Arcadia Shipwreck Porter - Arcadia Brewing Company

Gaisgeil

Michigan

4.2/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

If you don't like bourbon, I highly recommend you stay clear of this one. Pours a deep, almost black brown in color with a thin wispy tan head that left a crown all throughout. Nose is distinctly bourbon, alcohol, vanilla, old wood. Taste is very much the same, initially the bourbon hits followed by a dose of vanilla, bittersweet chocolate and roast. The finish has a lot of vanilla. I quite like this, but the bourbon really dominates which I don't really like, I prefer when it takes a backseat in a beer, but alas, it is what it is.

I liked this a lot though overall.

Slàinte!

Serving type: bottle

04-23-2006 05:24:22 | More by Gaisgeil

ypsifly

Michigan

4.53/5  rDev +17.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

The second installment of the Brew Crew Big Beer Series. Packaged in bombers featuring what looks like a sailing ship from the 19th century beached and laying on its port side with a lone figure walking precariously along the upturned starboard.. Side of the label sez, "Marooned on a deserted island after a violent storm shipwrecked him, Brewer John Osborne used whatever raw materials and supplies he could salvage from the flotsam of the wreckage to brew his beloved Porter, including oak barrels that once held 10-year old whiskey. Rescue could now wait! This legend and our Brew Crew Big Beer Series continues...."

This Porter was aged for six months in Evan Williams casks.

Undated bomber purchased at Merchant's in Dearborn, MI and poured into an imperial pint glass.

Damn near black with some hints of reddish brown at the edges. Tan head that rises up and threatens to spill before settling down to a few dense centimeters. Good retention with thick sheeted lace left clinging to the glass.

The nose has lots of bourbon and a good amount of rasted malts and chocolate. Deep, rich and warming. Not as intense as the aromas in the Founders Kentucky Breakfast, but its damn good.

The taste follows along the lines as the nose but it also has a good nutty flavor that works really well. The bourbon flavors are not hot and unrestrained. They add a sweetness that works well with the roasted notes. A bit of alcoholic heat in the back with some lingering heat and roasted flavors in the aftertaste. Well rounded, at least for someone who loves bourbon. Some may appreciate this beer a little more after some aging but I like it now.

For style, the mouth was right on. Full and smooth with no oily residuals. For those of us who like bourbon and bigger beers, this is a real winner and was worth the wait.

Serving type: bottle

04-15-2006 03:17:21 | More by ypsifly