Docklands
Away Days Brewing Company

On the lighter side of Baltic Porters, but still with the ‘heft’ of a satisfying mouthfeel. Pint can from mid-January, consumed in mid-May. Perfect for an outdoor swill on a cool Spring day (note: I use “swill” lovingly, and a bit tongue-in-cheek). Malt forward of course, but with a hint of hops. Subtle sweetness that brings to mind stone fruits. Baltic Porters are a bit scarce out West, and Away Days is to be commended for brewing this style.

Pours a very rich brown, not quite opaque. Frothy head, good lacing. Nose is very light, just a whiff of fresh dark bread. Taste is dry, not heavy on the tongue. Carbonation is quite good and long-lasting. Flavors coming out range from a malty base with extras like dark chocolate with a touch of licorice. Just enough hop bitterness to keep things interesting while keeping itself well in the background. Not anywhere near the boozy and heavy versions found elsewhere.

Hope they keep this in their regular rotation

 

Poured from 16oz can into a dimpled mug. There appears to be a mangled date stamp on the bottom, but for a Baltic porter, it probably doesn’t matter much.

Appearance: super dark brown body with just a few dark highlights around the edges. Head is a couple of fingers of frothy tan foam — pretty!

Smell: caramel, toffee, a little bit of roast, and a little bit of biscuit. There’s some good stuff here, although it doesn’t have quite the rich & fruity malt aroma I associate with the style.

Taste: sweetish, caramelly, bready, biscuity, and just perhaps a little roasty. It’s flavor pretty much matches the aroma, and I have the same assesment — not quite as aromatic-forward as a lot of Baltic porters, but still good. I don’t usually care for biscuity flavors, but here it’s not too bad within the mélange.

Mouthfeel: rich and smooth with a good carbonation and very nice creaminess.

Overall: a good beer indeed, although perhaps not my favorite Baltic porter out there. An interesting take on the style, though.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque in the glass with a thin khaki head that slowly dissipates to patches with light lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt with a little char, bakers chocolate, coffee and mild dark stone fruit. Flavor is dark toasted malt with light char, bakers chocolate, coffee, light dried plums and dates; smoky mocha finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. An interesting and flavorful take on the Baltic porter style. More malt char and smoke than I've seen in this style and the dried fruit character is subdued. The dark fruit is my touchstone for this style, so I should be somewhat disappointed, but this really won me over. From the light smokiness at the start of the taste, the coffee and chocolate reveals itself and although pleasantly smoky, the light dark fruit character shows up in the finish. The overall flavor progression and great malt body are compelling. It was not quite what I expected, but very pleasant. We're seeing a number of new Baltic porters these days and many have a distinct flavor variation on the style; this is the smokiest one and memorable. Keep them coming.