Porticus - Gasthaus & Gosebrauerei Bayerischer Bahnhof

falloutsnow

Illinois

2.93/5  rDev -17.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

Found a bottle at a Minneapolis liquor store. Had never seen this before, so I thought I'd give it a try. The guy at the store said they had just gotten it in, so I'm sure the bottle is fresh.

As the other reviews state, pours a huge, light brown head that's quite fluffy (think fire-roasted marshmallow texture) and leaves big clumps of lacing. Dark brown colored body, quite opaque.

The scent is quite interesting, light cocoa, coffee, and smoke scents alongside an even fainter sourness. Everything is fairly evanescent, nothing cloying.

Contrary to the scent, the beer tastes like someone mixed an old, wet dog with a weak porter. The tangy, funky sourness really overpowers much of the porter aspects of the beer. I can pick up a bit of cocoa, molasses-like sweetness and a tiny amount of smokiness, but everything is really drowned under the sourness, right through the finish. Only the late-middle, the part not subsumed by sour funk, of this beer is really enjoyable to me.

Mouthfeel is a bit tainted by the high carbonation produced by the brettanomyces. Also, the body is quite thin, unexpected for the style. Not really enjoyable.

Between the sourness and the mouthfeel, this is a definite miss in my book.

Serving type: bottle

03-16-2011 03:42:02 | More by falloutsnow

Phyl21ca

Quebec (Canada)

3.95/5  rDev +11%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color porter with a large bright brown color head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma consists of roasted malt with loads of black chocolate notes. Taste is dominated by dry roasted malt with loads of rich black chocolates notes with very light Brett notes also noticeable. Body is full with really nice creamy texture with great carbonation and no apparent alcohol. I really enjoyed that one with nice creamy black chocolate notes but I can’t say that the Brett notes were very intense or easily identifiable.

Serving type: bottle

02-08-2013 20:18:38 | More by Phyl21ca

Hopstout

Minnesota

1.25/5  rDev -64.9%

02-06-2013 03:31:56 | More by Hopstout

JasonSiedman

New Jersey

3.5/5  rDev -1.7%

10-04-2012 13:46:09 | More by JasonSiedman

t0rin0

California

3.75/5  rDev +5.3%

10-03-2012 02:36:04 | More by t0rin0

danthehopslamman

4/5  rDev +12.4%

09-19-2012 23:18:21 | More by danthehopslamman

MoreThanWine

Massachusetts

4.03/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured a massive chocolate malt colored all head which took a long time to settle down. The body is dark as coffee, even held to the light. Not much smell to it, even as it warmed, mainly malt. The taste is divine though with rich double malt, cola, and even a touch of sour to it. Long, fairly sour finish. "Doppel-Porter" indeed.

Serving type: bottle

09-02-2012 11:07:40 | More by MoreThanWine

steve8robin

Massachusetts

1/5  rDev -71.9%

09-01-2012 03:10:14 | More by steve8robin

Phelps

Arizona

3.25/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

This oddity is a Baltic porter brewed with brettanomyces. Served at Belmont Station in Portland.

Dark but thin-looking — fairly clear and watery at the edges, with black fading into lighter oak. An expansive, creamy head of beach sand-colored froth plants itself for a long time, only leaving after painting the sides of the glass in full sheets of lace.

Odd aroma. It’s almost like a chocolate-covered raisin — or a raisin-covered chocolate. Big dark fruits merge: sweet raisin, strawberry, bubble gum. Touches of bitter dark chocolate and mild funk.

Smoky, dry flavor. Clean and mildly smoky in the front, though the swallow brings a subtle sweet dark fruit note and even more smooth smoke. A touch of sweetness and funk from the brett, along with a weird, almost Belgian yeast note. A hint of raisin and oats. Spicy black pepper lingers on the tongue after the swallow.

The creamy medium body holds together very well as it moves. Just a touch of tingly carbonation.

An odd beer. Mild but drinkable.

