Vietnamese Coffee Inspired Imperial Porter
Boulevard Brewing Co.

Top notch overall.

Good pour, deep deep brown color. Decent head.

Some good nose comes through.

Love the mouth feel. Not too thick or too thin. Great "in between" texture.

Coffee, rich, smooth.

Excellent beer.

2023 vintage.

Pours black with minimal head, just a ring. Nose is coffee and some sweetness, likely attributed to milk sugar or the brandy barrels. Taste is malty and roasty, coffee is still very present even with the age. Faint cinnamon and lactose sweetness. Mouthfeel is medium body, low-to-moderate carbonation. Finish introduces some anise.

12 ounce bottle into a snifter. A 2023 release best by 8/28/25, had 12/21/24.

Pours a dark brown, mostly opaque, with a one inch foamy head and some foamy lacing. Aromas of coffee, roasted malt, brandy, vanilla, light cinnamon. The flavors are about the same- coffee, cinnamon, roasted malt, some chocolate, some brandy, light vanilla and chicory. Smooth, a little creamy, a very good full body, appropriately carbonated.

The coffee stars and there’s a good barrel presence. Really well balanced, as well as aromatic and flavorful. Very enjoyable.

 

 

Black in color with a trace of head around the rim. The aroma is of coffee, lactose, chicory and brandy. I’m tasting coffee, cinnamon, and brandy. The mouth is sticky and thick.

 

 

Appearance: Black with some brown highlights in the light, small brown head.

Smell: Boozy, dark fruit, maybe it's the chicory?--kind of a molasses note.

Taste: Some sweetness that shifts into sweetened coffee with a kind of minor cinnamon note. Some chocolate and then the molasses note again in the finish. Coating feel, definitely a sipper.

Overall: Second one from the Boulevard mix 6 BA beers. I think I like it slightly better than the spiced stout, still kind of a weird mix of flavors to me.

12oz bottle. Label has the message of 'PLEASE ENJOY BY: 25AUG2025'.
Black colored body, with a thin edge of red mahogany. Brief tan head, and later there are islands and a ring.
Aroma is rather sparse but does yield dark coffee and a little vanilla. The cinnamon is a flavor influencer, and sits high.
Taste is dense, and expresses dark coffee. Sweet all the way through. Dense chocolate flavors. The cinnamon is like a topping. Aftertaste is long lasting and full of flavors.
More than medium mouth feel. Sticky. Good carbonation.
The chicory is there but the coffee is more prominent.

What you would expect from Boulevard! Exceptional!

 

 

Vietnamese Coffee Inspired Imperial Porter – from Boulevard. Mixed six-pack of three barrel-aged brews, limited release for 2023. Picked up at Franklin Beer, Franklin, PA on 08/12/23 for $23.00/six-pack (Including tax, $ 0.319/fl oz. Reviewed 22/12/23 (Review 3200). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Stamped on label “PLEASE ENJOY BY 28AUG2025”. Stored at 34 degrees at home. Served at 48.3 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 55.2 degrees F.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Ruby Brown (SRM 24), slight haze.
Body – Black (SRM 40), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lit, slight light penetration at the edges, bottom red-amber, top edge amber. There may be a slight chill haze.
Head: Average (Maximum 0.7 cm, aggressive center pour), tan, high density, short retention, dropping to a 0.05 – 0.1 cm crown, and a thin, tiny island.
Lacing – Good! A wide reticulum with large holes remains on the glass.
Aroma – 3.25 – Weak sweet coffee. No malt, no yeast, no hops, no alcohol (15 % ABV as marked on the label).
Flavor – 3.25 – Moderately sweet with weak coffee. Ends with a hint of cinnamon. No yeast, no malt, no hops. Brandy barrels are too faint for me to detect, and I don’t know what chicory tastes like. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Weak and transitory gastric warming.
Palate – 4 – Medium; smooth and creamy; soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.75 Easy drinking as a porter should be. Also, lacking in any singular characteristics that would make me seek it out.

 

Bottle pour - jet black with short mocha head leaving scattered lacing. Nose is roasty malt with cinnamon, coffee and chocolate. Taste follows with hints of brandy barrel wood and a healthy dose of cinnamon that lingers on the finish. On the sweet side.

12oz bottle. Poured out an opaque, jet-black color with a small, light brown head of foam. It left sticky rings of lace. It smelled of coffee, chocolate, toffee, roasted malt and bourbon. Roasty coffee with bourbon, oak, vanilla, chocolate and toffee.

As I age, I drink less high ABV. So I don't keep up well with this industry trend. But because what I call the second generation crafters often have a barrel program and have been at it longer than third generation (those who got going in the 21st Century), the second generation does barrels better. Many of them also have parents with more capital to support a BA program. So it seems with Boulevard. Or at least I'm discovering this with their BA 6-pack.

As for this Imperial Porter, I'm impressed. While its Looks are not special, the Smells are: complex with coffee, related spicing and brandy barrels. Tastes follow closely, but, more importantly, are balanced well.... as is the ABV, no small task. Only after the finish do I recognize this brew's power. Full in my mouth. As for the second bottle of this in the BA 6-pack, that's a gift to my nephew... only kids should be drinking this.

 

Opaque black with ruby hihlights and a modest but lasting tan head and even some decent lacing. The aroma is dark roasted malt, coffee, brandy and cinnamon.
The taste is brandy, coffee, dark chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla, hint of sweet cream.
The body is full, viscous, good carbonation level, creamy smooth, very inviting.
Altogether, this is a fantastic take on the porter style, another big beer from boulevard, great for after dinner or just sipping for sheer enjoyment, outstanding.