Renaissance Elemental Porter

Brewed by Renaissance Brewing
Style: Porter
Blenheim, New Zealand

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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Rich ruby black with half inch of rich brown head. Aroma is deep roasty chocolate with espresso, date. Lots going on there. Taste is big, bold, bitter. Lingering bitterness with a touch of dry sweetness. Less fruit than the aroma suggests. A bit too bitter for my liking of the style, would like some more balancing sweetness. Still very enjoyable though.

A diminutive off-white cap reigns above the close to blackness. Whew, that’s an aromatic one with plenty of intricacies. Its dominant feature is probably that of a quality dark chocolate, albeit perhaps a bit fudgey and dense in nature, with plenty of substance, evolving as it warms up toward anise and raisin subterfuges. Bold, chewy and earthy, it showcases abundant esters and bready yeast character, marking one think of blueberry and chocolate muffins. Thick texture with tiny yet abundant bubbles managing to cleanse the palate up and remove the mollasses-like sweetness impression with the help of an above average acidity level from the roast and efficient leafy hops in the background. Impressive ale, certainly far more intense than anything I’ve had in the UK, but focused, well-extracted flavours with intensity and texture yet neglectable alcohol presence. I really need to get to NZ...

Bottle. Chocolate malt and herbal aroma. Dark brown with giant head. Burnt wood, dark chocolate, and lightly bitter herbal hops flavor. Very nice.

Bottle: Pours entirely as a tan head....slowly giving way to almost black ....takes a while. Aroma is heavy, sweet chocolate, roast coffee. Taste is thick, chocolate, a little smoky, dark fruit. Very nice.

Pours a real dark brown colour with very little red highlights. Big frothy mocha-coloured head with good retention and a little lace. Big cocoa nose with some earth notes and mild dark fruits. The taste is more on the roasted malts, but very smooth, not harsh. Just enough hop to balance some bitterness (dryness) that takes time to kick in, but does slowly. Goes down a little too well actually. Very, very nice !

Very dark brown. Thin head. The aroma is rich syrupy chocolatey goodness. Soft chocolate body but with some earthy, tarry overtones and fudgey undertones. The finish is earthy, rooty bitterness. Great balance and complexity.

16.9oz bottle. Very dark brown body. Big light brown head, that soon fades to a reasonable amount. Just a couple loose bits of lace. Medium body. Smooth, soft, kind of stronger carbonation. Sweeter taste. Minimal bitter. Sweet milk chocolate, toasted malts, some light dark fruit. Hint of herbal hop. OK porter. I prefer the bitterness of American examples, a little too sweet for me.

Pours black with moderate tan head. Big chocolate on the nose in the taste Some roastiness but definitely bitter dark chocolate dominates. Slight criticism might be the mouthfeel was a tad watery but otherwise a very well crafted beer especially considering it is only 6%. Didn’t blow me away but quite enjoyable.

Black, tan head.Great nose of roast,alcohol,cocoa.Complex palate has same elements, plus dry malt & condensed milk. Medium body, lasting bitter finish Great stuff

Gusher! Probably not helped by the fact it was rolling around in my trunk an hour before I opened it... Even after settling down, the peaked head lasts a ridiculously long time. Bitter chocolate and oily, roasted malt.