Serving type: on-tap

07-25-2012 17:57:13 | More by Phelps

johnnnniee

New Hampshire

3.63/5  rDev +2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

On tap at The Lion's Pride.
Came to the table a solid black color with a small bubbly tan head that dissipates to a cap. Smells of roast and chocolate with an earthy spicy edge to it. I can't find very much funk in the nose. Flavors of roast, caramel, and chocolate with hints of tart cherry and an earthy menthol thing going on in the background. Medium body with a moderate level of carbonation and a roasty chalky mouthfeel. Its a decent enough porter with a hint of funk that hides in the background but you know its there. I almost wanted more funk or none at all, its in a weird middle ground.

Serving type: on-tap

07-17-2012 21:52:08 | More by johnnnniee

ngeunit1

California

3.95/5  rDev +11%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A - Pours a fairly dark brown with a big two fingers of frothy khaki-chocolate head. The head fades down very slowly leaving behind some good lacing.

S - Aroma is a mix of roasted chocolate malts with some dark caramel malts, dark fruits, Brett, bready malts, with some smoke, vanilla, molasses, and earthy hops.

T - Starts off with some roasted chocolate malts with some cherry, raisin, and other dark fruits and some candi sugar. Through the middle, some funky Brett comes through with some earthy hops, smoke, vanilla, Belgian yeast, and molasses. The finish is a mix of roasted chocolate and other dark malts, with some dark fruit, funky Brett, smoke, and some earthy hops.

M - Medium-light bodied with moderate-plus carbonation. Feels smooth with a sweet, roasty, and funky finish.

D - Very drinkable. The beer is a bit over carbonated so it comes off a bit thin. Otherwise, there are a lot of really great flavors in this one.

Serving type: bottle

07-10-2012 06:35:18 | More by ngeunit1

corby112

Pennsylvania

2.15/5  rDev -39.6%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Not a gusher but the bottle opened with a loud hiss and 3/4 of the glass is immediately filled with a dark beige head that takes forever to settle. After I finally decanted the whole bottle it looks decent with the exception of the chunky, fizzy head.

Funky, musty aroma with a really strong Brett presence that overpowers most of the other elements. Grassy barnyard funk and sour acidity with subtle roasted malt notes buried underneath. Malts become stronger as it warms with subtle smoke but the brett still dominates.

On the thinner side of medium bodied with really tight carbonation and a tart, musty brett presence that lingers over the roasted/smokey malt notes into a bone dry finish. Slightly tart/acetic with a very prominent dry brett character that again overpowers most of the other flavors. As it warms, the malt flavor comes a bit more to the forefront but it's still heavily masked by all of the dry, bratty funk. Too one dimensional for my liking and not pleasant at all. I like bretted beers but it just doesn't work here.

Serving type: bottle

06-20-2012 06:10:36 | More by corby112

msarver16

Pennsylvania

4.75/5  rDev +33.4%

06-08-2012 03:02:55 | More by msarver16

tony223366

California

3.83/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

BE WARNED: This beer is a horrible gusher. Like a 2 glass gusher. I thought just having my glass at hand would be enough but it wasn't. Open this beer when it's already in a glass because it basically shot out.

A: Incalculable amount of head as this gushed for so long. Tan fluffy and rocky and with great carbonation. It's extremely dark. Really deep, almost black brown.

S: The aroma is all over the place. I get a lot of rich, deep chocolate notes, some earthy, smoky qualities and a slight tang of acidity. There's also a certain musk to it as well. It smells great.

T: I actually really dig the complexity of this beer now that I can drink it. Tons of rich porter notes with chocolate, french roast coffee, some dark fruit notes. Not to mention the earthy hop qualities. It still has that musty funk to it as well as a slight sour quality. It's actually quite good.

M: Really rich and fluffy/creamy mouthfeel. Unfortunately almost all of the carbonation left this beer.

O: Wow, this one surprised me. In more ways than one! It started off with that ridiculous explosion of beer and then turned into a really complicated porter that I enjoyed. Veeery interesting. Worth a try, but be prepared with like 4 huge glasses!

