Haandbryggeriet Porter

Bottle. Batch 78. Brewed on May, 07. Rich and full of aroma and flavor. Unique and delicious. Enticing dark tan frothy head above an opaque black body. The head slowly diminishes, but does not disappear. The aroma is heavy with chocolate, roasted grain, pine, coffee and caramel. The flavor is moderately sweet, moderately bitter and lightly to moderately acidic. It finishes very dry with some moderate to heavy bitterness, balanced by a moderate sweetness. Slight taste of licorice and earth that grow in the long finish — and a hint of oxidation. Some alcohol warming and pepperiness emerges as well. Close to a full body with a smooth texture and lively carbonation.

Poured from a 500ml bottle labeled Norse Porter (Batch 138, Brewed January ’08) and served in an English pint glass. This porter poured a deep, dark brown with a thick head of tight tan foam that displayed excellent retention. Just a touch of slippery lacing was left around the glass. The aroma of the beer was made up of heavily roasted malt, baker’s chocolate, and fresh coffee beans. The flavor consisted of strong coffe, chocolate, some mildly sweet dark fruits, and a slightly metallic note at the finish. The mouthfeel was medium-bodied with moderate carbonation. Would have prefered some less aggressive carbonation. Really roasty with a nice sweet element. Pretty good.

Poured like burnt coffee from the bottle with a soapy tan head. Plenty of barley on the nose with faint notes of cocoa. Very earthy flavor, almost like raw sap and tree bark--which sounds bad, but it’s actually a compliment. I picture Vikings drinking this from stone mugs.

Bottle. Aroma of sweet nutmeg, chocolate and roasted malts. Black body with tan head. Flavor of a nornal porter sweet malt. this one had a roast and chocolate flavor also. Wish would of had thicker texture. Sweetness lingers on the palate.

Bottle from SL. The pour featured a very generous pillowy-rocky head, deep brown-black body, lacing decent all the way down. The aroma was chocolate, light roast, some licorice. The flavor followed, chocolate, licorice, faint metallic notes (but in a decent way, mildly astringent), and light smoke/ash/roast in the finish. Mouthfeel was full for the style, but airy and dry, not sticky sweet, quite dry actually, with that slightly acidic and astringent touch. For a porter, pretty good, but the brown ale-porter range of dark beers have long been leaving me in want of more when done.