Third Orbit Anniversary Ale: Imperial Porter With Cherries
Ecliptic Brewing

 

 

 

On tap at Beer O'clock the other day.

The beer pours a blackish brown color with decent head retention and lacing. On the nose I pick up licorice, burnt toast, vanilla and maybe a hint of cherries (according to the beer menu, this is a barrel aged porter with cherries). The flavor profile replicates the nose pretty closely in this dry roasty porter. Again, there's maybe a hint of cherries on the finish, but it's pretty subtle (same with the barrel aging). The beer is fairly light and dry on the finish, and alcohol is very well integrated into the flavor profile.

Shrug. For those who like the Capella porter from these guys, you'll probably like this beer as well. To me, it tastes very much like a slightly richer version of the Capella, with perhaps an additional hint of cherries. Maybe it's a style thing, but I've yet to have a porter from Ecliptic that I thought was anything to write home about.

for an anniversary beer and a special release, i expected a little more from this one. the base porter is really good, bit and chocolate forward, but the cherries seem to add little more than a light sweetness and a slight tart astringency that breaks down some of the body on the tongue, and the beer ends up feeling sweet, a little disjointed, and sort of minimally interesting for what its supposed to be. i love these guys, and look forward to trying new beer from them, but this might be better without the fruit. it has a slight cough medicine vibe to it, not syrupy or anything in feel, but that sort of flavor from the cherries. minor tannic acidity too, not jiving with the dark malts and the body that seems to keep trying to establish itself in futility. some coffee roastiness, some brown sugar, and a neat dark beer flavor complexion, but it never really gets to where it sets out for i dont reckon, and its a pretty substandard beer overall for these guys. i think anniversary beers should be like magnum opus status, a brewer's best work, but this is far from that. serviceable, but not at all impressive for what i know ecliptic to be capable of...

 

22 oz bottle. Pours dark brown with a big fluffy tan head that retains well and laces the glass.

The aroma is chalky chocolate malts with a lot of sweet cherry.

The flavor is chalky chocolate with a little roast and a lot of sweet cherry and an ashy bitter finish. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with smooth carbonation.

Overall, I like the chocolate and cherry but the chalkiness and ashy bitterness throw it off.

 

Look: It pours black with a brown head. The head has fairly good head retention.

Smell: It has aromas of cherries, roast, chocolate, and plums.

Taste: The flavors are bitter with roast, chocolate, cherries, a slight bit of coffee, and hints of plums.

Feel: It has a moderate feel to it that is quite bitter in the finish. There is also a good amount of carbonation as well.

Overall, the bitterness is evident throughout the taste with the roast and chocolate in the foreground and the cherries in the background with the other flavors as secondary support.

Columbus, Chinook, Amarillo, Cascade hops according to the label. Plenty of bitterness, and it seems to get more pronounced in the aftertaste. I don't actually taste the cherries, but there is something darkly fruity and raisiny. Not much aroma.

Big malt but just slightly sweet. Dark caramel and a touch of bitter chocolate. Quite a tasty big dark brew, though certainly not worth the price. From the 22 oz bottle purchased at Elizabeth Station in Bellingham, Wash.

Dark brown color, tan head, initially big, not persistent.
Initial whiff of cherries on the nose, then all traditional porter smell.
Tastes is deeply roasted malt. not overly bitter, no objectionable sweetness. No cherries.
Mouthfeel is rich, without being overdone.
Finish is a bit short, but good. Overall a very good porter.
Qualitatively on par with Cosmic Ristretto.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque black in the glass, with a half finger khaki head with good retention and lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt with mild char, cocoa and a hint of cherry. Flavor is dark toasted malt with a little smoke, almost a hint of peat; milk chocolate and a touch of cherry. Finishes with some char and residual chocolate. Nice medium creamy body. A rich, very well integrated porter, bordering on stout territory but smoother and better balanced. The cherry is fairly subtle. Although cherry can be over used in porters and stouts, I would have liked a little more robust cherry flavor. This is so flavorful, it's not a big loss. The ABV is very well covered. Nicely done and a great anniversary porter.