Unplugged Old English Porter - New Glarus Brewing Company

Jon

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev +0.5%

12-10-2012 23:20:59 | More by Jon

CowsandBeer

Kansas

3.25/5  rDev -12.9%

04-21-2013 18:10:41 | More by CowsandBeer

DruRho

Maryland

3.75/5  rDev +0.5%

04-16-2013 23:08:05 | More by DruRho

Sparky44

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev +0.5%

03-27-2013 01:24:47 | More by Sparky44

JackOGreen

Wisconsin

4.75/5  rDev +27.3%

03-12-2013 01:15:10 | More by JackOGreen

spycow

Illinois

4/5  rDev +7.2%

03-10-2013 18:29:54 | More by spycow

kojevergas

California

4.38/5  rDev +17.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

Bottle acquired in a trade with the very gracious very generous Duff27. Label is fun, featuring a happy man holding up a stein. Old English Porter - Unplugged. 12 fl oz brown glass bottle with foiled-over standard pressure cap served into a conical Samuel Smith's pint glass in me gaff in low altitude Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California. Identified as a "brown porter" on the label, a style purportedly popular in 1870s London. Brewed with floor malted English malts including pale ale malt, Mariss Otter, and a touch of smoked malt. Aged on toasted oak. Soured. Expectations are through the roof given the brewery - which I adore.

Served straight from the fridge. Side-poured with standard vigor as no carbonation issues are anticipated.

Paired with salted hard pretzels.

A: Pours a half finger refined beige colour head of nice cream, nice thickness, decent froth, and above average (~3 minute) retention. Head is soft and appealing, leaving an even layer of thin frothy lacing on the sides of the glass as the head recedes. Body colour is a vibrant understanted caramel amber-brown. No yeast particles are visible; it's nontransparent yet semitranslucent. No bubble show. Generally good, but it pushes the boundaries of the style - at least the English Porter style as I'm familiar with it. Though the style described on the label seems to be a different, more obscure one. In any case, it looks good and I want it in my mouth. Silky and luscious.

Sm: Boy oh boy. Lightly sour, evoking a berliner weisse. Gorgeous wild yeast and lovely acidity. Lacto yeast, definitely. Beneath that layer is a curious mixture of biscuit malts, brown malts, and subtle oak wood. Certainly a unique aroma. Marvelous depth of flavour. Buried caramel. Incredibly good balance. I can't wait to try this. A mild strength aroma, but wow.

T: That's a tasty fucking beer. The perfect amount of sourness - light lacto, maybe a bit of bacteria/wild yeast - is married to an ideal brown malt foundation with delightful creamy character and an ideal complementary floral hop character. I'm immediately confronted by its unmistakable mastery and balance. Whoever made this knows what the hell they're doing. Light stonefruit, maybe supple ripe sugarplum and cherry. A touch of cidery character; sour apple. Majestic subtle oak is present throughout, guiding the flavours. This is the most pleasantly sour - I mean mellow sourness, not confronting sourness - beer I've ever had. I'd bet anyone who claimed not to like sours would like this. Impeccable balance, good depth of flavour, and undeniable subtlety. This stuff is lovely. Some of the most well-integrated intentional oak character I've ever come across. Delightfully evocative.

Mf: Smooth, creamy, and wet. Soft. Delicate. Refreshing. Crisp and smack-your-lips luscious. Feels custom-tailored specifically to the flavour profile. Acidic. This is fantastic. Carbonation could not be more perfect. Thickness is perfect. Palate presence is excellent. Wow. I don't know that it could be much better.

Dr: I could drink this all night. Each sip demands to be savored. The complexity and subtlety feels effortless. I'm in awe. This is a real treat. Incredible stuff. Redefines the way I see porters, even if this particular type of porter is obscure. A ridiculously good offering from New Glarus. They're rocketing to the top of my radar as one of the best breweries in this country.

A

Serving type: bottle

03-02-2013 05:39:53 | More by kojevergas

jegross2

Illinois

1/5  rDev -73.2%

02-19-2013 05:20:03 | More by jegross2

drummermattie02

Texas

3/5  rDev -19.6%

02-03-2013 19:20:16 | More by drummermattie02

bsuedekum

Missouri

4/5  rDev +7.2%

01-30-2013 04:42:28 | More by bsuedekum

katan

Colorado

3.58/5  rDev -4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz into a pint. out of the cellar.

