Epic Portamarillo

Epic Brewing Company (NZ)
Brewed at Steam Brewing Company
Style: Porter
Auckland, New Zealand

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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Bottle 500ml. Masterpiece. Aromas of grass, coffee, caramel, and smoke. Taste has a bit of saltiness, and a nice lingering bitterness, which lasts long and finishes dry. Palate is velvety, with a medium-to-full body. Dark brown, with a frothy white head.

Botte. I was surprised this was not already posted. It has a You Tube post. I heard about it on radio here in NZ. It was a subject of the Discovery Channel. Anyway it was brewed with Dogfish Head folks and is supposed to be unique - New Zealanders are keen to get that uniqueness label out there. I have a pohutakawa tree outside in the yard and did not know they were sacred. In fact, whilst they are very pretty (one of my favourite trees and I have been to the great northwestern forests of North America), I think they are indigenous to Australia. To the beer. Big, thick, head, dark brown, cafe au lait head and heavy lacing, smoky chocolate and sour. I think this is a lambic porter - is that possible? Good yeasty nose with smoke and chocolate accents ( the good unsweetened stuff folks down here know nothing about. You have to go to South America to understand Chocolate. Anyway, there it is jumping up my nose.) Big body, yeasty and sour finish lingers. That opening with a strong bodied, sour, bitter-smoke make this an ideal candidate for some serious cuisine. I am thinking Tex-Mex.

Bottle Thin dark black pour, lasting lacing and a light earthy peat aroma. Flavor is thin bark, dry pine, a little bitterness, definitely earthy/dirty (but in a good way). Very unique and worth the price of admission at $8/bottle.

Nose:toffee, orange peel, smoke, tomato. Taste: More sweet pohutukawa smoke, molasses, a bit of sourness, full body, slightly sweet with caramel notes, oak, vanilla sherry notes. Tamarillo hints faint but discernible. Bloody tasty

Pours unclear dark chestnut brown with a creamy sandy head. The aroma brings such a sweet and smoky combo, but not overpowering, just right making it so pleasant and enjoyed. The flavor brings delicious smoky malts as well with a sweeter, barbecue flavored ending from the tamarillos I assumo that seem to be present and pleasant. Wow - so unexpected! The body is still creamy bringing it down so smoothly on the palate.

Wonderful, love their beers and this one too. Smokey, fruity caramel vanilla malt taste, very "earthy and bushy" delightful. Cant wait for their next new beer.

Very interesting brew. A great porter that’s pretty smokey up front, but a subtle, slightly acidic, tomato-like finish. I’ll definitely buy another bottle or two if it comes back around.

A - Pours a dark brown-black color with a finger of frothy off-white head. The head fades down at a normal pace leaving behind some nice lacing. S - Aroma is a mix of roasted chocolate malts, smoke vanilla, tomatillos, and some oak. T - Starts off with a mix of roasted chocolate malts, vanilla, and some tomatillos. Through the middle, the smoke and oak flavors come through with some milk chocolate. The finish is mix of roasted chocolate malts, smoke, oak, and some tomatillos. M - Medium-plus bodied with moderate carbonation. Feels smooth with a sweet and smoky finish. D - Very drinkable. Nice smoky porter with some nice complexity from the tomatillos. Good overall balance.

Bottle from Total Wine in Roseville, CA. Pours dark brown with a 3 finger creamy light tan head. Aromas of dark malt and something like smoked fruit. A spicy aroma. Med body. Flavor is sort of woody, sort of veg, sort of smoke, sort of dark malt. And sort of spicy. Not saying this is the greatest beer ever, but it has got to rank in the top 100 of truly innovative beers. Kudos to Epic!!!!!!! Dogfish? Ah, you always knew they were crazy.

500ml bottle. Looks fantastic - massive lasting beige sea foam good lacing head on a thick black brown body. Aroma is wonderful - smokey dark malt, dark chocolate, caramel, coffee, soy sauce, Tabasco/chipotle sauce, marmite on whole grain toast, soft leather, and of course tamarillo and grilled tomatoes. Tastes great as well - at least medium sweet, medium bitter with a long decent duration, that smokiness becomes even more prominent throughout. Soft carbonation, medium body, smooth velvety oily texture, long spicy noticeably astringent finish. Quite a likeable beer in every way.