Porter
A. Le Coq

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From:
A. Le Coq
 
Estonia
Style:
Baltic Porter
Ranked #146
ABV:
6.5%
Score:
81
Ranked #25,874
Avg:
3.45 | pDev: 14.2%
Reviews:
17
Ratings:
32
Status:
Active
Rated:
Feb 25, 2023
Added:
Nov 25, 2003
Wants:
  5
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
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Rated: 3.85 by The_Kriek_Freak from Pennsylvania

Oct 31, 2022
Photo of NeroFiddled
Reviewed by NeroFiddled from Pennsylvania

3.88/5  rDev +12.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
A. Le Coq "Porter"
,5L brown glass bottle "BEST BEFORE L.25.12.21 08:26 O/AK"
$2.39 @ State Line Liquors, Elkton, MD

Notes via stream of consciousness: I'm a little bit surprised by the color as I pour it out. It's clearly lighter in color than many porters, and now taking a look at it in the glass it's a kind of a dark chestnut and ruby. It's clear, which is nice, and it's got a great head of creamy khaki colored foam. I'm getting chocolate and caramel in the nose which is a little bit surprising but I won't argue. Wow, that carries over into the flavor as well. Unfortunately there's a mettalic thing going on that hurts it. It's sweetish, caramelish, just lightly like milk chocolate, a hint fruity (plum, perhaps), and mildly leafy, florla, and grassy. That mettalic note hits at the finish though. In the mouth it's medium to medium-light in body, and fairly soft and smooth with a fine-bubbled, moderate carbonation. The head held up very nicely and it's left tattered sheets of lacing behind. In the end I think this is a fine beer, in its own style, with one minor hiccup. It's nicely caramelish, and it has an ABV of 6.5%, but it's not quite rich enough to be labeled a porter in my opinion.
Review #7,569
Nov 25, 2021
 
Rated: 3.83 by Robertas from Lithuania

Aug 25, 2021
 
Rated: 3.78 by balizz

Jun 09, 2021
 
Rated: 3.67 by Boone757 from Virginia

May 11, 2021
 
Rated: 3.62 by travelguy from Ohio

Mar 02, 2021
 
Rated: 3.73 by MGibbons from Maryland

Oct 29, 2020
 
Rated: 3.5 by paulish from New York

Jul 22, 2019
Photo of eng788
Reviewed by eng788 from Washington

3.5/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Drank from a bottle in a pub in Kuopio, Finland, so couldn't evaluate look or smell very well. Taste was sweet and roasty, without any perceptible bitterness from either hops or roasted malt. Very smooth mellow flavor with a relatively dry finish given the overall sweetness of the beer. As a person who generally doesn't like sweet beers much I really enjoyed this one because of its dry finish.
Jun 28, 2019
 
Rated: 3.63 by Asics from Washington

Jun 23, 2019
Photo of MrOH
Reviewed by MrOH from Maryland

2.91/5  rDev -15.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.75
Clear dark brown, ruby highlights, not much in the way of head or retention
Lots of dried fruit, hint of cocoa, sherry-like notes
Kinda tastes like watered-down PX sherry with a bit of cocoa powder mixed in
A bit thinner than I'd like for the style
Meh
Nov 10, 2018
 
Rated: 3 by Noelito76 from New York

Aug 27, 2018
Photo of Mav221
Reviewed by Mav221 from Canada (AB)

4.38/5  rDev +27%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Medium bodied, with nice finish. Great carbonation, creamy head. Suitable for drinking in all weather. Suitable alcohol content. More enjoyable than I had anticipated. Much more flavorful at near room temperature (as opposed to right out of the refrigerator). Taste of prunes, color dark amber. I will buy it again.
Aug 21, 2018
Photo of biboergosum
Reviewed by biboergosum from Canada (AB)

3.66/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
500ml, black foil necked bottle - I've probably mentioned it before, but 'A. Le Coq' sure doesn't sound very Estonian.

This beer pours a clear, medium red-brick brown colour, with three fingers of puffy, finely foamy, and somewhat fizzy tan head, which leaves some layered and streaky lace around the glass as it quickly evaporates.

It smells of semi-sweet, bready and doughy caramel malt, a bit of dark berry fruitiness, mild ashy notes, some faint earthy yeastiness, wet tobacco, and very tame leafy, herbal, and floral green hop bitters. The taste is grainy and bready caramel malt, some free-range char, cheap chocolate wafers, muddled black orchard fruity notes, ethereal yeast, and more well understated leafy, musty, and dead floral hoppiness.