A - Pours a brown color, clear and filtered. Mocha head formation, breaks down to a film rather quickly.

S - Holy funkiness - sour, could be spoiled? I know thats the point of this beer, but at this age it is super acidic.

t -Starts off lightly sweet, with some cherries perhaps. Then it comes in big time like apple vinegar. Extremely tart and sour, biting to the tongue. Has a fruity backdrop, maintaining that tart sour flavors but it just never shakes that full on acidity. Finishes, well, acidic.

M - Light in carbonation, fuller in body - akin to cask aged but not that frothy when agitated.

O/D - A very unique beer. This beer doesn't deserve a style in modern times. I remember when I bought it several years back - and the sign then clearly had problems with people not understanding its aim for historic accuracy than modern day taste. Let's just say i"m glad I tried it, and won't be too worried about not having one again.

Serving type: bottle

01-11-2013 02:15:56 | More by katan

AlexFields

Tennessee

3/5  rDev -19.6%

01-08-2013 02:05:11 | More by AlexFields

stereosforgeeks

Virginia

3.75/5  rDev +0.5%

12-17-2012 18:19:25 | More by stereosforgeeks

Gonzoillini

Illinois

2.25/5  rDev -39.7%

12-05-2012 04:51:25 | More by Gonzoillini

BYOFB

Wisconsin

3.25/5  rDev -12.9%

12-02-2012 06:26:42 | More by BYOFB

t0rin0

California

3/5  rDev -19.6%

11-23-2012 00:31:31 | More by t0rin0

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

4.18/5  rDev +12.1%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Broke this guy out at the camping trip this summer with elrogish. Pours a lighter color than I've seen just about any porter, more amber than brown. Beige head, about .3" in height, not super impressive. Aroma was the tartest of any porter I've had, they really went for what I think historically went down, these things all had some various bugs in them, sometimes making the beer awful, sometimes a little sour, a little diacetylish in a good/indifferent way, and they probably blended some barrels to get the somewhat desired result. Aroma leans cherry, mild light cracker and biscuit like malt presence.

Taste, wow, just phenomenal amount of mild cherry sourness, with an easy, sessionable body to the beer. Falls somewhere in the realm of sour browns and flemish reds, it really doesn't have the usual porter body. The sourness is actually pretty clean and bright, not really that bogged down sour wood feel you get for some similar kind of beers. Maybe a real small percentage of chocolate malt in this one.

Overall, I really liked it, and wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger on a historical reclamation act like this in the future.

Serving type: bottle

10-31-2012 22:20:27 | More by Beerandraiderfan

FritzSteinhoff

Wisconsin

1/5  rDev -73.2%

09-06-2012 00:34:56 | More by FritzSteinhoff

liamt07

Ontario (Canada)

3.63/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottle from Sammy, 12oz bottle into a tulip. December 2009 bottling date.

Brown with some ruby at the edges. Khaki head with some mild retention. Nose of nuts (amaretto liqueur comes to mind), molasses, caramelized dark fruits and some sweet malt character. Slight oxidation. Taste isn't as nice, lightly tart dark fruits, dark breads, oxidation, chocolate, light smoke and some remnants of the nuttiness found in the nose. Rich malt character overshadowed by the tartness. Medium feel, higher carbonation. A good beer, but the tartness detracts more than it adds to this for me.

Serving type: bottle

08-23-2012 02:34:55 | More by liamt07

Dactrius

Wisconsin

1.5/5  rDev -59.8%

08-09-2012 17:28:33 | More by Dactrius

DonDeDieulicious

Illinois

2.5/5  rDev -33%

08-04-2012 17:57:00 | More by DonDeDieulicious

LizBB

Missouri

4.75/5  rDev +27.3%

07-07-2012 03:34:29 | More by LizBB

tfidler

Illinois

4.75/5  rDev +27.3%

04-21-2012 23:54:04 | More by tfidler

JRdaSconnie

Wisconsin

4.25/5  rDev +13.9%

04-03-2012 02:50:18 | More by JRdaSconnie

Fitzmke

Texas

4.25/5  rDev +13.9%

03-25-2012 04:29:20 | More by Fitzmke