Original Flag Porter
Darwin Brewery Ltd.

Original Flag PorterOriginal Flag Porter
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From:
Darwin Brewery Ltd.
 
England, United Kingdom
Style:
English Porter
Ranked #63
ABV:
5%
Score:
86
Ranked #18,226
Avg:
3.84 | pDev: 11.72%
Reviews:
186
Ratings:
275
Status:
Active
Rated:
Aug 01, 2022
Added:
Dec 04, 2003
Wants:
  16
Gots:
  10
No description / notes.
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Ratings by DaveFL1976:
Photo of DaveFL1976
Reviewed by DaveFL1976 from Florida

3.67/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
I've wanted to try this beer for a long time. The 100+ year old yeast hook reeled me in. I wasn't sure what to expect, so I'm going into this with an open mind.

The body of the beer itself is a mahogany brown color with red highlights shining through the bottom. The head started out fine enough, but settled down into little more than a fine skim.

A unique smell a bit spicy, smokey, licorice-type smell going on. It's pleasant on the nose, and quite unique.

The taste is a bit of a letdown, unfortunately. It's got a caramel-sweet start to it, but it really doesn't go anywhere, and leaves the palate a lit flat and wanting for something.

Mouthfeel is rather thin, and carbonation is unexcitingly low.

It is, however drinkable. The beer doesn't have any negative attributes, and has quite a few positive ones. It just doesn't all come together. Although the thought of harvesting yeast off a sunken ship is pretty damn cool!
Nov 09, 2006
More User Ratings:
Photo of Sigmund
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

3.94/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
April 2011: 11.2 fl. oz. bottle, as Original Flag Porter, apparently labeled for export to USA. Brewed by Darwin Brewery. ABV is 5.0%. Bought at The Cheese & Wine Shop, Darlington. Very dark ruby colour, nearly black. Large beige head. Nice aroma of moderately roasted malts and dark chocolate. Smooth and pleasant mouthfeel. The flavour has again notes of moderately roasted malts, mild coffee and dark chocolate, but the beer is not too sweet. Moderate bitterness.
Aug 01, 2022
 
Rated: 3.75 by deac83 from Texas

Jun 23, 2017
Photo of pat61
Reviewed by pat61 from Minnesota

4.47/5  rDev +16.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
S: aromas of mild chocolate, faint coffee, grain, and dark dried fruit. No burnt aromas.

L: deep dark brown with slowly rising bubbles under a thin, light tan cap. Some chunks floating around in the beer roused from the sediment in the bottom of the bottle. The chunks do not impact the taste.

T: Starts with a mild sweetness, light chocolate, mild coffee and rich malts. Finishes with some spice and a trace of grainy astringency. Chocolate flavors increase as the beer warms. Hop bitterness is medium low. There are no harsh roast or burnt flavors.

F: creamy, medium high body. medium to medium low carbonation.

O: a very drinkable beer with big flavor for the level of alcohol.
Mar 28, 2017
Photo of GreesyFizeek
Reviewed by GreesyFizeek from New York

3.77/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Bottle purchased at Beers of the World in Henrietta, NY.

This one pours a moderately dark brown, with a filmy white head, and basically no lacing.

Smells like caramel, tart prune and raisin, dry cocoa, toasty malt, and breadiness.

The story behind this one is certainly cool. The taste doesn't live up to the cool story, though. But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it- there's a nice fruitiness, almost tart, kinda yeasty- I guess it's the funky shipwrecked yeast in there. There's some light chocolate, and a wonderful toastiness, and some slight hop bitterness. It's pretty bready, like grainy brown bread.

This is medium bodied, pretty cream, slightly thin, with a normal level of carbonation.

This is definitely an interesting beer, maybe if it was even fresher it would be better.
Jan 28, 2017
 
Rated: 3.07 by Fordcoyote15 from Pennsylvania

Sep 18, 2016
 
Rated: 4.56 by velocitractor from England

Jul 25, 2016
 
Rated: 4.35 by Jonathan-Morgan from Florida

Jun 25, 2016
 
Rated: 3.75 by Taphouse_Traveler from Florida

Jun 25, 2016
 
Rated: 3.81 by outdoor7or24 from Georgia

May 24, 2016
 
Rated: 4.11 by Martin194 from Iowa

Apr 04, 2016
 
Rated: 4 by mpenske from California

Feb 21, 2016
 
Rated: 4 by pin from Australia

Oct 01, 2015
Photo of T100Mark
Reviewed by T100Mark from California

4.07/5  rDev +6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
An 11.2 ounce Euro bottle poured into a shaker pint glass.

Appearance - Cherry black color. Minimal head. Minimal lacing. Very little apparent carbonation.

Smell - Sweet. Prunes. A bit smoky.

Taste - Very sweet. Prunes. A bit smoky. A mild hop "zing" on the back end.