The carbonation is average in its palate-satisfying frothiness, the body a solid middleweight, and generally smooth, with nothing really getting too uppity at this point in the process. It finishes off-dry, the malt and frooty characters locked in a lingering tango.

Overall - yeah, this one possesses an agreeable enough flavour, but still seems a tad underwhelming. It could just be the expectations of a higher ABV, but I'm more or less happy, given how, um, affordable it was.
May 31, 2018
Photo of metter98
Reviewed by metter98 from New York

3.62/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
A: The beer is black when viewed from afar but when held up to the light traces of dark brownish red are visible throughout the glass. It poured with a half finger high light tan colored head that died down, leaving some thin patches of bubbles on the surface, a narrow collar around the edge, and some specks of lacing down the sides of the glass.
S: Notes of dark fruit—plums seem to stand out in particular—are present in the nose.
T: The taste has flavors of dark and chocolate malts with hints of plums.
M: It feels a bit more than medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This beer seems to be a little sweeter and not as roasty and bitter compared to some of the other beers in the style.

Serving type: bottle
Apr 29, 2018
Photo of woodychandler
Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania

3.57/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
It is always a rolling celebration in the wake of a visit from tone77, my local, in-person trading partner! He made his latest drop-off/pick-up last week & I was elated to find this bottle among the many goodies.

From the bottle: "210th Anniversary"; "Dark quality beer with full taste"; "Since 1807"; "The history of A. Le Coq dates back to 1807. More than 200 years of experience have helped us to find the secret of a good beer. A. Le Coq Porter's dark flavor and rich aromas give tints of roasted malt, feels black bread and caramel. They are complemented by the nuance of dried fruits and the dark chocolate appearing in the final taste."; Bitterness[:] 17 IBU[;] Colour[:] 64 EBC[;] Wort density[:] 15.0% P".

As soon as I Pop!ped the cap, I got some foaming action coming up through the neck! Eeek. I then began a slow, gentle pour to alleviate the goings-on, but my concern seemed misplaced as it settled fairly quickly once in the awaiting glass. An in-glass swirl raised a brief finger of foamy, light-tan head with low retention, quickly falling away to wisps. Color was Dark Brown to Very Dark Brown (SRM = > 27, < 34) with NE-quality clarity & garnet highlights. Nose smelled of coffee, dark chocolate, treacle, dried dark fruits, dark bread & a light sourness. As to that last, it is imperative that reviewers (especially, not necessarily raters) pay attention to the site's style guidelines, which read: "The addition of stale ale also lent a pleasant acidic flavor to the style, which made it quite popular." This means that the sour acidity is a part of the style and NOT a reason for a downgrade. Mouthfeel was thin-to-medium, not watery, but not much beyond it, either. The taste was decent, but not as pronounced as the nose, nor as intense as many others that I have had in this style. The sour acidity was actually quite low in this one, which was kind of disappointing. Instead, it was quite bready and chocolaty with hints of treacle and dried dark fruits. If anything, it simply lacked the Ooomph! that I would prefer from the style. It was quite pleasant as a drink and the ABV was not overwhelming either. Finish was semi-dry, bordering on semi-sweet with the breadiness especially lingering. Not bad, but not great, either. Still, a nice interlude on a still-cold Spring evening.
Mar 24, 2018
Photo of tone77
Reviewed by tone77 from Pennsylvania

3.41/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Poured from a brown 16.9 oz. bottle. Has a cola color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is bready malts, some molasses. Taste is mild, dark breads, light grains. Feels medium/light bodied in the mouth and overall is easy drinking for the abv and an alright beer.
Dec 20, 2017
 
Rated: 3.27 by shelby415 from Oregon

Oct 07, 2017
Photo of bark
Reviewed by bark from Sweden

3.12/5  rDev -9.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
The colour is deep red-brown (90 EBC), the liquid is clear. The two finger head is beige and very compact. It sinks slowly leaving some lacing in the glass.

The smell is malty and roasted with some sour notes. Cocoa, caramel and a touch of coffee. Mild, clean bitterness.

The taste is light, especially considering the strength. Clean bitterness, roasted malts, lots och caramel and a light sweetness. Some murky notes of wet cardboard in the background. Light to medium body. The aftertaste is somewhat sweet with brown sugar, caramel and some malt sourness. The short finish is dusty.

The carbonation is lager-strong. The large bubbles are short-lived. The liquid is semi-smooth.

Not a very good Baltic porter.
Jan 28, 2014
Porter from A. Le Coq
Beer rating: 81 out of 100 with 32 ratings