Serving type: bottle

06-03-2012 04:54:31 | More by tony223366

drpimento

Wisconsin

3.78/5  rDev +6.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Let this warm a bit out of the fridge and very glad I opened it at the sink as it was a serious gusher. Lost about half. Tried putting my mouth over the bottle - not a good idea. Finally poured with large, tan, thick, creamy, lush head that lasts a long tiime and some lace. Color is a cloudy, opaque brown. Aroma is a very aromatic blend of yeast, dark ripe fruit, malt, sour, funk. Flavor’s like nose and in the mouth it’s an interesting and odd set of flavors. Thankfully, the carbonation cuts the heavieness. Body is big and full but the Brett accents in a clashing way the other bitter qualities. Finish is like flavor and not all that long. Big beer. Only want one. Only can afford to buy one. Gave it a 2.5 in appearance since the half in my sink didn't look so good.

Serving type: bottle

05-30-2012 02:01:44 | More by drpimento

hoppymcgee

Pennsylvania

3.25/5  rDev -8.7%

05-24-2012 00:53:41 | More by hoppymcgee

onix1agr

Pennsylvania

4.4/5  rDev +23.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A bottle to the dome in a St. Bernardus glass. Use a wide mouth glass when pouring this, because it is a gusher, even very cold. I did not lose any liquid, just pour it slow and steady on a tilt in a wide mouth immediately after opening. SLOW DOWN.

Porticus looks really dark in the glass boasting a dark brown bordering on black color. The firm cap is more like a mountain of foam of dark tan with much strength and firmness leaving big notches on the way down. Smell is roasty with some nuts and a big dose of brett from the addition. Old world porter quality in taste with big malty appeal with mad brett backing it. Not entirely funky, this is a nicely mixed drink. Nuts with roasted malt, some old world quality, some roast, faint fruit, with some coffee flavor within. Feel is at about medium with a long lasting finish. It's carbed up nice, perhaps too much and I would have no problem taking down a glass or two of it, easy. Finishes on the dry side, and does not stick on the tounge much except for the brett. At this young stage, this is damn near perfect, and in my experience, aging Baltic Porters with Brett does not turn out so great most of the time, so drink up.

Serving type: bottle

05-07-2012 03:31:40 | More by onix1agr

jlindros

Massachusetts

2.9/5  rDev -18.5%
look: 1.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Looks like an interesting beer, so why not give it a shot.

WTF!!!! It erupted like crazy, one of the worst gushers I've seen since my early homebrewing days. Just unloaded all of its beer in carbonation form all over the floor, after filling my entire glass of head in about 5 seconds it overflowed onto the floor and everywhere between here and my sink. When all was said and done I got about 1/4 of a glass of beer. Horrible!!!! And this was right out of the fridge, so nice and cold.

The pillowly overflowing head itself is laced with sediment and yeast, darker mocha colored head, no chance for not having ridiculous messy lacing, and the beer itself is a putrid mud slop brown colored plop of what I wanted to call a beer.

Nose... well 15 minutes after waiting for the head to settle, literally (and that included cleaning up the mess). Nose is mostly yeast and I think infection, some wild contaminate that seems to have destroyed the beer, but I'm going to continue reviewing cause f-this thing! Under the infection brings a bit of toasted malt, brown syrupy malts with molasses and dark wheat bock fruity like aromas, and a hint of mocha, some roast and burnt aromas, light spicy hops, and yeast yeast yeast.

Taste is much less infected thankfully, and the more I nose it the more I think it's more of a bad and unhappy yeast aroma than infection. The taste brings plenty of dark malts, burnt roast, burnt coffee, baker's chocolate, burnt chocolate, chalky, little caramel and molasses, light sweet nougat like creaminess, dark chocolate, etc. Earthy and spicy hops come through as well with a decently big bitterness, spicy chewy hops that linger for a while on the finish. The finish is dry and bitter, long lingering spicy hops, some bitterness from charred roast, and hint of very dark chocolate.

Mouth is med bodied, chunkies, decent carb surprisingly now that it's all left.

