Imperial Porter
Thunder Canyon Brewery

Sampled on Tap at Thunder Canyon; March 2010
Arrives with an almost one-finger thick, lightly browned, tan colored head that leaves some lacing on the sides of my glass. The beer is a deep, dark, brown hue that shows amber notes around the edges and a clear, light brown / amber color in the light. The aroma comes off as being vaguely toasted at first, then a firm roast character of malt and burnt bread becomes noticeable as does a touch of coffee aromatics. Hints of toasted cocoa come out as it warms, but the roast character is unequivocally that dominant note in the nose.

Bitter black malt flavors yield to a complex malt sweetness and then a firm biting bitterness in the finish plus a touch of acidity from the roast character. A sweetness in the middle accentuates dark chocolate flavors that nicely balances some of the sharper roast notes. The finish reminds me of darkly roasted, slightly acidic, black coffee. This is rich and chewy feeling with lots of palate sticking viscosity. As usual here, the beer is served much, much too cold, which only accentuates the harsher, roasted flavors. I do like the rich middle that this beer has; flavors of roasted caramel, chocolate and sweetened coffee are quite nicely balancing. There are hints of coffee liquor, molasses and perhaps some hints of fruitiness as well as just maybe some anise like flavors here as the beer warms.

This is actually quite nice, especially as it is allowed to warm up as it has a good balance between the roast character and the sweeter malt notes. Definitely an enjoyable beer that I recommend getting your hands on.