Garrison Grand Baltic Porter

Brewed by Garrison Brewing Company
Style: Baltic Porter
Halifax, Canada

Serve in English pint, Shaker, Snifter

500 ml bottle from the lcbo. Dark brown pour, not as dark as i expected. Sweet malty aroma, light roast and some subtle dark fruits. Low carb, good mouth feel. Finish is quite sweet, almost cloying. Light bitterness, and light roast, with a touch of coffee. Hmmm, kinda disapointed.

Pours a dark hue but very slight reddiness and slight brown head. Aroma is strong of molasses and caramel. Taste carries through with the same roastiness and very little bitterness. Very smooth.

½ liter bottle; pours a hazed deep brown color in the snifter like dark roast coffee with ruby highlights. 2 finger sticky off white cap lasts and laces the glass. Soft demure carbonation. Aroma is typical of the style and gets more complex as it warms – dark fruits, toffee, molasses, wet hay, roasted hazel nuts, some licorice. Lighter in body than suits the style but adequate body to give the soft silken mouth feel you expect from a Baltic. Wonderful rich amalgam of flavors assault the palate with the noble hops sitting in the background – dark dried fruits (figs prunes) dark treacle/molasses, toasted sesame halva, licorice, caramel - wonderful complexity indicative of the style – goes to a long rich finish where hops become more apparent – then the Garrison signature bitter ness right at the end – although any bitterness is out of place in this style, the little shot of bittering in the end of this brew is not offensive or piercing as it seems to be from Spalters and is rather pleasant. All in all this is a decent Baltic that compares well with Okocim or Zywiec.

Bottle. Snifter. Dark brown colour. Head fades quickly. Raisin, molasses, prune and cocoa in the aroma. Some smoke. Very smooth, full body. Flavour is a real nice blend of anise seed, cocoa powder, smoke and prune. Despite all the fruit in the flavour, it is not overly sweet. Dark fruit and molasses in a long finish.

Lesson - if you’re going to make just one style of porter make it a good one. This Baltic style is ROUND... emphasis is on sweet fruit aroma and taste, light citrusy acidity, layer of chocolate and demerera, some mineral and really nothing funky to speak of. Nice straightforward BP but wonderfully deep and even a bit complex.

dark brown in colour, little head and some lace. aromas sweet malt, prune, and almost soapy. has a light chocolate aroma. medium bodied, slight roast, caramel?. quick flavour/finish.

Dark dark brown with a good tan head that leaves behind a little lacing. Aroma is chocolate, oak, licorice, coffee. Taste is balsamic vinegar, coffee, vanilla. Well balanced, medium body, touch of wood on the finish. Tasty! More like an Imperial Stout than a porter.

Pours black with reddish highlights, a thin ring of foam hugs the edges. Picking up light roasted cereals and coffee in the nose...perhaps a touch metallic. Nice roasted malt profile and hints of molasses come through, finishes with a warming and sharp alcoholic bite. A little thin on the palate and not as rich as I would have expected. All in all, enjoyable, although doesn’t measure up other examples I’ve tried in the past.