Lightning Black Lightning Porter

Near black in color with a tall glistening, tan head. Very grainy aromas. Some hints of cocoa, dark cherries and old wood. If not for the grain , I would find the nose intriguing. LIght oil with lots of eff. Sweet roasted malt, dark chocolate and cherries in the flavors. Very pleased with the flavors after the slightly less than inviting nose. A mix of malt and fruit in the middle. Sweet cocoa in the finish. Strong finish and linger with light spice and alcohol on the tongue. Not something I would indulge in frequently, but certainly something to imbibe on a cold evening. One of those brews that the whole seems to be much better than the parts. Disjointed, yet alluring. Thanks BrockLander!

22oz bottle. Small tan head atop black body with brown edges. Aroma is moderately sweet, vinous, some nut. Taste is sweet, roast, alcohol/vinous, grapefruit, light nut. Medium body, fairly smooth but for the alcohol burn.

Well, I bought my bottle in June 2009 and it’s apparently infected like the last lot of raters seem to indicate. On the other hand, it was nowhere near agressive. The sourness was minimal, far less than most other American porters who have a tendency to contain lots of citric hops, though of course not the same type of acid. It pours pitch black. A large tan head quickly covers it up, leaving random lacing everywhere, with every sip. And it lasts. In the nose, it’s pretty one-dimensional, focusing on straight dark malt flavours. You can imagine coffee easily, you can link to to dark chocolate as well, but there’s not too many other associations I could make besides burnt toast. There’s no smokiness, no fruitiness, no sugar effect. It’s just plain old dark malts crammed into a bottle. I can’t complain that the beer was expensive, but its higher ratings are simply a follow-up on the whole ’bigger is better’ scheme that scores follow here and elsewhere. In mouth, as it warms up, it opens up a bit and the brett becomes more noticeable. It’s more of a floral and earthy aromatic component, not displaying the basket of exotic fruits that it sometimes gather. The palate sure is dry on the other hand. Minimal floral, leafy hops grow up in the finish, but the bitterness mostly comes from the coffee-like malts. Were the brett flavours more pronounces, I might actually have enjoyed it a fair bit.

22 oz bottle. Pours black with a thick huge bubbly tan head. Aroma of sour cherries, brett, puke and chocolate. Flavor is sour but rich and chocolaty at the same time, ewww. Thick mouth feel. This thing is definitely infected and not really even drinkable. What’s with So Cal Porters, this is the second infected one I’ve had in the last couple of weeks, the other one was Bayhawk Chocolate Porter. Drain pour.

Bottled.. Poured black with a fluffy mocha head.. Aroma was olives, brett, and sour milk.. Taste was dark chocolate and sour milk.. Way over carbonated.. This stuff would probably be very good if it wasn’t infected.. Will re-rate if I get the chance.

gushed a dark brown. heavily infected. loads of brett and funk. overly carbonated. Need to try this one again.

Aroma is of sourness, beer is clearly infected. Flavors come through in taste, but overpowered by the sourness.

Bottle thanks to Naven. Pours black with a thick tan head. Aroma is dominated by sour notes. Flavor is slightly roasted with some oak and bubblegum but sour notes crop up too. I would guess this is infected since I can taste some of backbone porter notes in the flavor. Still, seems like a common problem for this brewery? It’s not bad but still would have liked to try this beer as *I think* it was intended. 6/4/7/3/14 (3.4/5)