Half Acre Crystal Norde

Brewed by Half Acre Beer Company
Style: Baltic Porter
Chicago, Illinois USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker, Snifter

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Tap. Pours dark brown tan head. Aroma of chocolate and toffee taste is sweet and dry. Bitter chocolate

Big fruit flavors in this one, still roasty, a unique take on the style as it is a kind of ambiguous beer.

This was a gift from my upstairs neighbor, thanks upstairs neighbor! Enjoyed from mini-growler a day before leaving for two weeks while nursing a hangover from the night before. I can’t not drink this! Appearance is a dark dark brown/black with a rich off white head that laces to the glass. Aroma of nuts, chocolate, yeast, roasted malt, smells nice. Taste goes down nice, smooth, and rich. Chocolate notes really shine, it does taste a bit yeastier than other porters, but it could be because of its freshness. Very very good brew, and such a nice gift!

draft, a big roasty and nutty porter, full bodied, really chocolately, clean finish. a classic robust porter fermented with a lager yeast. excellent stuff, now go ahead and make a baltic porter next time.

32 oz. growler served in a Cigar City snifter. A: Pours a semi clear brown with a thin wispy head forming on the pour. Some splotches of lace are left down the glass. S: Residual fruity esters from the yeast. Light roasted malts and some minimal unsweetened chocolate. T: Nicely malted. Creamy and roasted malts with a sugary base. Dark chocolate with a light hop bitterness and a mild astringent dryness from the roast. M: A little light for a Baltic porter with some medium carbonation and a drying roasted finish. O: Very solid Baltic porter. A tad two fruity for me, but otherwise there’s nothing wrong with this. Easy drinking. Serving type: bottle

Draft at Half Acre. Pours a deep black with a brown head. This is not a Baltic, FYI. It’s an Imperial Porter or even a Foreign Stout. Whatever. Roasty and chocolate on the nose, rich malt complexity, faint caramel and a kiss of hops. On tasting, the roast is super-forward. Clean overall. Really drinkable, faint warming. Chocolate and dry finish. Good body on this one. Superb stuff, just not a damn baltic...

12 oz draft on tap at the Tap Room (Chicago, I’ll). Pours a deeper black rich pour, good deep opaque flavors, with frothy tannish head. Laces as a mellow ring, small lacing. Deeper hues, good body. Aromas are roasty and toasty, cocoa and caramel, touch of dark fruit, roasty dryness and mellow earthy hops, kiss of pine. Cocoa, bakers chocolate, gentle coffee influencce. A deeper pretzel and baked bread influence as we get further. Initial is medium bodied, a firm slick roasty and cocoa element, wheat bread, lots of biscuits, and gentle dark fruit raisin kisses. Firm dry bakers chocolate. Pretzels, a bit of silky dark malt elements into the back. Milk chocolate, cocoa, and roasty coffee. Pretty well constructed as it dries out a bit into the backend. Cereal, grainy, gentle roast and darker silky malt influence. Fruity and dark malt roast, dryness come firmly.

Growler picked up at the brewery. Pours a black body with a finger-width, creamy, dark brown head that dissipates slowly and leaves a nice lacing throughout. Aroma is roasty and chocolatey with a bit of a woodsy coffee and a touch of clean lager fruits. Flavor is similar. Roasty and earthy with a rich, clean, smooth chocolate malt backing. Some woodsy coffee at the end before this finishes dry and somewhat bitter, but very clean. Lengthy aftertaste following a smooth, medium body and a moderate carbonation. Overall, a really solid Baltic Porter. Very roasty, but clean and chocolatey with a great finish. Excellent beer.

Pint at the Half Acre tap room. Low-key aroma of roasted raisin and licorice. Appearance is dark brown with a tan head, some lacing, steady and lingering layer of foam on top. Taste is similar to the aroma with woodsy-raisin, small amounts of licorice, coffee, unimposing cocoa presence, malts, sweet at first with a bitter finish. Medium bodied, not very filling. Palate was low carbonation, very smooth and easy to drink. The abv presence was lighter than I expected for a Baltic Porter. Good beer and suitable for a cold winter evening.