustaining. This is a dead-on rendition of the style, and <i>then</i> some, which only comes to life in a snifter at the 60F-70F mark, unlike the frigid temps and aroma-inhibiting glassware exhibited at the brewery. The Baltic states would be damn proud!

Opaque black with a small tan creamy head that left nice lacing on the glass. Roasty dry, earthy, wood, and nuts in the aroma. Smoked and burnt malts, roasted coffee, hop bitterness and a warm alcohol finish. Thanks Jeff!

Bottle. Chocolate cappuccino malt aroma. Black-brown color with thin tan head. Strong black coffee and dark chocolate flavor - light bitter finish. Nicely drinkable - very smooth.

big thanks to StFun for sending this my way... cloudy opaque woody black pour with a soft light brown head and drippy lacing. aromas of cherry, prunes, golden raisins, wood, grain, sour/milky and chocolate. the flavor is mildly reminiscent of red wine, prune-y, acetone/booze, wood, grass, vanilla, grain and light spice. it gets a bit tingly from the hops before it finishes sour, lightly astringent and dry. nice mellow aftertaste of charred wood. medium body with creamy soft carbonation. it&#8217;s rather smooth except for the sourness and parching hop qualities. the mouth feel seems to get a bit thin as it warms. quite tasty... baltic porter?... 3.5/no. imperial porter... 4.0/yes&#033; 8/4/7/3/16/3.8 <br /><br />i guess i have to re-rate this now as it is an imperial porter&#033;8/4/8/3/17/4.0