Tag Archives: imperial porter

Deschutes Black Butte XXIX

Brewery: Deschutes Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 12.2%
Style: Porter – Imperial
Other Notes: 29th Birthday Reserve. Porter brewed with Dutched cocoa, Saigon cinnamon, and cayenne, 50% aged in Bourbon and Rum barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) In celebration of our 29th anniversary this year’s Imperial Porter delivers notes of dark chocolate and cinnamon spice with hints of coconut, vanilla, and dried fruit finished by a warm dash of cayenne.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.33
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 22 fl. oz. black waxed bomber, 29th birthday reserve, bottled on 12th June 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown in colour with a thin khaki head that had dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass while leaving spotty lacing.
Aroma: Light roast, dark chocolate, cayenne, vanilla, rum, dark fruit, plum, raisin, with a hint of cinnamon.
Taste: Roasted malts, dark chocolate, cocoa, vanilla, cinnamon, rum, dark fruit, plum, raisin, with a very light hint of chili spice.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A very enjoyable sipper with adjuncts that work very well together.

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Deschutes Black Butte XXVIII

Brewery: Deschutes Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 11.6%
Style: Porter – Imperial
Other Notes: 28th Birthday Reserve. Imperial Porter brewed with cocoa, vanilla, peated malt and sweet orange peel with 50% aged in bourbon and scotch barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Cocoa, vanilla, peated malt, and sweet orange peel. 50% barrel aged in bourbon and scotch barrels. The result is our 28th Anniversary Imperial Porter with bright orange and vanilla aroma, layers of roasty chocolate and a warm, smokey finish.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.19
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 22 fl. oz. black waxed bomber, 28th birthday reserve, bottled on 13th June 2016. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark brown in colour with a thin khaki head that dissipates quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving spotty lacing.
Aroma: Dark fruit, raisin, prunes, orange peel, chocolate, bourbon, vanilla, with a hint of peat.
Taste: Lightly sweet, light roast, chocolate, vanilla, orange peel, bourbon, dark fruit, raisins, prunes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: A very nice sipper with lots of dark fruit, chocolate, orange and bourbon.

Deschutes Black Butte XXVII

Brewery: Deschutes Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 11.6%
Style: Porter – Imperial
Other Notes: 27th Birthday Reserve. Ale brewed with rose water with 50% aged in bourbon barrels blended with ale with apricot puree, cocoa nibs, pomegranate molasses and spices

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Our 27th Anniversary Imperial Porter was brewed with Theo’s cocoa nibs, pomegranate molasses and select spices, blended with apricot puree, and then aged in bourbon barrels. The result is a truly exquisite ale with bold chocolate character, inspired flavors of fruit, and just a pinch of spice. The perfect way for us to celebrate our golden birthday with you!

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.03
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 22 fl. oz. black waxed bomber, 27th birthday reserve, with a best after date of 20th July 2016. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark brown with an orange hue, and a thin khaki head that dissipated quickly, while leaving some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, cocoa nibs, chocolate, fruity, tangy, dried apricot, orange, with soft bourbon notes.
Taste: Moderately roasty, chocolate, cocoa nibs, vanilla, lightly sweet, molasses, fruity, dried apricot, orange marmalade, pomegranate, and a hint of bourbon.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Interesting series of adjuncts that I wouldn’t have put together, but results in an interesting and pretty enjoyable sipper.

Phase Three Pressed Coffee + Stroopwafel

Brewery: Phase Three Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 12%
Style: Porter – Imperial
Other Notes: Tugboat coffee

Brewer Description: (from Untappd) Imperial porter with Tugboat coffee and stroopwafels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.37
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 1 pint can, canned on 7th July 2022 (maybe but hard to read), poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a thin brown head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Light roast, vanilla, milk sugar, caramel, waffle biscuit, with light cinnamon notes.
Taste: Sweet, light roast, coffee, chocolate, vanilla, caramel, waffle, with notes of granola and cinnamon, while being a touch bitter on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, full bodied, sticky, with soft carbonation.
Overall: If a beer has to be sweet, stroopwafel aromas and flavours definitely work for me, and in this case, it was incorporated very nicely with coffee, making for an enjoyable sipper.

Flying Monkeys Acadian Groove

Brewery: Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery
Country: Canada
ABV: 10%
Style: American Imperial Porter
Other Notes: Canadian Maple Porter

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Sugar Season – Acadian Groove emerges from the changing tempo of Spring in rural Ontario. Here, we go with the flow of 3000 tapped trees and jam with the full-flavored dark syrup that Breedon’s Maple Farm sweetly pulls from the soul of that sappy stream. That syrup lends our Imperial Maple Porter its caramelized sweet taste that’s unique to the land of the Flying Monkeys.

Imperial Maple Porter – Tantalizing aromas of maple and sweet roasted malts are more than Canadian kitsch in our maple beer: they are a remembrance of the rural rhythms our lives in Ontario. Layered with the plump, creamy flavour and aroma of split vanilla pods with undercurrents of light coffee and chocolate, the warmth of this 10% ABV beer embraces the promise of spring.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.33
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.2

Intro: A 750ml bottle with the bottled on date smudged out, but I’m pretty sure it’s more than two years. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A dark amber brown colour with a slightly less than one finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly, but left some nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Sweet dark malt, doughy, chocolate, caramel, toffee, maple, brown sugar.
Taste: Sweet dark malt, maple syrup, doughy, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, chocolate, slight bitterness, with notes of nuts.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: On the whole it was too sweet and doughy for my liking. It wasn’t as balanced as it could have been and I was hoping for more roast, chocolate and bitterness.