Overall, well hard to tell. It started horribly like infection, but that didn't seem to come out at all on the taste, and the more I nosed it the more that seemed to disappear. Maybe something did get in but the overpowering beer itself overpowered it, but I can't forgive the huge eruption that blanketed my room in super dark staining beer, and only left me with about 1/4 of a glass, and nevermind the yeast chunkies everywhere.

Serving type: bottle

05-05-2012 12:23:23 | More by jlindros

THECPJ

Delaware

3.5/5  rDev -1.7%

04-24-2012 14:41:37 | More by THECPJ

MattyG85

Minnesota

3.83/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 2.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Poured from 11.2 oz bottle into a Duvel tulip glass.

Appearance: Wow. What the hell just happened? I read previous reviews and was anticipating a lot of foam, but even having a big glass ready wasn't enough to catch the explosion of foam. I lost about half the beer. Pretty ridiculous carbonation. Color is a dark and cloudy brown with a little bit of sediment. Way too much tan foam. Lots of lacing.

Smell: Sweet dark roasted malts with big hints of dark chocolate and coffee. Lots of molasses and bready yeast. Also some smoke, vanilla, and a hint of dark fruit. Light hint of earthy hops. Smells very robust like an American imperial stout.

Taste: A sweet and roasty taste of dark malts. Some roasted caramel and notes of chocolate, coffee, molasses, and vanilla. Sweet , bready, banana like yeast. Also some smoke and a light hint of dark fruit and grassy hops. An interesting and nice tasting mix.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with a very heavy amount of carbonation. Creamy and very slick. Thinner than you would expect from a bigger porter. Way too much carbonation as expected from the bottle opening. No noticeable alcohol heat.

Overall: There are some pretty good flavors going on here but the carbonation issues are setting it back. Nice use of malts and yeast.

Serving type: bottle

04-17-2012 05:02:03 | More by MattyG85

Rutager

British Columbia (Canada)

4.25/5  rDev +19.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Appearance. Pours black with a huge, bubbly tan head.

Smell. Coffee, sea water, some roasty malts and a little funky yeast.

Taste. Roasty malts, burnt toast, earthy funk and a bit of chocolate and molasses. Not too shabby.

Mouthfeel. Medium-light body with srong carbonation.

Overall. Interesting porter, as promised by the guy at Beermongers in Portland when he saw me grabbing the Berliner Style Weisse. Thanks for the suggestion buddy!

Serving type: bottle

04-17-2012 00:34:35 | More by Rutager

tln13

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +19.4%

04-15-2012 23:40:49 | More by tln13

IHyphySF

California

4.23/5  rDev +18.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Had this sitting in my fridge for a week before opening and half of it foamed out of the top lost about 1/2 of the bottle. After the foam eruption i poured it into a pint glass.

a - after the foamsplosion it pours a dark brown

s - clean smell of coffee, vanilla, raisins and tiny hits of tropical fruits

t - taste was malty and chocolaty with tiny hints of coffee sweetness

m - this had a great mouthfeel of a porter that has good carbonation but drinks smooth.

o - i would drink it again but with the foamsplosion was a big turnoff but the carbonation and the style of beer was fun to drink.

Serving type: bottle

03-11-2012 18:34:10 | More by IHyphySF

horshack7

Massachusetts

4.03/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearanace: After a large eruption of foam it turns out the beer is black as night with a beige head that is real thick.

Aroma: Dark roasted coffee, Smokiness, lots of yeasty bread notes. Wisps of musty roasted malts with floral hops in the tail end.

Taste: Very smooth mouthfeel. A light dryness on the palate. Dark roasted coffee, figs, dry floral hops, bits of woodiness and smokiness.

Notes: I like the dry finish this one has it's not too much nor to little and drinkable. Cheers.

Serving type: bottle

03-05-2012 02:35:06 | More by horshack7

JAHMUR

Connecticut

3.5/5  rDev -1.7%

03-04-2012 18:12:55 | More by JAHMUR