Ipswich Rye Porter
Ipswich Ale Brewery

From notes 9/12/13: Pours a very dark brown bordering on black producing (depending on the pour) 1-3 fingers of frothy, short-lived, mocha head that leaves only a thin wash of rings and splotches of lacing. Aroma is rich dark chocolate with hints of roast, coffee, molasses and dark fruits. Taste is in your face chocolate rapidly followed by rye spice that quickly subdues the chocolate. As in the nose coffee, molasses and dark fruits are subtly detected in the background. The rye provides a bite that really complements the dark malts of the porter. Finishes spicy with a smoky and burnt chocolate aftertaste. Very nice! Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied with moderate to heavy carbonation, smooth and slick with rye spice in the finish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A: Dark, rich color with a generous toffee-colored head

S: A bit on the sweet side, with hints of coffee.

T: Pleasant. Some tobacco/coffee flavors

M: Smooth. Well balanced carbonation.

O: This one caught me off guard. Thought it would just be a throw in to the mix pack, but I was very pleasantly surprised.

A - Pours a surprisingly deep dark nearly-black. There are a couple mahogany highlights and a brown bubbly head, but one could be forgiven for calling this beer black. There is some visible carbonation when held at the right angle. Light lacing at the top of the glass.

S - Not really encouraging, although I give a few points for the strength, which is pretty much just the way I like it. It's a murky smell, with notes of chocolate and coffee as can be expected, but not quite right. Hard to explain.

T - Really good, and I'm generally not a big fan of porters. I love how the Rye adds a kick to the beer and it blends nicely with the dark roasted malts. I would call this the highlight of the beer.

M - Starts off great! Nice medium-full bodied beer. Creamy. A little fluffy from the carbonation. However, it leaves a coating on my mouth of which I am not a fan. The flavor lingers too long and leaves me with a burnt coffee type flavor that I do not attribute directly to taste.

O - I love the idea, and really enjoyed the first half of it. However, it really needs a chaser IMHO.

 

 

From the 12 fl. oz. bottle. Sampled on August 18, 2013. This is probably from last year's mixed pack. No date on the bottle.

I(t has a decent looking dark brown pour to just about black with ruby red highlights, a moderate tan head, and deeply opaque.

The aroma is of dark malts, coffee grinds, some mild smoke, and mellow sweetness. No hops to speak of.

The body is about medium.

The taste tends to begin sweet and malty but it does not take long for the spent coffee grinds to kick in and take it over. Hops are downplayed on both the nose and taste. It seemed to be true to the Porter style but did not blow me away.

 

22oz bottle poured into a stemmed tulip glass.

A- Poured a very dark chocolate brown color, nearly opaque except for some visible carbonation. The tulip made for a big 2-plus finger head, rich mocha color, that gently tapers to a film leaving sheets of lacing.

S- A big blast of chocolate, coffee infused chocolate, and dark roasted chocolatey malts.

T- The rye spice comes through after the upfront chocolate flavor, making it work so that it's not as chocolate dominant as the aroma would indicate.

M- This is overcarbonated, and that's the first thing I feel in each sip. Now I know why the carbonation was visible in such a dark beer. There really is not much body, the malts are hidden. There is some rye spice on the finish.

O- My rating numbers reflect exactly how, for me, that this beer goes: all over the place.