Cigar City Kalevipoeg Baltic Porter

Brewed by Cigar City Brewing
Style: Baltic Porter
Tampa, Florida USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker, Snifter

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In short: A fruity roasted black beer with a few. Good but with some flaws.
How: Tap at Reservoir, Waterbury VT.
The look: Black body topped by a very small beige head.
In long: Nose is basic roast (burnt toasts) with light notes of cocoa. Taste is malted-forward without feeling heavy, medium-roast, lots of ink, cacao powder, prunes and other dark fruits with a pleasant refreshing character, a light awkward sourness in the fruity flavors, coca-cola, wet leather sensation, earthy hops. A bit of ashes/charcoal in the comeback. Doesn’t feel very sweet (surprising for a CCB black beer). Thick juicy mouthfeel with medium carbonation. The ink flavour and weird fruity sourness bought down my score. Decent beer but not without problems, and this is a rare CCB big black beer that doesn’t go over-the-top so its problems cannot be hidden behind the usual mountain of sugars and booze. Yet another underrated CCB beer, most of the beers from this brewery are so underrated, I’m being sarcastic in case you cannot tell, some people don’t seem to understand when I’m being sarcastic and when I’m serious, these people are obviously very intelligent.

Pours brown with a beige head. Aroma is roasted malt, tobacco, sour notes, malt acidic and dark fruit. Flavour is malt, acidic, sour notes, herbal, fruit and liquorish.

Bottle @ CBC, 2013. Pours unclear brown with a small white head. Tobacco, roast and caramel. A bit of tartness. Hmmh.

Bottle acquired via trade with Homer321! Big, beautiful beer! Ebony and onyx in color with a frothy mahogany crown. Rich, fudgy flavor that shows Ghirardelli, Godiva, and Lindt notes. Brownie batter, raisin, fig, molasses, vanilla, oak, and gooey caramel. Extremely dark and decadent. Creamy and coating on the palate. The alcohol isnt at all distracting. A great addition for batch 1,000!

Bottle - Pours dark brown with a soapy tan head. Nose is weird and sour with some booze, and some dark fruit. Feels infected--tastes like prunes, raisins, sour grossness, and a bit of a bitter finish. Thin, well-carbonated and soft in the mouth. This is not good.

Cigar City Kalevipoeg Baltic Porter is a big beer that is too big. Nice dark pour with a decent head. Aroma is roasty with a hint of chocolate, but faint over all even in a snifter glass. Kalevipoeg’s taste is where it starts to disappoint; the alcohol presence overpowers the malty, roasty, chocolately, coffee flavors one would be looking for in a porter. You just get the alcohol. Some roasted malt flavor did last on my palate, but on the way home. Kalevipoeg Baltic Porter is average at best, but the flavor just isn’t there.

On tap at Dixie. Velvety malt aromas. Creamy, rich, and somewhat sweet with smooth coco flavored dark malts and hints of caramel and toffee. Some earthy wood and coffee undercurrents. Very complex with a good body and carbonation. I am usually not a fan of this style, but Kalevipoeg is an exception....

Thx! to Sebletitje for sharing! Feb. 2012 Vintage. 75 cl. bottle sampled. Black with brown shades with a creamy smaller white head. Smell is lots of blueberries, lots of berries, some brambleberries as well, light chocolate and fudge, Black Forest pie,… Taste is sweet fudge, malts thick enough to put a spoon in, syrupy, chocolate, some berries as well but lesser, brambleberries and more blueberries,… they must have used an astronomical amount of malts and it must have taken a long time to make this…chocolate, almost light alcohol and almost hint of oak. Very thick esp. for a lager… this beer really coasts the mouth, leaving a layer behind. Probably unlike anything actually brewed in the Baltic’s – great stuff / great dessert beer.

UPDATED: APR 4, 2013 75cl bottle courtesy of Sean at Melody Brewing. Thanks. Split with 77ships and Delirium team. Bottled feb 2012. Couleur brune foncée tirant sur l’acajou, col épais crémeux moka léger. Arôme est assez complexe et loin de ce que l’on attend d’habitude d’une Baltique. Pointe de fumé mais également pas mal de baies rouges et noires sauvages rappelant les pays du nord; myrtilles, baies de genévrier, goji, mûres. Possible pointe de boisé cèdre typique de CCB. Léger épice rappelant le pain d’épices et de Noël, gingerbread et un malté à l’accent chocolaté. Palais est malté avec un léger chocolaté, fruité moyen, rappelant ici aussi les baies rouges. Le tout ressort très bien surtout en fin de bouche. Le profil levure tire aussi vers ce côté lager allemand typique mais avec un alcool bien plus présent. Le tout reste sec, chocolaté voire biscuité, malt pâle, grains et caramel pour un palais restant épais et généreux. L’amertume est très légèrement fruitée et s’immisce péniblement ajoutant un profil une dimension supplémentaire. Sympa mais on s’en retrouve un peu pris au dépourvu de par la complexité d’un style qui se veut souvent plus simple.

black color, aroma of roasted malts, caramel, same flavors, vanilla notes, toast, slight oxidation,