Hartford Better Beer Co. Praying Mantis Porter

	Percentile
	50
	overall

A Porter brewed by
Shipyard Brewing Company
Portland, Maine USA

bottled
available

on tap
unknown

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Ratings Average Score ABV Style Pctl Serve in Advanced
16 3.11/5.0 3.07/5.0 - 17.7 English pint, Stem glass P Stats

Commercial Description:
Praying Mantis Porter....Dark But never brooding CT's State Insect ! First Introduced as a draft favorite at The Hartford Brewery Limited (CT's first brewpub, 1991-2000), and made to the original specifications at the Shipyard Brewing Company in Portland Maine. Praying Mantis Porter joins Arch Amber Ale as the second traditional ale in the Hartford Better Beer Company's portfolio. CT's Original Brewpub Beer is now available statewide in CT in 2 flavors and in 6-packs! Appearance and Color: Deep and Luxurious black cherry-red, long-lingering lacy head. Aroma: You're in for a treat. Toasty-smooth, a hint of silky roast malt that doesn't overwhelm the mild fruit nose. Flavor and Mouthfeel: Starts witha full smooth and malty tone, with a touch of a citrusy hop influence. The roasted chocolate malt flavors fit perfectly between "dark" and "milk" chocolate - not too bitter and not too sweet. Eventful balanced maltiness is complimented by delicate and mild hopping and the medium (not thick) body. Aftertaste: Subtle fruity finish, pleasant dry roasty aftertaste. Applications: Intertwined with the history of the industrial revolution, properly made Porters are hearty and satisfying beers for hard-working people that are nonetheless "session" beers - meant to be drunk in quantities. Praying Mantis Porter overwhelms with complexity rather than with quantity of flavor. Mellow enough on its own, but heavenly food combinations abound: with seafoods (especially shellfish), hearty cheeses, chicken dishes or a fine steak. Tastes great after dinner or with a cigar. Temperature-wise, the flavors of Praying Mantis Porter work best when acclimated to 45 degrees or so, just below cellar temperature where the malt flavors begin to stand out, and then blossom as you progress through your pint. There's no hurry. Recipe and Brewer's Notes: The water chemistry provides mineral flavor and body to complement the complex malt and hop ingredients that are drawn from the best of European and U.S. Pacific Northwest strains and sources as well as the time-honored process of traditional brewing techniques. The mineral factor influences the key brewing steps: mashing, sparging, boiling, fermenting and conditioning. Imported from England, the malt bill includes 2-row Pale Ale Barley Malt, Chocolate Barley Malt and a touch of Malted Whole Wheat. Hops include Willamette, Cascade and Tettnang. With its distinctive flavor imprint, the lively Yorkshire-origin Ringwood culture (a top-fermenting "ale" yeast) is used to ferment the beer. The Hartford Better Beer Company is founded by Phil Hopkins and Les Sinnock. Trained by Shipyard Brewing Company's Master Brewer Alan Pugsley twenty years ago, we then brewed and served over a million fresh and frothy pints of beers like Arch Amber Ale and Praying Mantis Porter at our brewpub using the exact same brewing process and ingredients as at Shipyard. Praying Mantis porter............it'll take your head off Contract brewed by Shipyard for the Hartford Better Beer Co. www.hartfordbetterbeer.com

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kp (6300), Woodstock, Georgia, USA

3	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3	6/10	4/5	6/10	3/5	11/20

Nov 25, 2007

Name: Praying Mantis Date: 11/24/2007 Mode: Bottle Source: Tasting dark brown, fine beige head, streaks of drippy lace, sweet chocolate and caramel aroma, rich chocolate flavor, nice caramel sweetness, touch of bitterness, Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 11/20 Rating: 3/5.0 Drinkability: 7/10 Score: *4

argo0 (6289), Washington DC, USA

2.6	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
2.6	5/10	3/5	5/10	3/5	10/20

Dec 29, 2007

(12oz bottle, best before end 5/08) Large beige head atop clear mahogany body. Aroma is medium sweet, licorice, lactic sourness, light raisin. Taste is medium sweet, roast, some anise, earthy/orange, spice. Light-medium body, light effervescence.

jjpm74 (3447), Connecticut, USA

3.7	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.7	7/10	3/5	8/10	4/5	15/20

Aug 2, 2007

Pours brown with a thin tan head. Smells of light roasted malt, some underlying bitterness, elements of citrus and some spices. Tastes of chocolate, mildly hoppy and earthy with some nice hints of bitterness. Mouthfeel is full bodied and quite enjoyable.

5000 (2401), Hardened Liver, Washington, USA

3	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3	6/10	3/5	6/10	3/5	12/20

Jan 1, 2008

Bottle: Deep brown, nearly black, large frothy light beige head, falls quickly, spotty lacing. Airy milk sugar like aroma, slight roasted malt. To me appears to be one of those Porters that is light on everything, and severly lacking. No real roasted malt character to speak of. Light roasted malts on the tongue, but very pale, thin, watery, and lacking in depth. No real body to this one. Spritzy, lactic, even a touch of sourness. Body and mouthfeel are average, er barely. Pretty boring overall, nothing at all interesting. Too thin, spritzy, sour milk, and lacks the roasted malt depth one associates with the style. Blech... Thanks John for the bottle!

aracauna (2251), Georgia, USA

2.8	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
2.8	6/10	3/5	5/10	2/5	12/20

Nov 26, 2007

Cola brown with a huge head. Heavily overcarbonated. After you swirl out the excessive carbonation, it turns into a light-bodied, average porter.

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