St. Portersburg - Alley Kat Brewing Company

IronDjinn

Alberta (Canada)

4.06/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

From a 650 ml brown bottle. Pours out a nearly opaque black hue with garnet cola-like highlights when held to direct light. Thick creamy beige head that settles to a thin cap.

Rounded notes of chocolate, coffee and some caramel emanate from the aroma, with some dark dried fruit in the background.

Sweet fig and date blended with coffee notes up front in the flavour, with an addition of caramel malt in the middle where things also start to get creamy sweet. Raisin sweetness and milk chocolate manifest on the finish, while the sweetness tapers off in the aftertaste with caramel and chocolate remaining, and further on things drying out with a cocoa presence.

Full-bodied mouthfeel, texture is smooth at times, thick and sticky at others, with moderate carbonation.

On the milder end of the style, yet very enjoyable and chock full of flavour, and a very decent interpretation of the style. In fact it succeeded in making me forget about hop bombs for the moment and hearken back to my malt-forward beer loving days and their own fine merits. This should be put into regular rotation as a seasonal in the future.

Serving type: bottle

02-11-2013 00:00:46 | More by IronDjinn

joemcgrath27

Alberta (Canada)

4.14/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

A - pitch black, one finger of dark brown head fizzled to a thin cover, not much in the way of lacing
S - rich chocolate, candied fruits and butter toffee, roasty aroma in the background, definitely an enticing mix
T - dark chocolate with roasted nuts, dark fruits with caramelized sugars, touch of earthy and leafy hops, well balanced with big rich flavours
M - medium body with a creamy start that turns to a dry cocoa feel with just mild touch of alcohol dryness, deceptively drinkable
O - a great take on the style and a sneaky high ABV make this a must try, big flavour from another alley kat big bottle

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2013 00:43:23 | More by joemcgrath27

Rutager

British Columbia (Canada)

3.98/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Thanks wordemupg!!

Appearance. Pours a dark brown, black in the glass with a finger of thick, creamy tan head.

Smell. Sweet dark chocolate, a little briny, some molasses and maybe a touch of licorice.

Taste. Chocolate, a little black licorice, a little woody, prune plums, some burnt sugar and well roasted malts.

Mouthfeel. Medium body, a little sticky. Medium-low carbonation.

Overall. A very solid baltic porter. Enjoying it.

Serving type: bottle

04-28-2013 02:17:50 | More by Rutager

leaddog

Alberta (Canada)

4.06/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Appearance- Pours a dark cola brown with a very thin line of head.

Smell- Roasted malts, dark fruits, caramel, licorice.

Taste - Bold roasted malts, dark fruits provide a raisin-like flavour. Bit of syrupy sweetness, but not overdone or overpowering.

Mouthfeel - Medium-to-full bodied with light carbonation. Sticky feel.

Overall - Nicely executed Baltic porter from Alley Kat. Could use better head retention, but otherwise, the essentials of the style have been well met.

Serving type: bottle

03-02-2013 05:13:08 | More by leaddog

MAB

Alberta (Canada)

4.56/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

I had a pint of this on-tap at the Hop-In Brew last night.
Super dark, with a good head on it right after the pour but that quickly disappears.
The taste was far above my expectation. It had a really nice sweetness as well as notes that I can't quite put my finger on. Vanilla? Licorice?
Whatever; it was spectacular.
If it hadn't have been clocking in at 8.3% I would have had two more pints of it, in quick order. The highlight of the night-- it even made the Darn Tartan/ Scotch ale seem bland, by comparison, and that was one I was raving about two weeks ago.

Serving type: on-tap

02-28-2013 20:09:59 | More by MAB

schnarr84

Alberta (Canada)

4.5/5  rDev +8.2%

02-15-2013 07:14:52 | More by schnarr84

wordemupg

Alberta (Canada)

4.01/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

650ml bomber poured into tulip 7/2/13

A shes dark but not quite black, deep cola edge with a thumbs width of mocha foam that quickly falls to a thick film and leaves some random lace

S chocolate, coffee, licorice, lots of dark fruit and caramel, there's some earthy hops and roasted marshmallow with some roasted nuts

T maybe just a little smoke to add to the nose, prune and raisins are more noticeable, the chocolate's darker in the mouth and very faint booze I couldn't smell

M silky and smooth, leaning towards full, just a little booze hitting the chest but not much felt going down, nice fruity licorice chocolate aftertaste

O pretty much what I expect from the style, sourish fruity notes, dark roasted goodness, and well concealed booze giving it a little kick

another winner from the Big Bottle series, Alley Kat's done well with their Baltic Porter and I hope they try some more new styles with the same success

Serving type: bottle

02-08-2013 03:01:53 | More by wordemupg

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

3.94/5  rDev -5.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

650ml bottle, the latest in the Big Bottle series - things, they be getting ever more punny up in the Alley Kat house, it would seem.

This beer pour a clear, very dark chestnut brown hue, with bright reddish highlights, and two fingers of tightly foamy, sort of bubbly tan head, which leaves a solid, if uneven wall of pock-marked concrete wall lace around the glass as it evenly and gently subsides.

It smells of lightly roasted caramel/toffee malt, stewed prunes, conversely fresh fruity black plums, a dark, bready graininess, a hint of black liquorice, and herbal, somewhat floral hops. The taste is sweet, somewhat toasted bready caramel malt, mildly edgy black plum and sloe, soft oily bar nuts, a few sparse notes of anise, some quite faint herbal, leafy hops, and a slow, stirring boozy warmth.

The bubbles are present, but quite understated for the most part, the body on the lee side of medium weight, and fairly smooth, a slight metallic alcohol twinge doing only minor damage in that regard. It finishes moderately off-dry, the lingering black fruit, singed caramel, and alcohol continuing to carry the brunt of the load.

A straight-up sweet caramel and fruit malt bomb, subtly fueled by the well integrated big ABV, and underappreciated, I'm sure, workaday hops. Easy, and smoothly drinkable, this so-called "big" bottle disappears like a ship in the night.

Serving type: bottle

02-03-2013 05:28:16 | More by biboergosum