Ringneck Im-perle-ial Porter

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.

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.

Appearance: Pours a dark brown, red-edged body with a small, wispy white head. Smell: Dark malts with a touch of scorched grains and some burnt sugar. Taste: Basically a follow-through of the aroma, with more dark malts, scorched grains, and burnt sugar, though you do get a nice hint of chocolate. Earthy, moderate bitterness to balance that lasts till the finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: It’s alright, regardless of the creepy label adorning the bottle.

Pours a deep brown color with a light brown head. Aroma is malty, roasty, astringent, some green apple, and a hint of chocolate. Flavor is malty, roast, chocolate, and an astringent bitter roast finish.

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.

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.

On tap at brewpub

I wanted to try at least one beer before making it to miketd’s for a Sunday afternoon tasting. This seemed to be the most interesting thing on offer so I ordered a pint. Since it was a Sunday it was only $2.50 which make it that much better. If this is from the new brewer he is doing a good job already.

Aroma / Appearance - The shaker glass held a deep black body with a thin mocha head. Coffee, spruce, cocoa and a general sweetness form an interesting combination of scents. It reminds me of black coffee with a hint of smoke and pine.

Flavor / Palate - Peat and spruce make the hops the most obvious flavor to hit the senses first. The maltiness follows in the body which is a little thin for my liking. The taste of brownies and expresso make up for it. It is almost like a black and tan done with an IPA and stout.

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