Alpha Klaus Christmas (Xmas) Porter - Three Floyds Brewing Co. & Brewpub

tavernjef

Minnesota

4.83/5  rDev +15.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Deep and very dark brown, nearly black with slivers of glowing amber at the bottom. Finger high foam of light tan sits atop for a good stay. Lacing coats in a thin sheeting eventually breaking into webbings all around the glass top.

Mild chocolate and roasted sweet malt mix with a nice and clean floralesk piney hop start the nose off with a decorous medley. Other mentionables beyond the milk chocolate make for some charred brown sugar and a lovely bourbon laced molasses under current. Impressionable and close to cloning an Imperial stout-like nose. Sometimes wiffs were lighter then others; seemingly changing and without much stability but well worth it when the strength assumes control.

Great flavors here, super fine balance between a sweet and soft chocolate cake backing that continues to lift itself through the softer yeilding piney hops that perk with a incredibly nice and easy bitterness. Very nice to behold. The chocolate borders a coffee roastyness while maintaining its full-on chocolate cake-like fluffyness and richness. The subtle but eager piney edged hops blend across and within the chocolate without much effort and fit together with a swimmingful smoothness. Great finisher too. Bits of anise and licorice spice pop to the surface blending with leftover roasted barley and oatmeal along with mirco bursts of heavy roasted coffee. Wow and yum!

Strikingly fine and smooth body, lightly creamy, lightly bittered with swell chocolate tones and piney hops; just past a medium fullness thats very well rounded and clean. Nothing harsh or out of place here. Finish is strikingly subtle, yet complexing with a delicate drying character and all that wonderful leftover stuff.

An excellent porter! A big chocolatey balancing act with hops and bittering bite that holds true, bold,smooth, and rich the hold ride through. This is a top notcher in my book! Goes down quickly without much labor and is just a f*ckin' great beer. Kudos 3F!

And an even bigger kudos to rhoadsrage for the chance to try this wonder!! Yummalishious!

Serving type: bottle

02-11-2005 02:52:20 | More by tavernjef

Huhzubendah

District of Columbia

4.5/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

2008 bottling consumed Dec 18, 2009

This is actually the first time I have had this beer, and it's from a bottle that has been in my cellar for a year.

Nice thick brown head atop a rich, dark beer. Aromas of chocolate, hops, roasted malt, toffee. A fabulous tasting brew, and easily one of the best porters I have had. This beer is really easy to drink, and I will definitely be picking up a few of these from FFF in a couple of days.

Serving type: bottle

12-19-2009 00:04:13 | More by Huhzubendah

RoyalT

Ohio

4/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance – This porter came out very, very dark in color with a beautiful white head.

Smell – The malts here are dark and roasty. There are some light coffee ground notes here along with some rather aggressive, leafy hops.

Taste – The hops really come out at the taste. They are big for a porter, even an American-style one. The coffee flavor is mild but well represented. There’s a milky sweetness to this flavor profile as well that makes it a complex, very interesting beer.

Mouthfeel – This AP is medium-bodied with some good, gritty bitterness that works well with the creamy milky sweetness.

Drinkability – This is a very balanced, good-drinking porter that went down way too well.

Comments – Big thanks to my BA bro BuckeyeNation for hooking me up with this classic Three Floyds offering.

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2005 00:01:48 | More by RoyalT

largadeer

Kentucky

4/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22 oz bottle from dyan, thanks dogg. This has been a long time want.

Appearance: Poured into a US pint glass. This stuff is extremely foamy, initially pouring with about five fingers of head, which takes a few minutes to settle. Nice head retention once it does settle, holding strong at a 3/4 inch height. The body of the beer is black, opaque, appropriately porterish.

Smell: Nice malty sweetness, big chocolate and coffee notes. Hints of vanilla, carob. Very pleasant.

Taste & mouthfeel: Medium roast coffee and the surprising presence of citrusy hops, which doesn't taste as bad as it sounds. Not as sweet as the aroma suggests, has more of a baker's chocolate sort of quality to it. I was expecting this to be overcarbonated, but the mouthfeel hits the mark for the style quite well; medium bodied, not quite stout thick, and pleasantly dry in the finish.

