Swede Hook
Woods Boss Brewing Company

 

 

one of the better beers i have had from these guys, a really drinkable but robustly flavored english style porter, jazzed up with vanilla beans and orange peel, a really neat mix of flavors here, festive and interesting but not at all over flavored. the beer is rich deep brown in color without a ton of head or carbonation but plenty of body, especially for its nice low abv. definitely get some of the zesty bitter oily orange peel in the aroma, it gives a cool freshness to an otherwise very dark beer. there is a lot of roast and dark chocolate character here, and just a hint of the bready english ale yeast. if there is vanilla in here, its hard to appreciate in the nose, a little warming sweetness maybe, but the orange and the roast push it to the perimeter for sure. its more present in the flavor, lightly sweet and pulling a more milk chocolate type character out of the malt, not to sweet because of the bitter orange, and made earthy by a nuttiness in the grain and a yeasty flavor to finish. nice subtle complexity here, an a good base beer to take on these added flavors. i with it had a little more carbonation and was a little drier, but its smooth going down and seems to fit the holiday season really well. clever porter here, a big step in the right direction for these guys!