Southampton Imperial Baltic Porter - Tasting and Aging Notes
By jason on Mar 5, 2008 in Aging Well, Porters and Stouts, Reviews
Name: Imperial Baltic Porter
Brewer: Southampton Publick House
Style: Baltic Porter
Vintage: 2007
Cellared On: February 7th, 2008
Original Tasting: February 29th, 2008
Baltic Porters are strong and dark beers brewed in the style of a porter but fermented with the use of lager instead of ale yeast. This particular porter was brewed by Southampton, and I figured if the other two beers I’ve tasted from them were any example (the others were the Grand Cru and their 10th Anniversary Ale) I would be in for a treat.
This Imperial Porter is very dark, black with just the slightest tint of brown around the edges. It was a little light on the carbonation, a hard pour resulted in a fairly modest head. The smells from this brew were rather mellow as well, as just some roasted malts and lingering sweetness (dark fruits maybe?) were in the air.
The thing the first jumped into mind when I tasted this beer was the smoothness of it. It’s very easy to drink, fairly light in body, and has a bit of a slick creaminess to it. The roasted malts lent to the flavor pronounced chocolate and cocoa overtones, with hints of caramel and dark fruits floating around in the background. Slight amounts of alcohol are present, but it is very well disguised. A bit of a hoppy bitterness joins in with the chocolate on the finish.
Not an incredibly complex beer to sample, but still a delicious one to drink.
Six Month Tasting: August 22nd, 2009
I’m not sure what happened here. Did I miss the toffee flavor when I first tried this brew? It was like eating a Heath Bar (if it were just a bit sweeter, that is)! Chocolate and toffee flavors were bursting out of this beer and matched up perfectly with the rich roasted malts. Nice combo of bitter chocolate on the end.
An absolute flavor bomb. Big and definitely complex! Forget what I wrote six months ago!
Cellar Outlook: This one should be interesting. It’s strong (coming in around 10% alcohol), but the lack of robust flavors and the use of lager yeast make me question how well this one will last.
Six Month Cellar Outlook: Six months did wonders for this brew, I don’t see why another six months would make it worse!
Next Tasting: August 2008
Jason
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