Serving type: bottle

12-03-2008 01:15:35 | More by largadeer

gford217

Georgia

4.4/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Bottle courtesy of SixPackSunday poured into a snifter.

A: Pours a dark, dark brown out of the bottle that looks black in the glass. The head is a dense three-finger tan that dissipates fairly quickly to a thin coating along the top leaving decent lacing.

S: Smell is mainly burnt coffee and chocolate malts. There is also a definite sweetness as well with vanilla and maybe some oatmeal in the background.

T: Taste picks up where the aroma left off with sweet malts up front but with a burnt coffee kick and some oatmeal smoothness. I also got more chocolate in taste and a hint of hops in the finish with some coffee bitterness as well.

M: Mouthfeel is super smooth with solid carbonation and helps the flavors stick to your mouth.

D: This is one of the better porters I've had in a while and it is certainly drinkable. Highly recommended!

Serving type: bottle

07-26-2008 02:29:30 | More by gford217

scruffwhor

Illinois

4.28/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Appearance- A great creamy brown head. Color was black all the way, no light could penetrate its dark soul.

Smell- Immeadiate hops mixed chocolate and coffee.

Taste- An excellent bitter cappuchino flavor. Starts with hops and ends with hops bitterness.

Mouthfeel- A chewy, creamy palate leaving your taste buds realing with hops and chocolate.

Drinkability- Not to overbearing if your having this AS desert. Definetly a meal in bottle.

Serving type: bottle

12-25-2005 00:51:01 | More by scruffwhor

ZAP

Minnesota

4.33/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Huge resinous hop nose...leafy...tobacco....cannibus...all mixed with an underlying chocolate aroma...truly fascinating...

Rich black appeareance...some light shines through when held directly to a light...and that adds some crimson notes..small black head..

The taste is a slight let-down off the nose..Big Cannibus/tobbacco flavor...chocolate notes...very subtle but they add a nice touch..flavors really mold together nicely as it warms...

Creamy, medium bodied...maybe a tich watery feeling..

This is a hell of a unique porter...unlike any I've had before...hat's off to them for their creativity...this has the feel of a "Special Occasion" beer...I wouldn't want to drink it everyday like I would Dreadnaught, but I would greatly anticipate enjoying a bottle or two every winter..

Serving type: bottle

01-08-2004 02:23:09 | More by ZAP

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

4.03/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Many thanks to Phatz allowing me to try this.

A - Motor oil dark shades of maltiness with medium tan head that possesses decent retention.

S- Roasty malt scents with piney and chocolate notes

T- Crisp, oily, sweet, chocolatey and moderately bitter. A spectrum of flavors with subtle floral hop and twiggy pine tastes juxtaposed roasted nutty walnutlike dryness.

M- Fully balanced -sweet, dry, nutty, oily bitter. A great blend of textures.

D- Quite easy to knock back oz. after oz. as I could have drank the whole bottle had I not been sharing with other beer lovers.

Serving type: bottle

04-08-2007 23:37:56 | More by Slatetank

TheLongBeachBum

California

4.78/5  rDev +14.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

Presentation: A mighty fine looking Bomber, just as the BA Database picture. Delivered into my hands at the hotel that I was staying at for the BA Extreme Weather and Beer Festival by fellow BA Quarre – what a star!

Appearance: A lovely tan brown head forms readily as the beer pours, its starts thin but immediately the beer is in the glass the foam forms from deep within the beer itself and expands upwards with a nitrogenous characteristic, but eventually settles to a thick uniform covering that is over ½” thick. Some lacing above the dark brown, almost black, body lends a very solid appearance.

Nose: Cocoa and rich chocolate, big and bold and just like the aromas you get when you open a box of hand made Belgium Dark Chocolates. In the back end there is a spicy and floral hop aroma that fills the glass together with some light roasted Coffee.

Taste: Wow. This is a bold synergistic mix of all the best characteristics of a modern day Porter with that of a nice well balanced IPA. Chocolate, coffee and hints of toffee, all juxta-posed with raw hops, pine needles, hop oils, and a thick tar like residue that turns bitter as it evaporates on the tongue after the swallow. Finishes with a dry powdery cocoa ending, which has a last gasp hop twist. Hey this is very good. Impressive. Lingers for a while with a dark bitter chocolate mouth.

