Tuatara London Porter

Brewed by Tuatara Brewing Company
Style: Porter
Paraparaumu, New Zealand

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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Wow - American-style Porter! Like a dark Little Creatures! Great fresh malt, rich chocolate, biscuit aroma with American hops mixed through. I’ve often complained about porters which rely too much on specialty malts and lack base malt character, but this is one which has plenty of base malt. I’ve also often wondered whether Cascade hops would work with a dark beer - and it does (lucky, because I just brewed an Imperial Stout with them!) Doesn’t taste quite as good as it smells but has a nice soft, sweet chocolate flavour with lots of currants. Strong hop flavour but not very bitter. Perhaps lacking a bit of guts as noted below but still very good. Light but firm body, low carbonation. Nice - wish I could get more of this. Onya beer_ledgend!

It’s dark here so I’ll just say that this beer is a bright blue and iridescent rainbow glitter mix. Heavy roasted smell, hint of smoke or tobacco, light fruit, salt, I let this sit and it morphed into a wonderful sweet medium chocolate aroma - cool. The taste is all over the place pleasing with a huge change from finish to end. Bitter choco, good tasting roast, somewhat lengthy bitterness on the back end, ashy and a bit burnt on the finish - wonderful breath. Fine brew!

Bottle@the White House, Wellington
Ruby tinged dark brown with slight white head. Chocolate, red berries and caramel on the nose. Fairly dry with smoky malt and same flavours as aroma. Long fruity malt finish. A good beer.

UPDATED: JAN 18, 2006 Tasted 14/03/2005. 330ml bottle from Regional Wines and Spirits. Deep dark, almost black, brown with a garnet tint against the light. Thick billowing tan head that thins out and laces well, right down the glass. Aroma is a lovely roasty malt and sweet chocolate with a hint of coffee. Flavour is bittersweet dark chocolate, toasty, with a little liquorice. Palate is just a touch powdery. An extra couple of points for the flavour and palate of the hand pumped version at Bodega - tasted 05/05/2005.

Hand pump, Bodega, Wellington. Dark black colour, creamy tan head, malty armoa. Satisfyingly creamy smoothness in the mouth, roasted malt that leaves a nice bitter finish.

330ml brown bottle. Deep brown in colour, red highlights. Tan head, a few random spots of lace. Nose has dark chocolate and roasted notes, a little sweetness. Taste has roasted and chocolate malt, notes of caramel, dark cherry. Finishes with roasty bitterness and light hops. Medium body with decent carbonation. A nice porter overall.

Pours black with ruby/copper highlights. Nose shows a lot of sweet crystal, they weren’t joking about the "generous" amounts of specialty malt. Also nice nutty notes and soft roasted hints. Flavours present more dominant roasted malt but includes some harsh notes. Not enough sweet malt (which is wierd considering the aroma). Good carbonation, not too high!

Lovely deep russet/ruby colour with a swiftly dissapating head, but evidence of lingering carbonation. This beer started out with an aromatic wine aroma (Riesling/Pinot Gris) but slowly gave way to more coffee and burnt caramel aromas. Excellent mouthfeel, sweet chocolate flavours and again a vinous flavour to it. Sauvin hops? I could be wrong. An intriguing drop and not at all what I expected out of a London Porter. I’d definitely have another one if only to attempt to try and figure this beer out.

Large tan head very dark Red/brown porter almost mahogany.Aroma chocolate nice malt and good hops vanilla caramel touch,flavour roasted chocolate rich and smooth,yeast taste,fizz mild,mourishing porter,dark fruit taste ,finish smooth rich mild bitterand fizz good porter.

Dark body with light brown head. Light milky chocolate aroma but the taste is more of roasted bitterness and less of the chocolate, more of a robust style where there is more of a roasted bitterness coming through than the chocolate notes that I expect.