Zych
Twin Elephant Brewing Company

 

a: silky, jet black color. pours a 2 finger rocky & frothy dark tan head

s: nice roasted malts and chocolate. brown sugar and cocoa powder. a hint of oaky wood and some bitter earthiness. nice dark chocolate notes follow that and some dark caramel

t: dark chocolate and cocoa powder upfront. leather and some dark caramel follow. a nice, yet mild hit of bitterness from roasted malts as well as a hint of brown sugar to balance that out. a very very faint note of tea leaf and some crusty bread

m: heavy mouthfeel with medium carbonation. spot on

o: this is a nice example of a Baltic Porter. it doesn't have any frills, but has some deeper complexities than your standard Porter

Moderate pour filled half the pint glass with dark brown foam, good retention kept at around three fingers making me impatient, when there was finally started to leave some big cloud-like lacing splotches. The liquid is black and from any angle I looked couldn't find any brown, completely opaque. Overall the nose runs as equally sweet as roasty, there's ample nuttiness as well as molasses crisp, favors milk chocolate over dark, cola bean, touch of quinine, not finding it especially fruity, get more scone like accents as it warms. Medium-bodied, the carbonation imbues it with a pleasing prickle, adds life. Strong showing by that minerally, quinine element, helps things from getting too sweet. The breadiness steps it up a notch too. More cola and even root beer flavors than chocolate. Black currant to cherry fruit, a little fig. Clean, dry finish. As a whole and to my palate I'd prefer more creaminess for casual sipping although it might show well as a warm weather dark beer, certainly not too heavy for such. (From crowler canned 1/27/22)

Pint pour on draught at the brewery. It pours a deep mahogany with dark cola hues and sports a half-finger of creamy, light mocha head and modest lacing. It's an attractive pour. The smell is rather subdued at first but improves as it warms. There is roasted malt, freshly-brewed coffee, chocolate, and whiffs of leather, tobacco, and dark fruit. The taste offers dark chocolate, acidic coffee, licorice, prune, raisin, and a hint of caramel. It's more sweet and less earthy than I anticipated. In fact, it reminds me of a Doppelbock. It's also quite boozy for 8.5% ABV. The mouth feel is pleasantly rich and creamy with lite/moderate carbonation. Overall, to my taste Zych is sweeter and fruitier than most Baltic Porters I've had. It's memorable in that regard. I'm looking forward to trying it again over the next few weeks to see how it changes.