Mouthfeel: Just perfect, the carbonation aids the well balanced body and the excellent flavor profile. Feels good.

Drinkability: This beer just glides down the gullet; it is so quaffable as to be unbelievable. Immensely drinkable and incredibly well-balanced.

Overall: This really is like a mix between an IPA and Porter, an India Porter Ale perhaps? It is difficult to find fault with this beer. Does that mean it is perfect, well, erm No. But it’s damn near close!

It says “It’s Not Normal” on the label, yep, that just about sums it up!

Highly Recommended!

Serving type: bottle

02-05-2004 08:39:51 | More by TheLongBeachBum

dirtylou

Washington

4.38/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

22oz bomber, Sams-suburban chicago, a whopping $8.99 bomber

popped to celebrate bears and giants W's

appearance: wicked awesome bottle, as usual from FFF. Pours a silky dark, almost black, color. creamy chocolate brown head forms with nice lacing...some ruby highlighting

smell: dark and robust chocolate, characteristic of fresh hopppiness always found in 3F brews. roasty and creamy, some light toffee, coffee bean, cocoa poweder

taste: silky smooth and delicious, fresh and clean hoppiness, milk chocolatey. full flavored, some dark fruitage, raisin, toffee. Quite hoppy for a porter, very enjoyable

mouthfeel: silky smooth, quite nice

drinkability: very very drinkable

Serving type: bottle

12-04-2005 22:17:54 | More by dirtylou

jrallen34

Illinois

3.83/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

I drank this from a 22 oz bottle into my rochefort chalice.

This beer pours black with about 2 fingers of medium tan head. The retention is really good as it takes about 5 minutes to go down completely. As it falls there a nice chunks and lots of soapy lacing that covers all sides of the glass.

The aroma is very very strong. It smells like smoke which is amazing to me, never smelled that in anything other than a rauch. There are also some notes of oak and coffee.

The taste is also wood/smoke that is quite intriguing. I would have thought this was a smoked porter. There are small hints of hops and coffee.

The beer is very heavy on the palate but limited in drinkability.

Serving type: bottle

11-14-2009 04:34:29 | More by jrallen34

cokes

Wisconsin

4.58/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Darkest cherry with a short, ashen brown collar.
Fragrant of burnt coffee, burnt spruce, burnt pine, burnt grapefruit, and vanilla bean (unburnt). There is also a mellow, almost illusory cognac impression deep down in.
Begins with a thickened molasses and chicory maltiness that grows to encompass prune and black raisins and bakers chocolate. It ventures even farther, as rasping cigar smoke and oily espresso shatter forth, then subside to a caramel glaze and oaky vanilla (a la bourbon) sweetness. The next shattering moment is delivered by the hops. All wintergreen menthol, spruce tips, grapefruit rinds, and pine rosin. It's oily, and it is forceful, and it is bitter as hell, but equal on the hop associated flavors. At the close there are lingering burning leaves, a dusting of coffee grounds, a tweak of sugary, red grape vinousness, and more sugared evergreen branches.
Generally medium bodied, teetering possibly thinner, but well situated within the porter domain, with its steady sense of diffuse fleece.
Price not withstanding, this is endlessly gulpable. A fattened hophead porter. If I could get this in sixpacks for the price of the bomber, I'd drink it all season....but that seems to be the case with all of FFF's specialties.

Serving type: bottle

12-12-2005 08:14:08 | More by cokes

kylehay2004

Florida

4.25/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Two finger tan head nearly completely black body with a touch of light getting through. Nice smooth coffee/espresso aroma. The flavor. Burnt roasted malt with a very nice hop flavor, very distinct that many porters lack. Very smooth beer. Moderate carbonation and full bodied. The hop character for this one sets it apart from many other porters. Excellent beer.

Serving type: on-tap

12-30-2011 03:09:57 | More by kylehay2004

TurdFurgison

Ohio

4.22/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Had this from a 3 Floyds bomber. Looked dark and thick, had the trademark 3 Floyds smell (maybe they use the same hops in many of their beers?). Really good taste too.

