Rinkuškiai Lobster Lovers Porter

Brewed by Rinkuškiai
Style: Strong Pale Lager/Imperial Pils
Biržu raj., Lithuania

Serve in Dimpled mug, Footed Pilsner, Lager glass, Stein

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Call me crazy but on cold winter evenings one thing I really love is to sit down w/ a horrendous Lithuanian beer, bonus points if it has a nonsensical name relating to sea life and extra bonus points if it’s labeled in a style that it is not. Naturally, I am exceedingly excited to try Lober Lover’s Beer Porter which is some sort of murderous variety of Eastern European malt liquor. It pours a hazy orange golden color w/ a small head of fine bubbles. It doesn’t look good but doesn’t look horrible either. It smells horrible which is fortuitous for an awful beer connoisseur such as myself. I would liken it to partially fermented apple cider and alcohol. And speaking of partially fermented and alcohol, it is dominated by worty sweetness w/ a finish dried by an isopropyl-like burn. The texture is somehow both flat and flabby and stinging w/ carbonation. Overall, this is not quite as magnificently atrocious as I had hoped but I can safely say it is very bad. Rather than being to mind toxic waste and the city of Los Angeles, it meerly tastes like what it is: a high gravity malt liquor w/ adjunct grains and/or sugars piled on for an extra dose of cheap alcoholic oblivion.

Near clear dark golden pour with ring of offwhite head. When I first opened it, it smelled EXACTLY like banana nut bread. However, after a few seconds that faded away to just caramel and aclohol sweetness. Flavor is a bit medicinal and has a fairly harsh bite on the tail. Not my favorite from these guys, but better as it warms up. Reminds me of mouthwash mixed with a barleywine.

Bottle: Porter? I don’t think so. Although the bottle I have has a different label and says 5.2%... Odd. Pours a copper color with a white head. The nose is vaguely roasty with a whisp of coffee, but it could be mental. Mostly it’s just sweet with alcohol and a bit of grainy husky adjunct-laden lager notes. The flavor confirms with just a thin sweetness and a brash boozy finish. Not a porter, sorry. Even if it called itself a malt liquor, I might only give it a 2.

Bottle: I bought this thinking it would be a porter, and although it’s listed as a Baltic Porter here, it’s anything but. Pours a clear bright copper with a spotty-lacing off-white head. Has a caramel and toffee sugary nose with a touch of light fruity esters and a hint of sweet corn. Starts with a finely-dissolved carbonation and sugary maltiness with some light fruity notes, maize and lager-yeasty character before a slightly more bitter, but still fairly sweet finish with lingering bitterness. A misleading name for a beer that should be listed as a European strong lager.

Bottle. Pours a deep, crystalling red-orange with foamy off-white head. In general, it’s a very attractive beer, but not at all what I was expecting from a "porter." Ok, whatever. I’ll try to be open-minded. Taking a whiff, the aroma is spicy and sweet with a dense maltiness and some high alcohol. The flavor is exactly like the aroma--rich malt and some spicy high alcohol. It’s drinkable, but very uninteresting.

Oversized bottle (1pt, 9oz). Do not open this expecting a baltic porter or porter of any kind. Maybe a brown or strong ale would be a more realistic style. The bottle does say porter though. Pours a light brown with very little head or carbonation. Sweet caramel with some fruit tastes. Nothing special.

Bottle from Malt & Vine. Pours ruddy copper with a foamy 4 finger beige head. Aroma is sort of dark malt. Maybe a fruit touch. Medium body with foamy carbonation - it quickly thins a bit as the carbonation leaves. It’s lightly malty and lightly fruity, then something strong seizes the mouth - like a combo of heat, metal and herb hop. Several essays suggest a mild astringency. Very unusual. Euro strong lager seems a more likely style. Light baltic porter could work too!

It says porter right on the bottle. In brown glass, held up to the light, you can see through the bottle. Maybe porter is subject to interpretation. Pours a light and clear amber, sweet, strawberry, malt syrup. Sweet up front, slow growing sting of metal. One sip, done.