Holidaze Porter
Portsmouth Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

22oz bottle poured into a Bruery tulip.

A - Pours a thick and deep dark brown color with two fingers of frothy mocha head. Good staying power leaving behind thick webby lacing on the glass.

S - Coffee, chocolate with lots of fruity esters, a bit herbal, dark roasted malts, a touch of molasses and some earthy hops. Nice.

T - Coffee and dark roasted malts, hints of dark fruit, a touch of berries, herbal/spicy, mild hop bitterness.

M - A bit thinner than I expected and definitely lighter than medium bodied. Carbonation is medium level but pretty smooth. The berry presence picks up a little more as the bottle warms a bit but the other flavors hold even throughout.

O - Overall a good porter...smooth and very easy drinking. A bit on the fruity side for my tastes and lacking a bit in the chocolatey and coffee-ish flavors. So...maybe a slightly different take on the style - still seems to work fairly well though.

 

 

 

 

Big thanks to Ben for this bottle.

Pours deep mahogany with ruby hints around the edges. The head is really impressive and thick, showing excellent retention and sheets of lacing.

Aroma is definitely spicy with lots of ginger and cinnamon. In addition to the spices, I get some chocolate and sweet malts, but it's smells more spicy than sweet.

The taste starts like the aroma with a strong ginger flavor, complimented by other spices. The backbone is chocolate malts and comes out stronger as it warms. The finish is smooth but spicy with cinnamon and nutmeg.

The mouthfeel is medium bodied and smooth with a body that's pretty solid for a porter with such low ABV.

This is one my favorite holiday beers this year - a solid sweet porter base with more than enough ginger to make things interesting.

Thanks to Cody (GoGriz) for this one. Poured from a 22oz. bomber into a Sam Adams perfect pint.

A: Standard pour yields a thin looking beer that generates a 1.5 finger off-white frothy head with good retention. Beer is a clear, dark, nearly opaque amber. Lacing is weblike, ringed, with great legs, and outstanding stick.

S: Nose is surprising and a bit unorthodox. Notes of gingerbread, carrot cake, clove, cinnamon, other spices, with overtones of toasted malt. Sugary and sweet overall and nicely aromatic.

T: Opens very sweet and spicy. Brown sugar, gingerbread, cinnamon, nutmeg, chocolate, and a sprinkling of a variety of sweet and unidentified spices. Like eating an extra spiced sugar cookie. Roasted malt comes in right at the end blended with some cocoa and yeasty bitterness. Finish is brown sugar and cinnamon and aftertaste is cinnamon powder.

M: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Smooth in the mouth with a sprinkle of bubbles here and there. Silky going down. Finish is messy with an aftertaste that lingers.

D: For a beer so different from the norm, this is not bad. Definitely aptly named, this porter almost reminds me of a pumpkin beer with all its breadiness. Body could use a bit of substance, but overall a solid creation. Worth trying.

22oz into .3l tulip.

The brew is deep mohagany, with a faint tan tinge to an offwhite head. Tight bubbles, a lot of lacing all through the glass.

The aroma is good but not 'porter' more 'spiced' with a good deal of winter/fall notes this has more 'grandmas kitchen' than malt.

Very nice taste, there is a bit more malt in the taste than in the nose, and spice notes accent rather than dominate this brew.

Well weighted, Portsmouth tends to run on the lighter side for all of their liquid fare and I'm finding this in keeping with both the style and this breweries on particular style.

Nice brew all around. The amount of lacing surprised me and the raw amount of spice is unsettling initially unless you're a bit brighter than I am and realize that 'holidaze' isn't just clever but descriptive. There is no booze, no heat, anywhere in this and I would prefer there to be aleast a faint boozey note in a porter.

(68th)

Thanks to EnronCFO for this bottle!
Appears a deep brown with a reddish hue. A fairly loose tan head falls slowly to a blanket. Nice lace. Nose is holiday spice, chocolate - the taste follows the aroma. It's relatively simple in flavor but pretty tasty. It's also quite sweet...just sayin. The mouthfeel like most Portsmouth beers that I've had is wonderful. Medium body and rather silky smooth...the carbonation is medium and fine structurally. Overall quite tasty, the spice is prominent so you need to like spiced beer to enjoy this brew.

Thanks goes out to jmu500 for this one.

22oz. Bomber

Pours a nice dark brown color, nice carbonation, nice little fizzy tan head, with some sticky lacing left behind. The nose is malty, with some chocolate/toffee notes, cinnamon, nutmeg. The taste is slightly sweet, malty, nice little touch of chocolate/toffee, and a nice little surprise of cinnamon/nutmeg. Medium body. Drinkable, this brew surprised me with the spice note.

Poured from a bomber into a Sam Adams perfect pint. The pour yields a very thin white head over a dark brown/mahogany beer. There is a decent amount of bubbly lacing on the sides of the glass.

The beer smells like chocolate and coffee, a classic porter, but there is a nice addition of cinnamon and clove.

The taste is what I expect after the smell. The dark chocolate and mild coffee notes dominate with a decent amount of cinnamon and nutmeg.

The beer is pretty thin, but still full flavored. The spices add to the chocolate and coffee qualities of the beer without being overbearing like most winter beers.