BridgePort Raven Mad Imperial Porter

Brewed by BridgePort Brewing (Gambrinus Company)
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Portland, Oregon USA

Serve in Shaker, Snifter

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Pours a thick black. Not much aroma to speak of, but what there is is slightly roasty. Although it is a 50/50 split between porter and stout, the porter seems to overwhelm. Very slight carbonation bite--mostly flat.

From 22 ounce bottle. Oakey, smokey aroma and flavor. Opened up nicely after being a little too strong. Overall pleasing beer.

I may need to come back to this one; the smell of fish sauce from dinner is overpowering everything else in the house. Sorry, aroma score. What I can gather: vanilla and whiskey barrels and a woody thing going on not unlike a campfire. That makes sense since this half of this beer was aged with oak. Visually, Things I can tell: A) The color is raven dark, and the head runs away at a Jamaican runner’s speed. Shoom! B) Lack of bubbles on the ring, but there’s some La Brea stuff going on in the middle of the pond. Hot! Lookin’ good, Raven! I’m not a huge barrel aged guy; they’re usually too sweet. This is not. There is a sweetness to it, but Bridgeport has done a rather fine job blending the barrel sweets with the oak wood (almost smokey). Taste reminds me of gathering wood on a wet, cloudy day with a reward glass of whiskey sitting on the rail of the deck that gets a sip after each pile accumulated. There’s definitely a strong alcohol essence going on too. Earthy. Palate. The whiskey likes to hang out in the center of the tongue and leave some barrel flavor behind. The liquid dissipates quickly; it’s not a thick beer. Upper middle of the logging road in terms of thickness. I referenced a logger road because it’s woody. Quite easy to drink. Syrupy residuals and then gone. it’s still a lighter, as in less dense, porter. It’s a satisfying beer at 7.5%, but it’s not blowing me away with the flavor. I like the less sweet compared to other barrel aged beers, yes, and the oak’s nice. The beer they started with was around average, and even with all the smokey and woody bells and whistles, it’s still an above average beer.

UPDATED: OCT 26, 2012 Very dark brown with a big brown head. Aroma of sweet roasted malts and whiskey. Taste is sour with lots sweet roasted malts. Roasty finish. Too sour I ended up pouring it out.

Bomber from Hayduke. We enjoyed a bottle together via facebook chat. This was a handsome beer being black and sporting a nice tan head. A roasted nose more than anything. Roasted flavor, too. There was gobs of roasted notes and it was on the harsh side. Later I tasted vanilla and even later some whiskey came through. It did have a nice smooth rich feel. Temperatures brought positive changes. A nice beer.

Light whiskey, wood and roast aromas. Roasty, thin porter with a slight edge of almost-tartness due to the whiskey, which also imparts some vanilla notes. Brown-copper in color with a bit of tan head.

Very glad I tried this beer! Beautifully dark. Super smooth mouthfeel. Delicious! Very highly recommended.

Bomber. Poured black with a medium-sized tan head. Aroma was whisky, roasted malt. Flavor was whisky, roasted malt, hints of vanilla, wood. A touch of sour fruit, which was not wholly unpleasant. Quite smooth overall.

Pours pitch black with a tiny, fizzy brown head. Smells a little like chocolate and a bit of vanilla but nothing is too pronounced. Taste has a bit of vanilla and something that is kinda like a sourness or a metallic character, almost like a lesser quality bourbon. Medium-bodied with a slick texture and soft mouth-carbonation, BridgePort Raven Mad Imperial Porter finishes with that same sort of sour character. I wanted to like this one, but I just couldn’t.

UPDATED: FEB 7, 2013 Pours black with a few fingers of thick tan head. Aroma of coffee, wood and vanilla. Taste is coffee, strong vanilla and oak, and some background hops. Creamy on the palate