Ringneck Im-perle-ial Porter

Bottle thanks to crizay: Pours a nearly opaque dark mahogany with a thin, wispy-lacing off-white head. Aroma of toasty sweet dark caramel malts with some fresh piny hops and dark chocolate. Body starts lightly sweet with some toasted pale malty notes and fresh resiny flavor hops toward a bittersweet finish with some lingering roasty dark maltiness. A very nicely balanced and complex, yet drinkable imperial porter.

Growler: Poured almost opaque black with a ruby hue. The aroma is roasty and milk chocolatey with a fair amount of smokey notes. The flavor has a good amount of chocolate. Dark chocolate start and milk chocolate finish. Some roasted malt flavors as well. Hoppy flavor at the very finish with a good stiff bitterness and decent warmth. The mouthfeel is soft and almost creamy.

Bottle… Pours a very dark, clear, crimson with a small, fizzy, white head. Restrained notes of caramel and milk chocolate along with berry esters and smoky phenols constitute the aroma. Burnt, medium to heavily bitter flavor produces low residual sweetness and hints heavily at cocoa and coffee grounds. Full-bodied with a lightly creamy mouthfeel and fizzy carbonation. Crisp, bitter finish. Thanks to crizay for sending this bottle from Ohio to his old stomping grounds in Florida!

Thanks to crizay for this in a trade. Chocolatey, roasty, creamy, with a slight resin aroma. This beer pours dark brown with thin head. The beer is thick on the palate, its very chocolatey and roasty, earthy.

22 handbottle. Or at least handlabel. Thanks, Boboski! This is great stuff. Black. Thick, perfectly smoothly level, moussy head. Decent webby lace. Rich cocoa chocolatey nose. Thick and creamy medium chalky body. Maybe the all-time great porter body: sessionable but still distactingly good. Rich chocolate, cocoa, and light roast and toast notes across the mid-palate. Lovely stuff. Long, thick, sticky, clinging finish, lightly bitter. This is a great little beer.

Name: Imperial Porter
Date: 07/23/2007
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub

opaque dark brown with ruby edges, wispy beige head, splattered lace, rich milk chocolate aroma, rich chocolate flavor, just enough sweetness to bring out the chocolate, light bitterness stays in the background to provide balance, not much complexity just good solid chocolate from start to finish is the way I like it

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **4

22 oz bomber, also available on tap @ Brew Kettle as of 12/1/06: Dark brown, almost black opaque w/ a lasting tan head. Initial aroma is roasty malt, but chocolate and light herbal/floral hop as well. Chocolate and nutty w/ a hint of caramel and oddly enough, vanilla and just a mild burnt finish in the aroma. Almost like chocolate chip cookie dough. Clean of most hop and fruitiness as well as yeast character otherwise. Flavor is well balanced w/ a coffee malt flavor and a lightly dry finish that is lightly bitter. Coffee roastiness throughout, and even though dominant, very rounded, not harsh or biting. Light toasty and nutty malt flavor. A light bit of dry resiny hop and dark grainy flavors, but again, not harsh. Lighter medium m/f, medium carbonation, very well hidden alcohol, dry at first, but smooths out as it get swished around the mouth, then dries out again as swallowed. Just MHO, but another winner from Brew Kettle! CASK VERSION: A lot of the similar flavors/aromas, but much smoother and more rounded w/ a lack of carbonation! I’d give it about a 4.0 to 4.1 for this version! 11th anniversary, and a free pint at that!

Courtesy of Crizay. Thanks Chris. Fairly hoppy aroma, perfume. Roasted malt and dark fruit are present. The body is a dark brown with some red highlights and a wispy mocha head. The first sip gives much of what was hinted at in the aroma: Dark fruits, chocolate, lots of hops which combine their bitterness with some less pronounced roast bitterness. Decent and reminds me a lot of Gonzo Imperial Porter, but not quite as well done.