Baltic Porter
Founders Brewing Company

 

 

L= Nice color, deep cola brown, almost black. 1/4 inch head, perhaps a bit under carbonated.
S = Mild. I am getting a woodsy malt note with an unusual spicing that I cannot identify. chocolate, vanilla, hazelnut, grassy, arugula like vegetable note. Different and intriguing.
T = This porter is in it's own universe. Sweet, smokey, caramel. grassy, pepper, malt. Unique, I like it!
F = The mouthfeel is good. A tiny bit on the sticky side, but in no way objectionable. Fine for an 8.5 ABV. Carbonation is better than the tiny poured head would indicate.
O = This is a fine porter, and the whole is better than the sum of its' parts. Memorable in particular, because it is different. Jeremy Kosmicki has done a fime job, creating a brew that is satisfying and original.

 

The pour is coffee (strong coffee) brown with a light brown 1 centimeter head that left sparse lacing.
The taste is coffee and toffee, warm bread and dark fruits. It doesn’t have the style guideline bitter notes but I’m fine with that.
The feel is full, not quite viscous and seems appropriate for the style.
OA, this is one I will drink again and again.

$10.99 for a 4 pack of 12oz bottles at BevCo.
Per the website: Brewed with Pilsner, Munich, Crystal, and Chocolate malts.
Hopped with Crystal and Nugget.
8.5% ABV, 15 IBU.

Pours out to a sparkingly clear dark brown, near black with ruby highlights, forming a modest light tan head with average retention and lacing. Carbonation is moderate, ~ 2.7 carbs or so. Nose of dark cocoa powder, a little bit of raisins/prunes, devoid of coffee or ashy burnt notes, and some black walnut. No diacetyl, skunk or H2S noted. Very faint suggestion of hops in the nose, probably a late boil addition. Mouthfeel is medium-dense bodied, slick, rich and a little syrupy. The taste is a recap of the nose. It's mostly medium dark chocolate, then some black walnut and dark raisins/prunes. Finishes moderately sweet. Unfortunately, there are some light fusel alcohols and also light oxidation (wet cardboard/newspaper), which is also something I got with their recent barleywine release, but not something I have ever got in their staple brews which makes me think there is a process problem with these smaller releases. It's interesting that they used chocolate malt in this instead of caramunich and carafa, and I'm curious what lager strain they used for this.

This is a decent beer with some subtle flaws that most people won't pick up on. I'm very sensitive to fusels and T-2-N. Its a bit sweeter than I would expect for the style, preferring my baltic porters to finish with a lower SG than this and with a bit more bitterness, ~25-30 IBU. If you like Baltic porters, it's worth trying, especially if (like me) it's impossible to find any true baltic porters where you live.

Baltic Porter from Founders Brewery. 16 fl oz crowler. Received from @Whyteboar in Barleywine and Stout BIF #2. Received 22/02/25, reviewed 05/03/25 (Review 3462). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Can dated “11-1-24”. Stored at 39 degrees F at home. Served at 56.6 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 59.0 degrees F.
Appearance – 4
First pour – Deep Amber (SRM 18), clear.
Body – Brown (SRM 20), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, deep ruby and clear.
Head: Average (1.3 cm, aggressive center pour), almond. High density. Short retention, leaving a 0.5 mm broken bubble ring and no cap.
Lacing – Poor. .
Aroma – 3.75 – Weak “dark fruit” and weaker coffee. No hops, no yeast, no ethanol (8.5 % ABV, as marked on label). No disulfide or diacetyl.
Flavor – 4 – Begins very slightly bitter, with some coffee flavor. No yeast, no hops, no ethanol. No disulfides, no diacetyl. Weak gastric warming. It ends a bit dry.
Palate – 4 – Medium; approaching creamy; weak carbonation.
Style: Follows the loose style guidelines as condensed by BA.

Final impression and summation: 4 Decent flavor and weak aroma – probably due to being a crowler. Still, this is a brew I’d probably never have gotten to try otherwise (In all my trips to Grand Rapids, I’ve never been able to work in a visit to Founders).

 

On tap at the brewery - Grand Rapids, MI
O: dark cola colored body with a thin tan head
S: chocolate, coffee, dark fruit, earthy
T: dark chocolate, cherry, raisin, caramel, cola, pumpernickel, earthy hops
F: full body, smooth carbonation, balanced finish
O: delicious lager