I don't try too many porters, I guess I never got into them all that much. But this one was good. I'll have it again in the future, especially if I can find it in smaller bottles.

Serving type: bottle

12-04-2005 14:19:29 | More by TurdFurgison

DefenCorps

Oregon

4.13/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

While it's still early December, I'm going to get a head start in my resolutions for 2011 - rid my cellar of detritus in a way that makes me keenly aware of the idiocy that is aging more beers than I can consume in time. Exhibit A: the Alpha Klaus I picked up at Three Floyds at my first (and only) DLD, back in 2008

Highly carbonated, this beer is a very dark brown with coffee colored highlights, there's a dense, brown head with excellent retention and particularly spectacular lacing. The nose is pretty solid too. A very strong anise character is noticeable right away, along with a blend of lactose and moderate roast. The lactose creaminess is particularly enjoyable, working very well with the dark grains which lend chocolate, coffee and graham crackers. And despite its age, there's a definite pine hop presence. It makes me wonder what sort of beast this was fresh. Pretty solid.

The palate opens surprisingly fruity, there's some mellow oxidation with raisins present. This works particularly well with the chocolate and the moderate creaminess that are present, creating a true cookie-like character. Roast character is light, there isn't too much of the balancing bitterness one expects from the heavily kilned grains, especially in a porter. The anise character that I picked out up front isn't as prominent on the palate. While present, it does lend a balancing spiciness to the sweetness. Again, as with the nose, with time, what my palate does pick up is a firm, but present hop undercurrent, piney and mildly juicy.

Medium-light in body with a wonderfully soft and creamy carbonation, this beer has a blend of lactose sweetness, a touch of coffee-like acidity and a little oxidation. At this point, the hops have faded and by quite a bit, but I quite like it this way. I don't remember how much I paid for this, but I'm happy to report that this doesn't fall into the shouldanevercellaredthat file. Enjoyable, I'd drink this again.

Serving type: bottle

12-07-2010 03:59:56 | More by DefenCorps

nickfl

Florida

4.22/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - pours with a small head of medium brown foam on an opaque, black body. Settles quickly, leaves light lace.

S - coffee and nutty chocolate with lots of caramel in the background.

T - dark caramel and green hops up front. Some toffee and bitter chocolate in the background. The beer finishes with pungent, pine and grapefruit hops and smoky dark malt.

M - medium thick body, moderate carbonation, and a slightly sweet finish.

D - very nice, this comes across more like a black ipa than a porter but I don't consider that a reason to complain. A nice balance between the hops and the dark malt.

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2011 03:11:32 | More by nickfl

BeerFMAndy

Wisconsin

4/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22 oz bottle split and poured into a Duvel tulip. No date or info.

Thanks to Beerwolf77 for this late Christmas brew!

A - Totally black with a dark tan head and moderate retention and sticky lace covering the glass. This is a nice looking porter right off the bat. One of the other guys commented on the label and how Three Floyds is "messed up" or something like that. I proceeded to tell him about the type of people 3F employs which made it make sense.

S - Dark chocolate roasted malts with a moderate sweetness and a fig and dark fruit nose. Dry cocoa compliments the American hop pine and citrus character that finishes out the back end.

T - Delicious roasted chocolate malt and semi-sweet chocolate with cocoa and a hearty helping of American hips that balance with the malts. A little pine blends well in this one.

M - Medium-full bodied and completely roasted with a dry bitter finish of roasted malts and hops. Good balance in the mouthfeel.

D - Christmas in July. Nice. It's a drinkable porter year-round but definitely would be more fitting with snow on the ground.

Serving type: bottle

07-26-2010 03:50:03 | More by BeerFMAndy

francisweizen

Australia

4.85/5  rDev +16%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: 2003 Edition. Awesome label on a standard bomber bottle.

Appearance: Holy Shit! Thanks to Qarre for this excellent brew! An opaque, into the void black with a huge head of brown/tan/beige foam, that settles down to a thin layer. This thin layer stays throughout the life of the brew, and leaves lovely brown lace on my Arrogant Bastard shaker pint glass.

