Baltic Porter
Capital Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appearance -- Pours a deep chestnut brown with a slim sudsy beige head. Nice hue for a Brown Ale, but not a Baltic Porter.

Smell -- What is going on here?? Aromas very reminiscent of Old Ales: brandy-soaked dark fruit, toffee, molasses, and some gentle spice. Very interesting!

Taste -- Interesting flavor profile: figs and dates, toffee, toasted nuts, brandy, and gentle spice. There's been some significant oxidation - thanks, twist top - that is perceived as sherry and a bit of wet cardboard flavor. Alcohol is not at all well hidden, indeed it is a bit sharp. Lingering flavors of toffee and vegetal bitterness. Overall, lots of pleasant aspects against plenty of unpleasant ones ending in something of a draw.

Mouthfeel -- Medium-bodied with moderate carbonation that turns out to be gentle on the tongue.

Drinkability -- I bought this as a single within the past week, so there is a good chance that these have not seen ideal aging conditions. Honestly, this wasn't too bad, though I wouldn't call it a Baltic Porter. Much more akin to a light-bodied Old Ale at this point in its life. Very interesting. If for some reason you see this kicking around at your local bottle shop, give it a shot. It's worth the risk.

$2.99 for a single bottle at Discount Liquor in Milwaukee.

A: deep copper-red color, near flat
S: slight medicinal nose, thin, sweet
T: very thin for the style, not much body nor taste from roasted malts, sweeter as true to style but still lacked depth and complexity
M: thin
D: not really due to thin and watery

12 oz bottle poured into a Nonic. 1148 printed on the neck. No other info.

Thanks to Beerwolf77 for this bottle! I haven't seen it anywhere.

A - The pour gives this beer a low tan, effervescent head with no retention and nothing left really. The body is a clear dark brown with amber highlights.

S - The nose seems just ever-so-slightly off somehow but is teeming with toasted malts, mainly caramel, and a robust sweetness. Very reminiscent of a dopplebock actually.

T - I can't unwrap my head around this not being a dopplebock and the flavor only intensifies that idea. A mix in flavor between dark toasted malts and toasted caramel malts give this beer a strong malty-sweet flavor totally devoid of hops.

M - Smooth and crisp with a full-body. A sharp carbonation bite finishes out the end of the feel.

D - It's very sweet and malty. It could use a very tiny bit more of balance but it's a good, smooth, easy drinking, or easy sipping beer. It's definitely in Capital's expertise of brewing though.

Poured into my pint glass the beer is dark brown with a slight red tint to it. The head is about an inch of thick beige creaminess. After settling no lace is left behind.

The aroma is burnt malt with hints of bitter chocolate. Baked pretzles and roasted nuts are present as well.

The flavor is malty with hints of dark fruit. Some spices can be picked out with coffee and faint traces of chocolate in the finish.

Medium body with moderate carbonation give the beer a rather smooth texture.

Overall this a simple drinkable beer from a brewery that seems to make alot of simple drinkable beers.

Pours a clear, dark amber color. 1/4 inch head of a tan color. Good retention and decent lacing. Smells of yeast, sweet malt, grain, caramel, brown sugar, and slight hops. Fits the style of a Baltic Porter. Mouth feel is smooth, thick, and sharp with an average carbonation level. Tastes of alcohol, hops, roasted malt, slight sweet malt, and acidity. Overall, a brew that was much better than I was expecting. Good blend, noticeable alcohol and acidity (but neither overpowering), and good body.

Pours a warm, very dark chocolate brown. A little light can get through it when held up to a light, but definitely no transparency at all. In an imperial pint glass, it forms about an inch and a half of off-white , medium bubble foam that recedes slowly, leaving no lace at all.

A sweet, somewhat musty smell out of the bottle picks up a bit of caramelized maltiness in the glass. It's a little cloying for my nose. The taste follows the smell. A bit of bitterness in the aftertaste, but a surprising amount of caramel smoothness, almost stickiness. After the first couple of sips the bitterness fades completely and I feel like my mouth is coated. It's definitely interesting, and not what I was expecting.

The 8.5% ABV doesn't really hit you in the mouth, and the lack of bite would let you drink this pretty fast if you weren't paying attention. That would probably be unwise. Still, decent drinkability score considering just how much booze is packed in here. All told though, this is an interesting novelty but not likely one I'll be picking up again.

12 oz. bottle into a pint glass

Pours a reddish mahogany color, pretty light for the style, with a one inch light tan head that falls down to a skim, which retains well. Lots of lacing left on the glass.

Aroma has caramel malts, some dark fruit - raisins and plums, brown sugar, and a very slight roasty character.

Tastes of caramel up front but is quickly joined by the dark fruits. A roasty character comes in next, quite chocolaty, which lasts into the finish blending with the fruit character. A light alcohol warmth in the back.

Mouthfeel is medium-full bodied, very creamy and soft on the palate. I'd say it's quite chewy as well. Pretty drinkable.

I liked this one though it's not one of the best examples of the style. Good in it's own right and something I had wanted to try for awhile. It was a little pricey though at $3.49 a bottle so that would stop me from getting it again.

