Profiled by Ken Carman for PGA
No head whatsoever, even with heavy pour. Deep, murky red that light tries to avoid piercing.
The aroma is upright sour cherry, aged and a bit wooden, kind of oak-ish. Where’s the porter?
Mouthfeel is a bit slick and sour, more sour. The body is moderate and the sour clings after swallow. Carbonation? We don’t need no stinkin carbonation. There’s just the slightest fizz on the back of the palate. The bourbon from the barrels is kind of lost in the cherry.
Once again, where’s the porter? Especially since this is ROBUST porter.
Taste is cherry, sour cherry and oak/woody sense. No hops. The malt is way in the background. The firm malt presence asserts itself as it gets warmer but it’s still hiding with just the barest sense of roasted malt.
Overall: the problem here is I want to give it a bad score because, once again, where the hell is the porter? But it is so damn good, like a beer-wine aged just right, I can’t give it less than 4. It’s pure nirvana. The low carbonation is actually a blessing. It makes it all the more gentle, pleasing and heavenly. Get you hands on a bottle and sink into pure joy.
Welcome to the PGA beer rating system: one beer “Don’t bother.” Two: Eh, if someone gives it to you, drink. Three: very good, go ahead and seek it out, but be aware there is at least one problem. Four: seek it out. Five: pretty much “perfecto.”
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Ken Carman is an entertainer, educational service provider, beer judge, recording engineer, songwriter, author of Autocide: a really weird, but funny, E-book, columnist and all purpose crazy man who edits PGA and several other sites.