Elysian Perseus Porter

Brewed by Elysian Brewing Co.
Style: Porter
Seattle, Washington USA

One of the finest examples of Porters I have encountered. In fact this one was so good it turned into loving Porters above almost every other beer. The hint of vanilla is what hooks me. Great flavor, but seems easy to ruin based on multiple visits to the brewery. Sometimes the mix can be aweful, but when it is right, there is no better Porter in my world.

Porters don’t get a lot better than this. Smoke aroma explodes out of the pint glass and mixed with bitter chocolate. Blackish brown with soda like head. A bounty of flavor with smoked malts, some raisins, lots of hops, some chocolate and a biter finish. A fine brew. Thanks André.

Deep brown color, with a small light head head that dissapates quickly. Caramel malt, light nuttiness and vanilla in the aroma. Vanilla, mocha, and nutty malt flavors. Nuttiness extends into the finish. Mouthfeel is medium, somehwat smooth.

This looks like a beer, and a dark one at that - near black with red highlights, a bubbly tan head. It laces like a beer, heavily so. The aroma is similar to a beer, malty but with an odd sourness (fortunately) backed up by some herbal hops to keep it under control. Nothing controls the strange sour milk taste of this light-bodied porter. Something’s amiss here. There’s some roasted malt flavoring, some bittersweet chocolate... but these flavors just aren’t right. It’s a fresh bomber, so I’ve got to think that there’s a flaw in the batch, whether in the brewing or in the bottling. No craft brewer does this on purpose.
Elysian hasn’t impressed me with the couple of ales of theirs that I’ve had to date, but I’ll give them a fair shake and rerate this another time.

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Dense dark brown appearance. Grainy, chocolaty aroma. Dark chocolate creamy palate, mild coffee roast, fairly hoppy in the finish.

Pours almost completely black with a stivky tan head. Aroma is sweet coffee. Flavors are coffee, chocolate, some milkiness, and a little citrus. Not a bad porter but something is off balance here. Reminds me of a milk stout starting to go sour.

Pours black with a thin white head. Smells of roasted coffee and alcohol. Flavor is somewhat subtle but is of coffe and chocolate. Aftertaste is short lived but sweet and nice. Average porter.

[At GABF 2004] A hazy brown beer with a small disappearing off-white head. The aroma contains notes of honey and rosehips - not suiting for the style - rather a mead - but still OK. The flavor is slightly roasted, which gives it a dry end, but the body is thin. Just not enough of the good stuff.