Darkest russet with bright orange trim. The lack of opacity is surprising. Despite a vigorous pour, the pale caramel colored cap reached a maximum of one finger. On the positive side, it looks acceptable enough and hangs around for a bit. A short collar of lace is the extent of the glass coverage.

Baltic Porter smells like an average dark lager. It is a dark lager, I suppose, but there's nothing impressive about the nose. A whiff of cold coffee, a little roasted malt... that's about it. I hope the beer tastes richer than it smells.

Even though this Capital Square Series limited release won't put a scare into the world's best Baltic porters, it's decent beer in the end. The fact that I'm finding more to criticize than to praise doesn't change the fact that the all-important flavor score is a solid 3.5. Warming is unlikely to change that assessment.

More malt seems like the obvious fix. The lack of substance allows the beer to skate across the taste buds so quickly that whatever depth and complexity might have been present doesn't have a chance to dig in. Flavors include dark chocolate, steely caramel, burnt coffee and a splash of grain alcohol.

This offering tastes like a big beer more than it feels like a big beer. It feels like a 6.0%'er at best. The mouthfeel isn't smooth and it isn't rough around the edges. The carbonation neither helps nor hurts. All in all... average.

A big lager like this should be right in Capital's wheelhouse. They brew killer doppelbocks, so the fact that Baltic Porter is less than stellar is puzzling. The single was overpriced at $3.39, but at least I didn't didn't buy an entire 4-pack. Bottom line: this one is probably best left on the shelves.

Pours a deep red, much more red than I anticipated. A deep and rich mahogany once poured into my glass. Quite an active pour, and initially the head was good sized, but it fizzed down to a covering within seconds.

Aroma is general fruitiness, and what I take to be an acidic quality. I don't even know if the nose can detect acids, but it smells like Duchessed de Bourgogne (sp?) to me. A little anyway. Smells good, but here as in the appearance, not what I expected.

Burnt caramel and toasted malt hit me like a ton of bricks. A little licorice lurks beneath the surface. The initial shock wore off quickly, and a sweet yet bitter coffee-like flavor comes into play. A little cherry, and I almost taste grape. Minimal hop flavor, if any (I might just be tasting the roasted bitterness), and alcohol is well hidden.

A bit thin, although as to mouthfeel to style, I have no idea. A bit thin for my liking though. Otherwise no problem here.

This beer smells great, but everything else was just alright. I'm glad I tried it, but probably won't sample again.

A--Pours a dark red/brown with around a finger of head that recedes very quickly in my pint glass

S--Sweet yet mild...pears, banana, grapes. Caramel malts.

T--Brown sugar, toffee, raisins. Very malty sweetness.

M--Thin, but not watery

D--I just didn't like this one enough to want to drink it. Pretty average all the way around.

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a shaker pint.

Pours a clear chocolate brown with a nearly nonexistent head that fades immediately, if it's the alcohol, there are little for legs, but they are there.

Aroma is dark toasted malt and brown sugar, smallish molasses aroma with a whiff of vanilla. Raisins and dates on the nose, with a bit of rum.

Flavor is straight malt, coffee and toffee, cream and butter, caramel and molasses. Middle is chocolate and raisins, dry sherry and sweet dates, slightly funky. Finishes sweet and a bit tart and sour with a touch of dark tobacco, smoke and estery leathery, wood flavors. The alcohol is masked perfectly.

Mouthfeel is surprisingly crisp given the flavor, the carbonation lends well to the sweetness of this brew. Quite watery for a porter of any style though.

This is the first Baltic I've had and I have to imagine that the thin body and flavor weren't meant for this beer. The label mentions it is a mash-up of a porter and a lager, I guess they were shooting for an easy drinking, high ABV beer. I really think I rated it a bit high in the beginning and have to recant from the first bottle. The second one showed me what it's all about.

Got this one as an extra in a trade recently. I was stoked to try it by I have to admit I was kinda let down in the end. Served chilled in a goblet and consumed on 02/17/2009.

The pour was not good for me. First off it was light, transparent, almost dark red ale like in color with a small head that quickly faded, not the strong, dark and opaque beer you would expect from the style. The aroma was faint of roasted malts, dark fruits and a touch of molasses. Light feel as well as this one was no where near thick enough. Light flavor here with just a touch of tartness and a light roasted note in the finish. Easy to drink as the flavor was non existent for me throughout most of it. A train wreck in my opinion given the style, I would not go back.

Poured from a bottle into a pint glass. It pours a deep brown with a 1 inch tan head the reduces to an almost full covering of lacing. It is a deep red when held to the light and not quite opaque but dark.

The aroma is a bit underwhelming. A nice caramel malt with a fair amount of alcohol is noted. Some cherry and raisin notes are also present.

The taste is again a caramel malt combination with raisins and alcohol. Some chocolate and coffee hints are also present. Mild level of hoppiness, most present at the end.

The mouthfeel is fairly smooth in a medium bodied and somewhat low carbonated beverage. It leaves a mild coffee-like bitterness on the tongue. This portion is actually quite good.

Overall, this is a reasonably good beer. I enjoyed it more out of the tap (as I remember having it almost a year ago or so ago) but have a few stockpiled to see how it ages and have been aging it for a certain amount of time. A good baltic porter, but there are definitely better ones available.