Mouth - A combination of buttery and tangy. Also, the carbonation (that I couldn't see) is fine/present.

Overall - A very nice ale. I believe, however, that this beer tastes more like a German Dopplebock than An English Porter.
Aug 30, 2015
Photo of Raime
Reviewed by Raime from Korea (North)

2.3/5  rDev -40.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
Original Flag Porter.

Alrighty England, after a few years let us see what you are made of.

Look - Pours a dark though penetrable deep half black half ruby with a finger of off white head that quickly turns to a cloud formation around the top of the glass. Carbonation appears to be heavy from what I can see. 3.

Smell - Roasted barley and slight coffee notes with a bit of an onion like deal going on in terms of the hops. 3.

Taste - Get the exact same notes as in the nose but the roast has gone to a toast. The maltiness is there. What a minute...English brews are always mild by comparison. And due to that, I could probably live with this one. Ha. Not never an excuse for the onions. 2.

Feel - "Cept for here. Body is just too damn heavy for the ABV and what is offered in terms of the palate. Carbonation seems on the high side as well. 2.

Overall - Pretty much sucked. If you like onions, drink up. If not, avoid. 2.
Aug 24, 2015
 
Rated: 3.69 by shelby415 from Oregon

Aug 16, 2015
 
Rated: 3 by rw1992 from North Carolina

Aug 15, 2015
Photo of StoutHunter
Reviewed by StoutHunter from Michigan

3.93/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
I picked up a bottle of Darwin Brewery's Original Flag Porter a couple weeks ago for $3.25 at Boyne Country Provisions. I haven't seen or heard of this beer before and I thought I should take a chance on it, so lets see how it goes. No visible bottling date. Poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a imperial pint glass.

A- The label looks nice, it's got a nice design to it and it's just a little eye catching. It poured a darker brown color that took on just a slight ruby hue when held to the light with a half a fingers worth of bubbly slightly darker tan head that died down to a thin ring that eventually faded away and it left some spotty lacing behind. This is a pretty nice looking English Porter, I have no complaints.

S- The aroma starts off with slightly higher amount of medium sweetness with the malts being the first to show up and the have just the right amount of roast to them impart a nice roasty, light coffee and some nice milk chocolate aromas. Up next comes sweet malts and a nice creamy aroma with no hops showing up. This beer had a pretty nice aroma that seemed to be true to style.

T- The taste seems to be pretty similar to the aroma and it starts off with a slightly higher amount of medium sweetness with those roasted malts still being the first to show up and they dominate this beer with the same aspects that they did in the aroma with the milk chocolate seeming to show up the most and there's also a light smokey flavor showing up this time. Up next comes some of those sweet malts and creamy flavors that linger into the aftertaste with hardly any bitterness with some more roasted and slightly charred flavors. This is a good tasting English Porter, it's very robust for the style and it seem to much closer to an American Porter than any other English one I've had.

M- Smooth, a little creamy, not too crisp, on thick side of being medium bodied with a lower amount of medium carbonation The mouthfeel is good and it works well with this beer.

Overall I thought this was a good beer and I thought it was a good example of the style and it seemed to be more robust than just about every single one I've had and I liked that.This beer had good drinkability, I could see myself drinking a couple of these around the bonfire. What I like the most about this beer was the heavy milk chocolate flavor, I thought it was very nice. What I like the least about this beer is the appearance, it could use a little more head. I would buy this beer again, it's a little pricey, but I think it's worth it. I would recommend trying it. All in all I was pretty happy with this beer and I have to say I was a little impressed with it/ It's made for a good first impression and it 's now my favorite example of the style. Good job guys, this is one tasty English Porter.
Jul 13, 2015
Photo of zeff80
Reviewed by zeff80 from Missouri

3.63/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
11.2oz bottle. Poured out an opaque, jet-black color with a small, brown head of foam. It smelled of coffee, chocolate and toasted caramel. Nice roasted taste with rich coffee and dark chocolate.
Jun 09, 2015
Photo of GarthDanielson
Reviewed by GarthDanielson from Virginia

3.71/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Poured from a bottle into a nonic, the beer is a mahogany-brown coloring with a filmy, sparse, surface coat of off-white head. Aromas of toffee, caramel, hints of chocolate, and a cream highlight. Flavors are chocolate, coffee, and nut sweetness all blended together, amazingly balanced. Very subtle cream highlights, and not much else. Simple, but spot on. The body is light, almost a bit watered down, but it still has that dry edge you look for in a porter. The aftertaste is more of the coffee and chocolate blend, leaning more to the sweet side now. Smooth, light finish, with a subtle sweet linger. Decent porter.
Jun 04, 2015
Original Flag Porter from Darwin Brewery Ltd.
Beer rating: 86 out of 100 with 275 ratings