P3 Baltic Porter
Phase Three Brewing Company

Copenhagen 11/11 2024. 47,3 cl can from Kihoskh, Sønder Boulevard, Kbh. V. Plain black can with the name of the beer in elegant white letters.

Pours almost opaque, dark brown with a red hue and a small off-white head. Settles as a thin patch of foam unable of covering the surface of the beer. No lacing to speak of.

Aroma is medium intense with a sweet malty and roasted odor mingling with an earthy scent barely hiding a healthy dose of alcohol. Sweet dark malts. Toasted. Caramel, toffee and a bit of brown sugar. Cocoa and leather. Dark chocolate and coffee. Whiff of dark alcohol.

Light carbonation. Slightly thick, oily, a bit greasy, soft, gently tingling texture.

Flavor is fairly intense with a medium strong sweetness followed by a slightly stronger bitterness. Aftertaste is bitter. Lingers for a while. Finish is rather dry.

Manages to hide the quite impressive ABV away.

One of the best Baltic Porters I’ve had up till now. Rich dark color, short head, strong coffee notes. Good carbonation.

L: Walnut brown
S: Cherry, raspberry notes
T: Prunes, chocolate, slight booziness
F: Thick & frothy, full
O: My favorite Imperial Baltic porter

 

 

 

Nice dark brown pour, tan head hangs around but not much lacing. Roasty notes dominate the nose and taste buds. Seems a bit thin, well carbonated. very nice beer.

 

 

My review from NBW #171...

***

Upon pouring, the beer is bright black (is that even possible?) with a fluffy, dirty white head that recedes to a thin rim around the top and edges of the glass. Loads of tiny bubbles stream up the glass in orderly rows like Tsarist frigates arrayed precisely on frigid winter waters. This is a Baltic porter; the inky blackness is that of deep winter on a quiet sea, moonlight kissing the waves, silence like a heavy cloak blocking interaction with anything but the darkness and the slow, steady creaking of the yards. (L:4)

In the nose, all the dark flavours come out to play: dark fruit; sherry and muscat; old wet hay; unroasted nuts; dark cherries; and purple grape skins. It again brings to mind winter, a still sea, and encroaching dark: the flavours are stoic, hardy, strong and ancient. The Baltic trader sits at anchor in the roads, cloaked in night, waiting its turn to dock. The scents play to the solemn rhythm of hard life and relentless struggle on northern seas. There's no tropical lightness, no modern fruit. But like birds flocking south, the beer's nose is portentous. It warns of flavour notes to come. (S: 4.25)

In the mouth, the impression is also dark: dried fruits like raisins, dates, prunes and sultanas, with a liqueur note that takes me to the bottles my Baba had in the wall cabinet in her dining room. That sideboard was old and mysterious, the liqueurs untouchable, rarely sampled, and out of reach to ten-year-old me. I conjure mustiness in my mind when I think of those times, and as with these flavour notes, it smelled old; old, worn leather, deep with oil and dripping with age, like canvas stowed in lockers lining the decks tramped by grizzled, grumbling sailors. Others have noted chocolate; I don't get any, but I do get a raspberry and cola note. I seem to be the only one in the world to pick that up in porters and stouts - it's like my very own coriander (cilantro) gene. There's warming alcohol in the gullet and chest, playing to the feeling of encroaching, ancient winter that this beer evokes. (T: 4.25)

Mouthfeel is full and thick. It's comfortable, like a downy coat that keeps winter's demons at bay. The warmth from the alcohol plays nicely with the smoothness of the body, further building the impression of solidity and shelter from the elemental forces of cold, dark, silent nights, of forests heavy with snow and stolidly facing the cold, steely, penetrating fingers of winter. The body does the beer great service. (M: 4.5)

Life on the Baltic Sea in winter is hard. Men struggle for warmth. Ships battle elements, and entropy battles energy in a constant war for the ultimate state of balance. Warmth is king, the only safe haven on a night where heat is the only guarantee of seeing dawn's light. This beer conjures dark fruits and stoic, aged liqueur, my exact mental image of life in the lands surrounding the Baltic Sea. It's a beer that embraces the power of dark malt and subtle booze to enliven the palate and the imagination, a beer that wants to warm itself and the drinker in equal amounts, and a beer that rewards slow, easy consumption. It's a Baltic Porter, a beer that two centuries ago ruled the lanes of the sea from which it took its name but which also has its place all these years later, reminding us that not all need be tropical, sugary or aimed only for mass consumption. (O: 4.25)

Cheers!
#349

 

16oz can
L: dark mahogany body with a tall & foamy tan head
S: raisin, prune, leather, dark fruit, earthy hops
T: raisins & prunes, cherries & dark berries, dark grain, mild roast, chocolate, pumpernickel, earthy hops
F: full body, ample carbonation, alcohol is non-existent yet warming, balanced finish
O: this is one of my favorite styles of beer and this one is great!

Aroma is dark/roasted malts, chocolate and a hint of sweetness. The flavor is fruit/dark fruit, dark/roasted malts, chocolate and an acidic/mildly sweet finish.

poured from a 16oz can into a delirium tremend snifter. pours a dark brown to near black with a small tan foam cap. dark fruits, light coffee and cocoa powder on the nose. taste is heavier on the dark fruits with a bit of dark bread malts, cocoa powder and coffee in the background. medium-full mouthfeel with a creamy smooth finish. hides the abv quite well actually while still being a big, bold beer. a little less carbonation than i expected but i probably shouldn’t be surprised at 10.5% abv. overall, i quite enjoyed this. a good cold weather beer.

 

Canned 12/19/22; drank 1/2/23 @ the Yarchives.

Black/brown appearance.

A rough pour yielded a huge, noisy tan head; a thick curtain of tree-rung lace is left behind.

Chocolate, fresh earth & faint black licorice notes in the nose.

Thick mouthfeel.

Black licorice, chocolate & booze heat flavors.

Almost a Russian Imperial Baltic Porter, which makes little sense except on my palate. Good, but it's challenging.