Meantime London Porter

Brewed by Meantime
Style: Porter
London, England

Deep dark amber colored, slightly cloudy appearance. Little light brown head. Berry aroma with nice licorice, some sourness also here. Surprisingly carbonated palate, medium bodied. Flavor is also strongly sour with berries and strong licorice. Aftertaste turns to mildly roasted with sweetness. Good one, though not as excellent than expected.

Bottle. Pours a brown/dark red color with a big fizzy head. The first thing I notice about this beer is that it is overcarbonated. The aroma is a tad malty, grainy, dark toast and maybe nutty. Flavor is good, but beer just has too much carbonation. Drinkable for sure, but not my favorite porter by a long shot.

In the 750 mL bottle from Beertopia. This bottle was so full that there was dried beer around the top of the cork seal and no headspace. Also, there was no pressure under the cork when it was popped. However, my concerns were for naught as the beer poured a beautiful beige head atop a dark brown (not black) beer. The aroma seemed slightly sour, but also the smell of sorhgum. The falcor was delightful: sweet from dense molasses and sorhgum flavors and mildly chocolate. Has a clearly defined bitterness as evidenced by the residual drying bitter flavor in the terminal palate. This was not coffee-like, not was it roasted at all. This is what I want to taste in a true porter. Really nice and I think underrated here at 3.5!

750ml, corked, bottle conditioned, courtesy of John White. Deep ruby red, excellent lasting creamy white head and gentle condition. Gentle fruity berries, chocolate and a distant roasty smokiness in the nose, quite soft and subdued in the mouth with delicate chocolate sweetness and a fruity edge initially before developing a slight roasted dryness and some buttery notes. Low toasted bitterness in the finish, and a whiff of woodsmoke right at the end. Apparently it is a blend of three different beers, one of which has some Brett character although this doesn’t seem apparent in the bottle I had. Both this and the IPA I tried had labels with an American importer on them (AI Imports, via Lionstone Int of Lake Forest, IL.) so I guess they are heading Stateside sometime soon.

Big coarse light brown head doesn’t last. Deep dark red barely translucent body. Fruity metallic sweetish earthy spicy licorice aroma with wooden vinuous notes. Quite complex. Sweet burnt peppery taste of wood, roasty malts and licorice with metallic notes. Strange, unbalanced mouthfeel. Dry, peppery roasty medicinal aftertaste. Very nice, and quite strange. (0.75l bottle.)

Bottle. hazy dark brown. Malty chocolate aroma, notes of coffee and caramel. Sweet amlty flavour of chocolate, cocoa, vamilla and caramel. Roasty finish.

Bottle. Ruby-brown beer with a tan head. Chocolate aroma with some coffee, roast and sweetness. Creamy mouthfeel with chocolate and sweet malt starting and fading to more roastiness and nutiness and a touch of bitter hops. Roasty, slight smokiness lingering. Medium body. Solid porter.

Thanks to Badgerben for sharing this impressive porter. I have gotten bored with the style but this beer reminds me what a porter can be. Aroma has smoke, chocolate, coffee and tobacco. Flavor has some wine, with roasted and lightly sweet malt. Thick and heavy on the palate.