Blitzen
Millstream Brewing Company

 

 

 

Beer label says Baltic Porter, BA says American Porter. A hard to read label notch could be read as October. Jet black, totally opaque with very light head. Wonderful smell of roasted malt, licorice and expresso coffee. Each sip as the beer warms up unfolds more and more tastes. An excellent porter. I'd call it a better stout than most stouts. Smooth dark chocolate, licorice flavors and not a trace of burnt or bitter aftertaste. Get out and find this

(Update on Nov '16 - fresh beer! If anything, it's better than last year. Seek it out.)

Popping the cap releases traces of chocolate, caramel, anise and a very faint hint of tobacco. There are no big hop or roast aromas. The beer pours a deep dark brown and with a bright enough light it appears brilliant. A thin tan foam collar perches on the top. Despite the lack of head, it is fairly lacy. It has a rich, malty palate, a light caramel sweetness, dried fruit, no big hop or burnt roast flavors. The attack starts rich, sweet and creamy and then by mid palate dark malt flavors emerge with anise to licorice appearing in the finish. The lingering aftertaste has dark sugars and dark, dried fruit and some fresh grain. The body is medium to full and the carbonation slightly less than medium.

 

 

 

 

 

Blitzen pours a black color with almost no head. There is a bold roasted aroma, with good notes of black licorice, and hints of coffee. The taste is similar, lots of roasted malt flavors, with huge notes of black licorice, and nice coffee and vanilla notes. Good bold and full flavors, nice sipping beer. Overall, its strong, great flavors, and great finish.

 

 

 

 

 

This was drank from a snifter. Bottled October 2013.

Dark, cola-colored body that gets close to black, the foam built to a finger's-width, but dies just as fast, leaving a mocha-colored ring on the cap.

Very sweet nose, the flavors are dark fruity-y to the max! There was some dark cherry, and raisin mainly. A very minimal sense of roasted malt comes through, even helps make the dark fruit flavors seem more like brown sugar. The nose is appropriate for style, and appetizing!

The palate of flavors start more sweet with a more toffee and caramel-like character than dark fruits. Then a roasted malt flavor evolves on the finish, getting oh so close to smokey and even a little ashy. It feels like the roasted malt has gone a little too far, but just barely. A slightly boozy port-character also becomes apparent after a few sips. It adds that hint of dark fruits back to the proceedings.

The creaminess on the tongue is large and in charge. It keeps the beer feeling big, but not heavy. The roasted, bordering into burnt, malts help give the beer a slightly dry feel as well. Nice!

Blitzen is a solid Baltic Porter. The main gripe here is that the roasted malts go a little too far into the ashy flavors, as opposed to staying roasted and more nutty. It also takes away from the sweet and dark fruit-y characteristics that stand out so well on the nose. Still, Millstream did a very nice job with the style.