Duister Porter
Upright Brewing Company

Definitely a gusher. Not volcano point style, but lava persistent style. Attempt at a gentle initial pour yields a glass that is literally nothing but foam. I'll try again in a bit.

So after letting it sit for an hour or so, it still yields a pretty massive light brown head that's got some heft to it... maybe the consistency of like steamed milk foam. Sticky thick lacing down the glass where it spilled over as well as when I drink down. Body is deep chestnut with a hint of ruby along the edges.

Nose is immediately sweet dark fruits leading the way. Firmly on the stonefruit side of porterdom, like Anchor's moreso than the roastiness of a lot of other examples of the style. A deeper dig does give some toasty rye and light chocolate.

Taking a sip offers a similar experience. First impression is dark stone fruit... plum and the like, that sidles alongside a bit of barrel character with a little bit of bite (more than I'd expect from 8.5% but not unpleasant), and an almost ashy dullening woody character. There's some cocoa to the finish as well. This side of things emerges more as it warms and I must admit I like it better this way. The alcohol also drenches a bit more as well. Finish slides over into the bitter side of things as well with a combination of bitter bakers chocolate and kind of fruity finishing hops and yeast.

It's definitely grown on me as I've slowly worked through it pretty significantly.

Body is thin but smoooooothe (oatmeal influence), and the alcohol adds a nice spicy kick to it. Bright carbonation to it as well (not surprising given how much it was gushing on the pour).

Overall my initial impressions of this one were not particularly flattering. Once I finally kind of got it under control and had let it sit and warm up and open up a bit that shifted pretty significantly and I went from probably somewhere in the 3.8s overall to the current score. I picked this one up about a year ago when I was down in Portland with my dad, and decided to crack into it tonight while I was visiting him and I'm very glad I did.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque black in the glass with a fine, two finger light khaki head with great retention and thick lacing; keeps building after the pour. Aroma of dark toasted malt, cocoa, a hint of char. Muted due to thick cap. Flavor is dark toasted malt with good char, licorice, cocoa, rye (but not much whiskey). Finishes with dark malt, rye and char. Medium bodied with bold carbonation, bordering on over-carbonated. A solid lightly chocolatey and charred porter with a nice touch of rye, although oddly not much whiskey from the rye whiskey barrel. Not much barrel either. Neither really matters, because this is quite full bodied and drinks like a bigger porter. Body is good, but the creaminess the oats provide is moderated by the active carbonation. Really quite good with a bit of an unusual rye flavor from barrel.