Smell: The smell is out of this world. What happens when you mix together a Fullers London Porter and a classy imperial stout? This happens! The aromas are strong and pungant and consist of deeply roasted chocolate malts, dark fruits, caramel, heavy citric hops, and alcohol.

Taste: The taste is simply magnificent. Lovely citric hop flavors waltz with deeply roasted malt flavors, to create this excellent melange of flavors. The hops are assertive up front but calm down towards th middle where the dark fruit and alcohol tastes shine through. The finish is long and everlasting, until the hops appear again, in the form of magnificently piney hop burps! Yum!

Mouthfeel: The mouthfeel is great. Thick, yet not cloying. Heavy, but not too heavy. This is how a porter should feel. Very satisfying!

Drinkability. The 22oz bomber was drained in no time, and I was craving more. This is definately one of the best, if not the best Porter brewed in the good ole' US of A!

Serving type: bottle

02-18-2004 19:43:06 | More by francisweizen

bluejacket74

Ohio

4.45/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

I have a much fresher bottle of Alpha Klaus to review now, so let's see how this one compares to the one I had in the past.

22 ounce bottle. Served in a snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with about an inch frothy tan head. Head retention is good, and there's a lot of lacing, too. Aroma is roasty and hoppy, it smells like piney hops, roasted malt, coffee and bittersweet chocolate. The taste is pretty much just like the aroma, but with the addition of some citrusy (grapefruit) hops. None of the flavors overpower the other ones, which is a good thing in this case. There's also a nice bitter hoppy finish. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's a bit creamy and coating, and is well carbonated. I like this brew a lot, it's really good hoppy porter. I'd certainly buy this again in the future, and it's really worth trying if you've never had this before.

First review of this beer from 8/4/2006:
The beer pours black, with a huge foamy head. There's a bit too much carbonation with this one. Even then, it's still a pretty good looking beer. It smells like roasted malt, coffee, chocolate and some floral hops too. The main taste in this beer is coffee, with some bitter chocolate and a good bit of hoppiness. The taste did get better as the beer warmed. There's also a lingering bitter aftertaste. This is a full bodied beer, with a creamy but overcarbonated mouthfeel. You can't tell the alcohol too much with this beer, it hides the 7.5% ABV well. Overall, this is a pretty good beer, but it could be better if the carbonation was cut down a bit. Cheers!

L: 4.5 S: 4 T: 4 F: 3.5 O: 4

Serving type: bottle

12-04-2011 23:48:44 | More by bluejacket74

tpd975

Florida

4.3/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A: Really nice looking brew. Pours a dark cola brown/black with tinges of cherry red poking thru. A big fluffy 3 finger head builds before dying down to a collar that leaves behind lovely layered lacing, and an oily film.

S: Not as big on aroma as I would have liked, but what I smelled I did enjoy. Nice toasted malts coming at you in waves of dark chocolate with a bit of coffee. Just as you start to enjoy the malty goodness, the hops come cutting thru. The hops yield a nice citrus touch that has an almost floral/green characteristic to them.

T: Man I love 3 Floyds. This one has a wonderful taste from the start. They have built one solid porter here. Tons of burnt cocoa with touches of coffee and smoke. Sweet molasses and a touch of dark fruit make up the middle. Just as you think the flavor will fade into malty oblivion you are smacked across the face by the hops. Tons of floral bitter green c hops come at you in waves of sweet yet bitter citrus fruit. It is like no other porter I have had before. (Go figure coming from 3 Floyds)

M: Medium in body with a lively amount of carbonation. It really clings and allows you to enjoy how multi-dimensional this beer is.

D: Rather drinkable. No hint of the ABV, just malty hoppy goodness in a bottle.

Overall: This is one of those love it or hate it brews. Some of the porter traditionalists will hate what 3 Floyd's has done to this porter. On the other hand I am one of those guys who love brewers who push the envelope. As we know 3 Floyd's never shies away from doing just that. This beer without the blast of hops would be good. I feel as though the added hops bring it to a different level though. That level will be loved by some and hated by others. I find myself in the former group rather than the latter.

