Dark Star Porter

Brewed by Dark Star
Style: Porter
Horsham, England

Serve in English pint, Shaker

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

From cask the Rake. Pours dark brown with a light golden orange glare and a small bubbly white head. Hard roasted malty aroma with a mild liqourice note. Light acidic and annis seed spiced initial flavour. Dark and roasted too. Acidic and roasted finish, smooth and nice.7-3-7-3-14=3.4

From cask at Cloisters. Pours dark brown to black with a dense creamy and tan head. Aroma is hardroasted malt and dark chocolate. Smooth malty flavoured with a distinct acidic note to the hard roasted malt. Bitter finish with a lasting roasted dark malt flavour. Lovely.8-3-8-4-16=3.9

Cask conditioned - gravity dispense - Milton Keynes BF A black beer with an off-white wispy head. The aroma is slightly smoky, but actually quite thin. Some chocolate and light roast in the reasonably fruity mouthfeel. Decent enough

Cask, gravity, at Milton Keynes BF ’08. Very dark brown. Sweet ashy, vegetal aroma. Chocolate in the taste, some sourness, a little bitterness. Quite a decent porter.

UPDATED: NOV 20, 2008 Handpulled cask at the Old Fountain near Old Street, London. Black with a tan head. Aroma of roasted coffee. Sweet maltty roasted flavour with crisp hoppy finnish. Fine beer!

Cask (@Market Porter, Southwark): Deep amber coloured, lacy off-white layer; roasted malt and solid hops in the nose; solid dry bitter flavour, light bodied, quite soft; lingering bitter-sweet, fruity finish with an endless hoppy aftertaste. Great, satisfying stuff.........

Cask @ Croydon BF ’07. Dark amber beer with white head. Aroma is of chocolate, roasted malts, nuts, liquorice, toffee. Taste is chocolate, sweet caramel, dark fruits. A truly nice beer!!

roasted ,watery, hint of chocolate and coffee, beautiful head, real ale cask but this was not smoky at all!!

(Cask@St.Urho) Clear, dark amber with a small, tanned head. Mild, sourish aroma with licorice and honey hints. Toffee-malty, slightly sweet flavor with burnedness only coming in the aftertaste. Medium-bodied, neutral, quite low-carbonated palate. A quite pleasant mix of oktoberfest and porter - but still overrated here, IMO.

Cask in Blackfriars. OMG this beer! Iv been feeling like iv had a pain in the ass cold for about 3 weeks now and was wanting to stay off the booze for as long as possible, however friday nite off so out we go. P and I decided to hit west as they may have there xmas beer on(i was wrong they didnt) and its only a short walk away anyway from the flat. Thier helles had a far fuller flavour than the last time i had it, perhaps somethign to do with the ratebeer croud slating it at RBESG07. We were chatting away and getting slated in texts from Duff and Mesandsim about how they were unsuare which vintage of gueuze to have, while im stuck with bloody lager. Anyway as the nite goes on we get into some good chat and get jolly, so decide to hit a new french 60’s pop nite in Blackfriars. We arrive after 12 and its not too busy, the bar downstairs in the club only has the shitest lager avalible to man in it. so i grab 2 pint glasses and get into the cellar. The ale we do is on stillage so i just undid the hose and got a pint of crompton two pints then i see dark star porter is on. Im always excited about dark star beers, so grabbed a pint of it. Even as it was pouring from the cask i could smell the chcolate. I take a large swig and im like, OMG, my exact words were "holy bloody fuck" i take another large swig just to make sure. Then top my glass up. I run through and force everyone while they are serving an already busy bar to taste. They’re all lager frecks in my work and think sugar comes from hops. I then force it upon everyone else that im there with and get a few thumbs up and a few whatevers, but these guyz are on smack, this is one of the finest beverages ever made. The aroma is just bursting with chocolate malts, noteable grassy bittering hop also. The taste is just soo good, its like eating on of those hot metled choc centred cakes you get, so comforting, oh its just amazing, such an experiance. I think this is what all other beers to the style should be aiming for, but they’ll doubtfully ever get it right. I punished about 5 pints of the stuff and was a real mess by the end of it, no idea what happened towards th end of the nite. There was some serious dancing going on, i managed to move my feet quicker than anyone ever has done in the past. What a nite and what a f*ckin beer to go with it.

UPDATED: FEB 22, 2008 Cask @ Croydon BF ’07. Cask at Croydon Beer Festival 2007. Pours a white head and a garnet colour beer. Nose recalls vinous, cream, malt and hop notes. A full bodied beer which is soft and silky. Taste is of chocolate, coffee, cream and nectar. Very nice.