RCH Old Slug Porter

Brewed by RCH
Style: Porter
Weston-super-Mare, England

Bottle conditioned: Mellow toasted malts waft from the nose as the thick white dense head sits upon the medium black porter and stays there till the cows come home. Each touch of refill from the bottle re-invigorates the head but it settles back to its half inch of stoic bubbliness and looks at you as if to say. "I’m really too pretty to drink" Toffee and pecan nuttyness arive to great you in the nose just before your first quaff. Mmmm creamy smoothness and just a hint of tart hop bite. Full bodied and rich. The bottle conditioning is at its finest with this one. Oh Yeah. Your cheeks envy the tounge and want to take over breifly for this brew is the penultimate of porters.

Pours a dakr brown, nearly black colour with a very nice aroma of dark chocolate and coffee. Instant bitterness on the tounge is matched by a sweetness and a definite burnt flavour. Coffee beans stay on the palate for quite some time. Really good porter. Plus the Old Slug himself is surely the greatest beer character ever conceived!

It began with the most unbelievable fluffy head I've ever seen. Seriously. I can't say enough about the head on the this beer. It started out huge then settled into an almost merinque-like cream. Big, rich mouthfeel that smacked of chocolate and caramel and a final tartness that reminded me of Guiness or over-use of black patent malt. This is my new all-time favorite porter. The Poxy Boggards rock.

A dashing invertebrate, this Old Slug is, all monocled and moustachioed, (see label, if you can), but how does he taste, that’s all I care about... Deeply, darkly black, as ebon as the night sky, with a full, lush, cocoa-tan head. Aroma: richly roasted, full of espresso-ish notes, dark fruits, prunes, raisins, anise, maple..dang, me, I likes it! Taste: kind of mild...nice, full mouthfeel, but the finish isn’t too longevitous, leaves too soon, very smooth, very nice. A good porter, of that there can be no doubt, with notes of chocolate and coffee riding through the palate and on out in the finish. Every recurrent meeting of lip and cup conjoins in some sort of happiness. Good porter, nice and delicious. This took time to unfold, and it was well worth it...but is it worth it to spend $6 for a 16.9 oz bottle of British porter (that’s what I paid), when you can find a 6-pack of excellent versions of the same from an American craft-brewer, for nearly the same money? No, hook up with Anchor, Sierra Nevada, or Rogue...worth it for an excursion, but nothing else.

1 pint 0.9 fl. oz. bottle. Deep mahogany pour with super-thick fluffy dark khaki head that leaves thick wads of lacing. Vanilla beans, chocolate malts, coffee and irish cream liqueur in the nose. I start to pick up the juicy blackberry aromas toward the bottom of the glass. Super-thick, rich and smooth body. Packed with roasty malts. Pretty dry and bitter hoppy finish. Starts off with chocolate and roasty coffee and finishes with some hops and some dark fruits. Hints of blackberries, cherries and raspberries in the finish. I believe this is the best porter I’ve ever had.

VERY dark, not quite black in colour, with a good bead, off white head is thin but lasts well. Rich malty,stout-like nose is typical I suppose. Palate is smooth & richly flavoured, packed with roasted malt and a hint of hops, the finish just goes on & on & on & on...etc,etc. This is fantastic stuff, and was a gift from a secretive customer, so I don’t know where it was bought.

Bottled 50cl. It pours a ruby beer with ruby reflects. Small creamy beige head. Good retention. The nose is of roasted malt, milk chocolate, lemon peel, cork and mint - very smooth and pleasant with quite a lot of candy. Smooth taste of roasted malt with hints of chocolate, mint, cress, quite a lot of cherries, tar and cork. Slightly vinous. Woody and faintly smoky. Sweet. Some candy floss and lemon peel sneaking in - which I really like. Complex. Light to medium bodied. Nice lacework. Pleasant mouthfeel. Decent bitterness. The finish is dry with hints of coffee, lemon peel, mineral water, snow!? and vanilla. Excellent. Thanks a lot Bov for this wonderful beer!

Cask Handpull at County Hotel, JDW, Ashford. Deep ruby colour with thin beige head. Good choc coffee with some black cherry fruit. Full and velvety in mouth. Excellent porter. Choc is a bit powdery but fruit balances and runs throughout