The Duck-Rabbit Baltic Porter

Brewed by The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery
Style: Baltic Porter
Farmville, North Carolina USA

Bottle. Thanks to lb4lb Thanks. Poured a very rich black with a thin tan head. Aroma is coffe, chocolate, and malty. Taste is malty in the face with a coffe finish.

Bottle. [thank you, BierKönig - I know I still have to give you a ’95 Chimay Bleu for it :o)
[Vintage 2006]
Poured in my tulip glass. As it pours, it looks deep brown, but as it settles like oil in my glass, it becomes inpenetrably pitch-black. A medium creamy head sits firmly on top with a cappucino hold to it. Great laces as I swirl the beer gently in my glass, anticipating the first whiff, and after that, the first sip! Aroma is oaky, heavily roasted with a great touch of dark chocolate mixing well. The alcohol is evident, but only enhances the deep, dark and powerful aromas. There is some degree of tobacco and port as well. Mouthfeel is light, but still excessively creamy, with a sluggish, mild carbonation - only prickling lightly on my tongue. Wow, what a dense, creamy and mildly stunning degree of chocolate there’s in this beer! Coffee, tobacco, warming viniousness. Extremely well-balanced between the bitter, roasted, sweet and vinious tones. Really, really wonderful. And thank you, Jeppe!

Pours black. That’s about all there is to say about the color, this stuff is dark. There’s a beige head that fades pretty rapidly leaving just a thin ring. The initial aroma of dark, bittersweet chocolate is noticeable as soon as I opened the bottle. The mouth feel is thick and quite smooth. There’s a moderate about of carbonation to tingle the tongue as well. Initially the flavor is that of dark chocolate. The alcohol provides a warming sensation on the way down. The alcohol is well played in this one. It is not overbearing nor unpleasant. As the beer warms, roasted coffee flavors begin to emerge, along with some dark fruit. There are some faint bitter hops detected in the aftertaste, along with roasted coffee.

12oz Bottle Recieved this long sought after beer from my Secret Santa, thanks again Tayner. Duck-Rabbit’s Baltic Porter pours as black as the ace of spades. There’s a hint of light peeking through if directly backlit. A one-plus dark brown head rose on the pour but fell rather quickly to a skimming. The head could have stuck around a little longer but besides that it’s a really good looking porter. This beer smells big of freshly brewed black coffee. It’s the most coffee I’ve come across from a porter. Dark chocolate plays a big part in the aroma as well. The maltiness present is some dark doughy bread. The coffee dominates. If you ask me this turns out to be a great combo. Big coffee upfront fades slightly and combines with the dark chocolate to create a great flavor combination. The doughy malts join the coffee and chocolate mid-palate and while all these flavors work through to the swallow dark fruit makes it’s appearence. This is one of best, if not the best, Baltic style porters I have ever had. Mouthfeel has just the right amount of heft for the heavy flavors. Good viscosity as it coats the tongue with each sip. The carbonation is sluggish and lets the beer works its way through slowly. The alcohol will leave your cheeks feeling a little arm. This is a perfect beer with which to sip away these cold Winter evenings. This beer is a sipper for sure and the abv won’t let you drink too many but I’d drink these till I couldn’t anymore. This is my second offering from Duck-Rabbit and one of the best Baltic style porters I have yet to sample. This is a beer not to be missed. If you see it pick some up. 12/16/07

Assertive roast, mild licorice and hint of black cherry, along with easily perceptible alcohol in the nose.Just shy of stout-like obscurity - almost black. Thin khaki head with good persistance. Sweet - very lactic (slightly sour) prominant roast character, and noticeable bitterness. Again - I’m thinking hint of black cherry - combination of the esters, roast, and hint of sour. Very complex. Very silky, full moutfeel. Velvety - nice. Overall - a nice brew - Baltic . . . nah, too complex and way too much roast - Baltics are sweet - slightly caramelly malt liquors. This belongs in the Imperial Robust Porter category.

Bottle. Very dark brown with a light brown head that quickly goes down to a slight brown layer on top of the beer. Big, roasty, sweet nose...chocolate, coffee, and figs. Very involved flavor of caramel, hops, plums, and coffee. Nicely balanced, leaves the mouth feeling quite clean for this complex and strong of a beer. A perfect winter beer that warms you up without much burn. My favorite beer from this great brewery, and perhaps my favorite beer period. I’m rerating after aging some for nearly a year since it improves in depth, balance, and finish with some time behind it.

Bottle, courtesy of alexanderj. Dark brown pour, thick looking, thin tan head dissipates quickly. Lots of chocolate in the aroma, roasted and smoked malt, and some lactic acid. The flavor is both bitter and sweet, mostly chocolate, caramel, coffee, some burnt malt in the finish.

Bottle from ucusty. Dark oil black with a thin brown head. Awesome mix of burnt and roasted malt with some chocolate as well. Some noticeable alcohol as well. Very strong and flavorful with roast, smoke, chocolate, coffee, and some light dried fruit followed by a nice bitterness and pleasant alcoholic notes. Creamy mouth-feel with a dry bitter finish. Fantastic!