Les Trois Mousquetaires E. L. Baltic Porter

(750ml bottle, thanks stine) Small beige head that completely disappears, atop brown-black body. Aroma is moderately sweet, chocolate syrup, some roast, smoke. Taste is medium sweet, smoke, chocolate, some roast, light soy, alcohol. Medium-full body, sticky, low carbonation.

Almost black, clear around the edges beer with a healthy tan head. A very strong, considerably attenuated dark beer which has a fair bit in common with their Porthos (doppelbock). Switch the toastiness to roastiness, add a pinch of alcohol and you’re quite there - the general relation between doppelbocks and baltic porter. By using the same yeast strain, we get similar alcohol connotations, although there may be a further vinous feel here. We’re dealing with both blackberry-like fruitiness and a couple of dark grapes. Not quite juicy though as the lager yeast has done a remarkable attenuating job. The carbonation is therefore quite lively for a beer of this type and the associated alcohol feels warming, but never serves as a focus point flavour-wise. Obviously, a fair bit of roastiness is constantly present. I can’t really box it into a coffee reminding or chocolate reminding mold, more like plain borderline burnt toast. Thankfully, the fruit notes are devoid of inherent acidity, thus avoiding any clash or astringency. Obviously spot on what they were aiming at. Solid all around. Light-medium body has obviously lost a fair bit of thickness through the yeast’s enthusiasm. Seriously, this is much drier than I’d have expected. Certainly not a typical vinous, slightly tart, fruity and rather sweet baltic porter with bold contrasting chocolate notes. More of a roasty doppelbock whose yeast went beyond the call of duty. Now to determine if I like it more than the Porthos... I’m afraid I might be alone in that camp, but I think not. Both are really worth trying, but afterwards, between the very good one, quite available, at a retail price 4.99$ and the very good one, very rare indeed, at 7.99$, I’ll stick with the Porthos.

Pours a mostly opaque black with dark mahogany edges and a thin lacing, wispy dark tan head. Aroma of sweet dark caramel with some dark chocolate and lightly smoked character. Body starts fairly full and dark caramely sweet with some complex smooth smoky chocolate notes before a slightly drier finish. Nicely balanced and very drinkable.

Bottle… Thinkin’ ‘Bout Thirteen Hours O’ Drinkin’ (tew man wrecking crew)… This beer rocks!… Tar black brew with a small, creamy, khaki-colored head. Great retention. Amazing, complex fragrances of dried plum, burnt caramel, tobacco smoke, molasses and cocoa. Full-bodied with a creamy mouthfeel and modest carbonation. Burnt malt and singed caramel provide the foundation for lesser flavors of leather, smoke and chocolate. Reminiscent of De Molen’s Tsarina and Mikkeller’s X 2006. So much going on here. Cheers to glouglouburp for providing this treat!

My Bottom Line:
Sensuous dark chocolate harbors a few dried blackberries, a regal entity morphing into roasting molasses in the last half of each sip. This is a Baltic Porter of the utmost wealth and elegance.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A creamy sheet of foam slowly dissolves into a ring atop the jet black.
-The fruitiness is always contained within the chocolate and molasses sweetness, yet still develops notes of prunes, dates and raisins.
-Amazingly enough, there is no alcohol presence in the flavor profile.
-The flavors are seamlessly integrated into one another; this is cohesion at its best.
-Carbonation is beautifully pillowy, but I’ve heard the bottled versions are livelier. I’ve yet to sample it from the bottle, so a re-rate will come shortly.
-The closest relative to this Baltic Porter I can find is Thomas Hooker’s Imperial Porter. Both sumptuous homages to the malt.
-This has been a superb year for Trois Mousquetaires on the craft beer front. Here’s to many more!

On tap at Vices et Versa.