Penny Black
Hampshire Brewery Ltd

Bottle-conditioned, coming in a 500ml brown glass bottle. BB 10/04/09, served cool in a straight imperial pint glass.

A: pours a dark brown hue with mahogany shades against light; the khaki foamy head comes medium-thick with good retention, while the carbonation is not so high judging by the hissing sound.
S: a deep aroma of black malts mixed with sour-sweet berry fruits dominates the nose, supported by light roastiness like nuts, lightly roasted coffee beans, and a faint musty hint. A swirl brings out an attenuated earthy touch of English hops, and a little grapy sourness also develop over time. Well-crafted and balanced overall, but not quite what I'd expect from a Porter.
T: mildly bitter-sweet and earthy flavour of black malts comes with a much more restrained input of sour stone-fruits, with the undertone of roasted nuts and increasingly dry palate of really chewy hop bitterness lingering elegantly in the end... Occasionally the grapy hint would emerge, but not as assertively as most Porters, whereas the bitter finish is so clean that it gives the whole tasting experience a somewhat "lift-up" from the back.
M&D: clean on the palate, softly carbonated, light-medium bodied porter this is. Not demanding on the sour front, which I probably would like to see in a Porter, but this is a truly well-crafted and clean black beer with a solid hoppy backbone that benefits even further from the improving bottle-conditioning skills of Hampshire Brewery!