I loved Stone 11 for the same reason I love this beer. You can't go wrong with a dark malty brew that has been nitro fueled by the addition of a ridiculous amount of hops for the style.

3 Floyd's keep doing what you do. I'm lovin' it!

Serving type: bottle

03-31-2008 17:14:56 | More by tpd975

LilBeerDoctor

New York

3.03/5  rDev -27.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Reviewed on 8/21/09. Bottle. Pours black with a thick light tan head. Aroma of sweet roasted malt, very sweet. Flavor of sweet malt, chocolate malt, some lactose notes. Pretty bland and boring really; I'm quite underwhelmed. Too sweet and not complex at all. Meh.

Serving type: bottle

12-19-2009 01:18:56 | More by LilBeerDoctor

AgentZero

Illinois

3.85/5  rDev -7.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Shared by some kind BA at the BA gathering at GI.

A - Deep brown, almost black, with a tan head that left a nice bit of lacing on the sides. Somehow the browner color gives it a more interesting look than just plain black.

S - Pretty sweet. Sugar and coffee and chocolate with a little bit of fruity note.

T - Somewhat roasty, with chocolate notes and surprising sweet fruit flavor. I was not expecting this to be as sweet as it was, but perhaps because it is a Christmas porter, it is a little sweeter than normal.

M - Smooth, creamy, light carbonation.

D - Pretty solid, although it feels bigger than it's 6%, which is good or bad depending on if you want to feel drunk or if you want something to placate your need for beer but not mess you up. I'd drink this again.

Serving type: bottle

01-14-2011 15:48:12 | More by AgentZero

Brent

Kentucky

4/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Sampled in August and the beer had held up well, but I had the impression it had mellowed a bit from what it would be nearer the bottling date. Muted unsweetened cocoa powder and a bit of coffe with some coffee-ground bittering. Full bodied, but not thick. Almost a bit a lactose sweetness. A nicely made beer, but I think my expectations may have been a bit high.

Serving type: bottle

08-15-2006 13:02:57 | More by Brent

blackie

Virginia

4.33/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

sent down from the land between the lakes - probably not sufficiently settled, but here goes:

a: pint serving, healthy mocha head coats the black beer below, retention is strong

s: first impression - American hops dipped in semisweet chocolate, caramel structure complimented by layers of roast and sweet grapefruit hops, licorice, more dark chocolate

m: carbonation smooth, medium-full bodied

t: chocolate coated tropical hop nuggets sit atop a bed of well roasted barley, underlying caramel rolled in dark chocolate, hop flavors of fresh grapefruit, more of the astringent side of the roasts comes out towards the finish with a lingering citrus peel bitterness, expertly pulled off without the hop-roast clash I was expecting

d: pretty unique porter that's a pleasure to drink

Serving type: bottle

02-27-2010 04:30:49 | More by blackie

GClarkage

California

3.98/5  rDev -4.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

12/24/05- Purchased via mail order with Archer Liquors in Chicago, ILL.

Presentation- 2005 release. 22oz bottle with a crazy ass tattoed carnie looking thing dumping hops into a pint glass. Kinda a scary way to celebrate Christmas Eve. Poured into two wine goblets.

Appearance- Pretty damn black in color, off white, light brown sugar colored head of about 3/4 inches. Pretty nice lacing left along the inside of the glass.

Smell- Damn, they weren't lying about the hops. Smelled quite bitter with a nice bucketload of some spices...maybe cinnimon?

Taste- Lots, in fact maybe the most dark chocolate flavor I have had in a porter before. Tastes like some funky ass coffee as well. Not really Starbucks like, but maybe some Mexican or Turkish coffee. Has a nice bite to it. Has a nice sugary tang as well in the flavor. Spices come through in every sip. Hops takeover as the prominent taste though, which is odd for a porter, at least ones that I have tried.

Mouthfeel- Pretty well carbonated, in fact way too much IMO for a porter.

Drinkability- Nice change of pace beer. I wouldn't recommend it as a traditional porter, but if someone love hops and love porters, this would be a nice fix for them. Probably a once a year beer for me. Definitely not a session brew.

Serving type: bottle

12-25-2005 05:32:09 | More by GClarkage