Imperial Old Man Winter Porter
Ribstone Creek Brewery

2019 version at 10%

Aged since May 2019.

My first go at an offering from this brewery.

Appearance - Pours a jet black with two fingers of mocha tan head.

Smell - earthy and leafy hops, roasted malts, cocoa, coffee bean, caramel, toffee, dark fruits (plum, raisin), alcohol, and earthy yeast.

Taste - earthy and leafy hops upfront. The roasted malts, cocoa, coffee bean, caramel, and toffee come through next. The dark fruits (plum, raisin) and earthy yeast round out the brew.

Mouthfeel - Medium to full bodied with light to moderate carbonation. Finishes smooth and slightly chewy with the all ingredients lingering with a pleasant warmness from the alcohol.

Overall - A flavourful and balanced imperial porter that is sure to warm you up on a cool wintery evening especially here in Cowtown!

Dark colour, not producing to much foam, typical Nice Porter beer but with strong molasses aromas and taste that overwhelm my senses. Very aromatic nose of sweet molasses. In mouth wish smoke, spices, dark chocolate, and tobacco, some corn and a hint of malted barley and quite a bit molasses at the end. Very long finish.

650ml bottle - it is simply what it says it is, an Imperialized version of their popular Old Man Winter Porter. Also, not barrel-aged, just 'months of cellaring'.

This beer pours a pretty solid black, with prominent amber basal highlights, and three fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and bubbly brown head, which leaves some extraordinary layered and streaky lace around the glass as it slowly sinks out of sight.

It smells of rich milk chocolate, bready and doughy caramel malt, toffee pudding, cafe-au-lait, a hint of free-range roastiness, and some plain leafy, musty, and soused-up floral hop bitters. The taste is grainy and crackery cereal malt, bittersweet cocoa powder, some indistinct dark stone fruitiness, subtle wet char, ethereal notes of licorice root, and more well-understated earthy, musty, and gently lit-up floral hoppiness.

The carbonation is quite restrained in its palate-pinging frothiness, the body a decent middleweight, and actually rather smooth, with a wee airy creaminess evolving as things warm up a tad around here. It finishes off-dry, the cocoa and general malt sweetness exhibiting the most lingering verve.

Overall - wow! This has some old ale-leaning tendencies, as it is full-flavoured, and surprisingly easy to drink. It doesn't hurt that the near 22-proof booze is essentially invisible, I suppose. A very well-crafted, put on your big-boy pants, sort of offering.